Molcajete salsa is a rustic and chunky Mexican salsa made in a stone mortar and pestle. This salsa molcajeteada is great on tortilla chips or on any of your favorite Mexican dishes.
2wholeSerrano chiliesadjust according to heat tolerance
1/2smallwhite onion*ajdust to taste
2whole garlic clovesadjust to taste
1teaspoon sea saltadjust to taste
1handfulfreshroughly chopped cilantro, optional
1/2 smalllime, juiced
Kitchen Tools Needed:
a molcajete or mortar and peslte
a comal or a griddle or pan to char the ingredients
Instructions
Heat a comal (or griddle or pan) over medium-high heat. Once hot carefully place the tomatoes, the onion and chilies on to it. Allow to char on one side before flipping and turning until the chilies are softened and blistered, the onion soften (you can also cut the onion into smaller pieces to expediate the cooking), and once the tomatoes have blacked on all sides.
In your molcajete first place the garlic cloves with a sprinkling of salt, grind until completely broken down. Next add the chilies (remove the stems first) and grind them with the garlic until broken down. Now for the onion cut it into smaller pieces before placing it on the molcajete so that it's easier to grind. If you too would like your salsa chunkier then only grind the onion pieces a bit before proceeding.
Okay, now place one tomato at a time into the center of the molcajete, use the pestle to carefully push down and help squash it down before beginning to grind it into the other ingredients. Grind into your desired chunkiness before adding the remaining tomatoes at a time.
Lastly, and only optional, if you'd like mix in some roughly chopped cilantro into the salsa. Taste the salsa and season with sea salt and lime juice if desired, stir again to combine and give your salsa one last taste before serving right in the molcajete. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
*Keep a close eye on the vegetables as they will all be done at different times. Add the garlic cloves towards the end as they need but 3 to 5 minutes to char. Carefully remove the ingredients from the comal/griddle/pan.*You can slice or cut the onion into smaller pieces to help it char faster. Additionally, if you do so this will help you grind it into a smoother salsa -- if that's what you want.** After charring the ingredients you don't have to scrape away the blackened bits -- in fact they add a smoky flavor. However if you'd like you are free to remove this first before grinding.*** Do watch the video for a visual explanation. The calories are just for the salsa, corn chips not included.