I have news for you: Salsas? Highly adaptable. You don’t have to resign yourself to crave it but then fear it will be so hot that you must add only a nanoparticle to your food. No, siree. You can make this Spicy Chile de Árbol Salsa as hot as you want.
Are you brave at heart? Add multiple peppers. On the other hand, you just want to enjoy a kick of flavor without having to call 911 or, at the very least, sniffle and cry out for sweet relief? Add just 1 or 2 chilis. It takes that little chili to catapult that salsa to a new level of flavor. Ideally, you would add at least 5 peppers but hey, it’s your salsa!
There is a caveat, though. Dried Chile de Árbol needs to be briefly browned to bring out its amazing flavor. Make sure to brown the chilis with all your windows open. The process won’t take long, but the smoke can be irritating, especially to the unexperienced.
You can definitely make this Spicy Chile de Árbol Salsa in the blender if you either don’t have a “Molcajete” (Mexican mortar and pestle) or you really don’t have the time or the desire to do it by hand in the mortar.
You will be surprised when I tell you that people still find the time in Mexico to use their mortars. “What??? It looks like something right out of the Stone Age!!!”. Furthermore, they use their mortars so much that these have become smooth. And then they take a chisel and a hammer to the bottom and do away with the smoothness. It is better to have a rough bottom to crush stuff more easily.
I mentioned before you can make this in your blender. You can make your salsa as smooth as you want. It is, after all, YOUR salsa. If you use the blender, just process the chilis first with a little water once you’ve roasted them; just add enough water to get the blender running, then add the rest of the ingredients.
Notes
If making your salsa in the blender, process chilis first with a little water, just enough to get the blender running and then add the rest of the ingredients and process until salsa is somewhat chunky. Process longer if you like your salsas smooth. Season with salt .
Ingredients
- 5 – 20 dried chiles de arbol stalks and seeds removed (I left the seeds in mine since I was craving hot, hot, hot!)
- 4 ripe tomatoes
- 1 large (2 small) garlic clove coarsely chopped
- 1/2 onion, sliced or coarsely chopped
- 1/2 TBSP of vegetable oil to brown the chiles
- Pinch of salt to taste
Instructions
- In a skillet pour the oil. Add the chiles and brown them on low-medium heat. Stir constantly and don’t let them burn; that would make them bitter. It only takes about 2 – 3 minutes for them to change color and get some darker spots; their texture also changes. When the changes become apparent, that’s when they’re done (look at the picture of the chiles in the skillet, above).
- Place the chiles in the mortar; roast the tomatoes in the same skillet and let the skin get slightly brown. This process of semi-charring the tomatoes and other salsa ingredients, known as “roasting” (tostar) in Mexico, gives the salsa a smokily tantalizing delicious taste. Move the tomatoes around in the skillet occasionally.
- Crush the chiles with the pestle moving it in firm circular motions, applying pressure. Add the garlic, then the onion and salt.
- Once the tomatoes have some dark spots remove the base of the stalk and crush them one by one; don’t remove the skin. You can cut them in pieces if it will make them easier to crush; it will seem hard at first as they want to slip all over the place but you will get the knack of it in no time. Remember, you don’t have to crush everything to a paste. We want a perfectly imperfect chunky salsa.
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