🇲🇽 Mexican recipesSide dish

Salsa Roja

By Groceree

Also known as Red Salsa

Tomatoes, onion and garlic charred in a dry pan until blackened in patches, then blended with toasted, soaked guajillo and chipotle chillies. Charring rather than frying is what gives the smoke.

Last updated

A bowl of dark red roasted tomato salsa with visible charred flecks
Servings
Makes about 500 ml
Prep
10 min
Cook
15 min
Total
25 min

Ingredients

  • tomatoes700 g
  • dried guajillo chillies3
  • dried chipotle chilli1
  • white onion½
  • garlic cloves3
  • salt1 tsp
  • limes (optional)1

Instructions

  1. 01

    Heat a dry heavy pan or comal over medium-high heat.

  2. 02

    Wipe the and the , pull off the stems and shake out the seeds. Toast them in the pan for 20 to 30 seconds a side, until they puff and smell nutty. Any longer and they turn bitter, which cannot be undone. Soak the and in hot water for 15 minutes.

  3. 03

    In the same dry pan, roast the , and unpeeled , turning them, for 10 to 12 minutes until blackened in patches and softened through.

  4. 04

    Slip the out of its skins.

  5. 05

    Blend the , and with the drained and and the to a coarse sauce, adding a splash of the soaking water if it needs loosening.

  6. 06

    Taste for and add a squeeze of juice if it needs lifting.

Notes

  • Dry pan, no oil. Roasting on a comal is what gives salsa roja its smoke; frying gives a flatter, sweeter sauce.
  • Watch the dried chillies like a hawk. 20 seconds a side is toasted, 40 is bitter, and there is no rescuing them.
  • Blacken the tomato skins and leave them in. They are most of the colour and the char.

Nutrition per serving

Calories
40 kcal
Protein
1 g
Carbs
7 g
Fat
1 g

Estimated from the ingredients.

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