Salsa macha has a very special place among all the beautiful Mexican salsas. An oil-based salsa made with chillies and garlic and sometimes with nuts and even dried fruits. The potential is huge. There are many versions of this salsa, from the traditional Arbol chilli to a mixture of chillies and seeds like this one. Make no mistake, this is a flavour bomb. It is intense, spicy and full of texture. One of our most delicious yet by combining the fieriness of the Arbol chillies and the fruitiness from the pasilla and cascabel chillies. A must for all of those spicy lovers! 

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Loaded Salsa Macha

-1 ½ cups extra virgin olive oil

-12 garlic cloves

-20 Arbol chillies

-2 pasilla chillies

-3 cascabel chillies

-1 tbsp sesame seeds (black or white)

-¼ cup pumpkin seeds

-½ cup salted peanuts

-salt

1 Lightly toast the sesame seeds on a dry pan for a few seconds. Move constantly to avoid burning them. Remove them from the pan as soon as they become fragrant and lightly golden brown around. Do the same with the pumpkin seeds and the peanuts after. 

2 Add the olive oil to a saucepan and bring up the heat to medium-low. The oil should not boil or smoke. 

3 Meanwhile the oil is heating up, clean the Arbol, pasilla and cascabel chillies with a damp cloth. Remove the seeds from the pasilla and cascabel chillies together with the stem. 

4 Add the peeled garlic cloves to the oil and cook them for about 10 minutes. The garlic should not burn, it should only start to slowly get golden and small bubbles should form around them. Once they are golden and soft, remove them from the oil and add them to a blender. 

5 Add now the Arbol chillies to the oil and cook for a few minutes. Pay close attention to them as they can burn very easily. The chillies will swell up and become brightly red. Remove them at this stage taking care that they don’t smoke or turn black. This process should be quick, about 3 to 5 minutes. Place them on a blender with the garlic. 

6 Once the Arbol chillies have been removed, add the pasilla chillies and cook them for another 3 minutes. Add the cascabel chillies next, cook them for another 3 minutes and remove. 

7 Once the garlic and chillies are in the blender, add the oil and let it cool down for at least 10 minutes before blending. Add ⅔ of the peanuts, pumpkin and sesame seeds. Blend until everything comes together making sure you can see bits of chillies and the seeds. Taste at this stage and add salt as needed. 

8 Once the texture is right for you, transfer to jars and mix in the remaining seeds. 

Notes

  • Salsa Macha is amazing. It is spicy, it has amazing texture and flavour. There are many ways to make it and this is just one of them. Some people use more oil. Some people use neutral oil instead of olive oil. Some people add different seeds or none at all. The basic idea is the same and as long as the chillies don't burn, the potential to play around with the recipe is endless. 
  • Even when de Arbol chillies are the most common ones to use here, a combination of two or more chillies can also be used. The sky’s the limit!
  • This salsa goes a long way. You can keep it in a sealed jar for weeks and even months. It can be stored in a dark dry place or even better inside the fridge. Just remove it ahead of using it so the oil comes to temperature. 
  • This salsa has so much flavour and texture and it is the perfect last touch for simple dishes such as our Pinto Beans Hummus -shown below- Find the recipe here
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