Chile Colorado
Servings 4 half-pint jars
Ingredients
- 6 guajillo chiles stemmed and seeded
- 6 ancho chiles or pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 2 morita chiles stemmed and seeded
- 1 medium yellow onion quartered
- 4 cloves garlic
- 3 medium Roma or plum tomatoes halved and cored
- 2 tbsp white vinegar or apple cider white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano or oregano
- 1/2 tsp marjoram
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt to taste
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- boiling water
Instructions
Toast and soak the chiles
- Begin boiling enough water to cover all the chiles
- Toast the chiles over a medium flame until fragrant, be careful not to let them brown or blister (1-2 minutes)
- Cover the chiles with boiling water and let them soak for 20 minutes
- Drain chiles and discard water
Roast the vegetables
- Set the broiler to high and arrange a rack near the top
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil
- Place onion, garlic, and tomatoes (skin side up) on the baking sheet
- Broil until skins are slightly charred
- Remove from the oven and set aside
Blend the chiles and vegetables
- In the food processor, add the chiles, onion, garlic, and tomatoes, spices, and vinegar
- Process in to a smooth consistency in the food processor
- Add boiling water to the mixture while blending to create a thin sauce
Strain the sauce
- After processing, strain the sauce to give it a smoother consistency and remove chile skins
- The easiest way to do this is using a powered vegetable strainer or a food mill, but can also be done with a metal kitchen strainer, being sure to press down firmly to extract as much as possible from the pulp
- Discard the pulp
Fry the sauce
- In a medium pot over high heat, distribute the vegetable oil over the bottom
- Once hot, slowly pour the sauce in to the oil, expect it to sizzle and watch out for splatters
- After frying for 30 seconds, reduce heat to simmer
- Add salt to taste
Canning the Chile Colorado
- Set up the four half-pint jars near the cooking area with their lids and rings handy
- Distribute the sauce evenly among the half-pint jars up to 1/2 inch headspace
- Wipe the rims of the jars clean as necessary
- Apply lids and screw the bands to finger tightness on the jars
- Using the jar lifter, lower the jars in to the instant pot
- Secure the lid of the instant pot and make sure the pressure valve is set
- Program the instant pot to cook under high pressure for 50 minutes, and make sure to disable the Keep Warm setting
Wrapping up the process
- After the instant pot has finished cooking, be sure to let it come down to ambient pressure using the natural release cycle, do not try to do the quick release cycle as this can cause liquid to be forced out of the jars and potentially break the seals
- Once the instant pot is safe to open, open it and use the jar lifter to pull the jars out and place on a towel too dry and cool down
- If the rings on the jars are loose, they can be finger tightened again, carefully
- Leave the jars to cool, you should hear the lids popping as the pressure creates a seal on the jars
- After the jars have cooled, the rings can be removed and the jars are now shelf-stable and safe to store in a pantry to be eaten later
- If any jar failed to seal, it is safe to either eat immediately or reprocess in the instant pot, though you may need to replace the lid since it did not seal properly