Salsa Macha
Updated January 24, 2023
Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Prop Stylist: Carla Gonzalez-Hart.
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
5 garlic cloves, peeled
1 cup mixed roasted nuts, such as peanuts, pecans and almonds (salted is fine)
78 grams ancho chiles (about 5 large), stemmed and seeded
7 large chiles de árbol, stemmed
2 tablespoons raw sesame seeds
2 dried bay leaves, crumbled
1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
Nutritional analysis per serving
27 grams carbs; 1077 calories; 70 grams monosaturated fat; 22 grams polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 106 grams fat; 1 gram trans fat; 10 grams fiber; 575 milligrams sodium; 15 grams protein; 7 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- 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.
The salsa can be stored in an airtight container, refrigerated, for up to several months.
Private Notes
Comments
Love. I used olive oil. No arbol so did mix of pasilla and ancho. Subbed tahini for the sesame. Like 2TBSP. use primarily peanuts with some walnuts and pecans. I would make this to give as gifts.
Typically I make some slight modifications after tasting, but this salsa recipe is amazing as written. For people who are trying to cut back on salt, I would taste before adding additional Crystal Diamond, although it is the perfect cooking salt (not as salty as other types of salt). Thank you Rick for a wonderful recipe. I add chile crisp to everything, now I will add your salsa!
I loved this one! I added a little thyme aswell
This is really great. I modified by halving the oil to make it more of a paste. I prefer it that way.
I’m curious about the blended bay leaves. I thought you weren’t supposed to eat leaves, and I always was taught to remove them from soup.
@Katy, even after cooking for hours, whole bay leaves are too tough to eat. My usual macha recipe doesn’t include bay leaves. It wouldn’t surprise me if even some small pieces left after blending could be sharp, did anyone find that to be true?
This is one of the very best things I’ve ever made. My only modification was to add a few more extra chiles árbol and i wasn’t super particular about removing all the seeds. Excellent recipe - thank you!!!