Chocolate Hazelnut Chicken Mole

Serves: 8-10

INGREDIENTS
1 plum tomato
1-2 tomatillos
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
2 oz (3-4) mulato chiles
1 oz (4-5) guajillo chiles
1 tbs ancho chile powder
¼ oz chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
3 tbs raisins
3 tbs sesame seeds
1 cup toasted hazelnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
4 whole cloves
4 allspice berries
½ tsp coriander seeds
¼ tsp aniseed
¼ tsp black peppercorns
3 oz Mexican chocolate, or very dark chocolate
3-4 cups chicken broth
salt to taste

For the broth and chicken:
10-12 cups water
10 chicken drumsticks
2 carrots
1 onion
3 celery stalks
1 bay leave
½ tbs whole black peppercorns
salt to taste

For serving:
chopped cilantro
chopped hazelnuts
sliced avocado
rice

INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare the chicken broth: Chop the carrots, celery and onion, and throw in a large pot with the rest of the broth spices and chicken drumsticks. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30-40 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the chiles: Slice the dry chiles open, and remove the stems, veins and seeds. Pour hot water over them until completely covered, add the raisins, and leave to soak for 30 minutes.

While the chiles are soaking, prepare the veggies: Roughly chop the onion, tomatoes and tomatillos, mix with 2 tbs of olive oil, and salt, and broil at 500 °F. After 10 minutes, throw in the unpeeled garlic cloves as well, and continue to broil for another 10 minutes or until veggies are nicely charred.

While the veggies are roasting, prepare the nuts and spices: In a dry skillet, toast the whole spices – cloves, allspice, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, aniseed, sesame seeds – for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a spice mill, and grind.

Grind the hazelnuts in a food processor until they resemble a fine meal (but before they turn into butter).

Drain the chiles, and raisins, and transfer to a blender.
Take the veggies from the oven, peel the garlic, and add to the blender.

Add to the blender: the ancho chile powder (if using), the chipotle pepper, the ground cinnamon, the ground hazelnuts, ground spices and sesame seeds, and 2 cups of the chicken broth. Process until smooth.
Heat 2 tbs of olive oil in a deep stove pot, and add the sauce + 1 cup of the chicken broth. Cook for a few minutes, stirring continuously, and drop the chopped dark chocolate. Stir until completely melted.

Transfer the chicken drumsticks to the sauce, and cook for another 10 minutes on low heat.

If the sauce becomes too thick, add more chicken broth.
Serve with chopped cilantro, and chopped hazelnuts, sliced avocado, or a bowl of rice.

NOTES
The most traditional trio of chiles used in dark moles is ancho, pasila and mulato, all of them are meaty and black when dried, and mildly spicy. I used ancho chile powder instead of a chile, and guajilo chiles in place of the pasila. If you have all three chiles on hand, use 4 mulato chiles, 2 ancho chiles, and 3 pasila chiles.

From viktoriastable.com