Ever get a hankering for some rich, yummy, chocolatey spicy mole sauce (pronounced but not spelled “molé”), but don’t want to go out to a restaurant? Make your own gluten-free vegan mole sauce at home (can also be made as raw mole sauce!)! It’s easy and delicious, even if just a tiny bit unorthodox.
First, is it “mole” or “molé”? We wondered this ourselves, so we went to that always accurate source (we joke, we joke), Wikipedia. This is what Wikipedia says about it: “The spelling “molé,” often seen on English-language menus, is a hypercorrection and not used in Spanish, likely intended to distinguish the sauce from the animal, mole.”
Another cool tidbit is the history of mole sauce. There are a lot of variations in the stories of from where the first mole sauce came, and who invented it. Here’s one from Familia Kitchen: “The earliest known reference to mole in historical records dates to a 16th-century review of mesoamerican ethnography: Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España written by friar Bernardino de Sahagún. In his account, we come to learn about Los Aztecas’ elaborate ritual preparations to honor Xiuhtecuhtli, the Aztec God of Fire.”
Just as everyone has their own pasta sauce recipe, or their own berbere recipe, so too does everyone have their own mole recipe. This is ours. So why do we say that it is a bit unorthodox? Well, mole purists will tell you that you use whole chiles, not chile powder, and they’re not wrong. Our recipe is intended for the home cook who wants something fast that they can throw together with ingredients that they already have in their pantry.
Because everybody has their own mole recipe ours is just a guideline for you, make it your own!
Fast and Fabulous Vegan Mole Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
1/4 teaspoon each oregano, black pepper, smoked paprika, cumin, cinnamon, salt and whatever kind of chile pepper powder you have on hand (we used ancho chile pepper and chipotle pepper)
1 clove garlic (or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder)
1/4 small onion (or 1/4 teaspoon onion powder)
3 tablespoons raw cacao
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 cup walnuts
1 15oz can diced tomatoes, including juice
Directions
Put everything in a food processor and process until smooth. At this point it is raw mole sauce, and perfectly fine to eat.
Unless you want raw mole sauce, you can then put it in a small saucepan, heat it just until simmering, and then heat it, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.
Either way, while you can eat it right away, it’s even better after sitting overnight in the fridge, allowing the flavors to blend and develop.
*Receipts come from ISIPP
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