Salsa Macha
The flavor and texture of a salsa macha is almost like a chile crisp made with toasted Mexican dried chiles, nuts, seeds and herbs. This salsa lasts for months in the refrigerator and is great over eggs, fish, vegetables or anything that is mild in flavor or lean that could benefit from a rich punch.
- Total:
- Serves: 2 persons
Ingredients
- 1 ½cups vegetable oil
- 5garlic cloves, peeled
- 1cup mixed roasted nuts, such as peanuts, pecans and almonds (salted is fine)
- 78grams ancho chiles (about 5 large), stemmed and seeded
- 7large chiles de árbol, stemmed
- 2tablespoons raw sesame seeds
- 2dried bay leaves, crumbled
- 1teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
- 1 ½teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
Instructions
Step 1
Heat the oil, garlic and nuts in a large saucepan over medium until the garlic is golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic and nuts to a heatproof bowl to cool.Step 2
Add the chiles to the pan with the oil. Cook over medium heat, stirring and flipping the chiles, until the oil is slightly reddish and the chiles are brick-red in color, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chiles to the nut mixture; let cool for 5 minutes.Step 3
While the nuts are cooling, add the seeds to the hot oil and set aside; they will toast as they sit. Purée the chile mixture with the bay leaves, oregano and salt in a food processor until coarsely ground. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the seed-and-oil mixture until the chiles are finely ground.