How To Make Molé Manchamanteles with Chicken

This interesting Molé Manchamanteles comes from Oaxaca and is one of the ancient traditional molés. What makes this molé unique is the inclusion of fresh fruit which gives it a flavor unlike any other molé. The name translates as ‘Tablecloth Stainer’. The chiles in this molé are Anchos and Pasillas, fairly common and easy to find chiles. If you can’t find them locally they are available at amazon.com here: (Ancho) (Pasilla). In this recipe we will cook a whole chicken making the broth we need for the molé at the same time. We will also use some Arbole Chiles in the broth.

This dish is naturally gluten free.

Read More About Molé

Read our brief article on the history of molé.

Watch a Video

Here is a video of 2 Cooks in the Kitchen making Molé Manchamanteles With Chicken.

The Ingredients For Molé Manchamanteles

For the Chicken-

• 1 whole chicken
• 2 carrots
• 2 pieces celery
• 1/2 Onion
• 1 Head Garlic
• 1 Tbls Pepperrcorns
• 4 Bay Leaves
• 3 Chile de Arbol
• Water

For the Molé

• 6 Ancho Chiles
• 3 Pasilla Chiles
• 1/2 Onion
• 6 Cloves Garlic
• 2 Jalapeños
• 1 Green Plantain
• 1/8 Cup Almonds
• 1 1/2 Tsp Cumin Seeds
• 2 Tsp Mexican Oregano
• 1/4 Tsp Ground Cloves
• 1/4 Tsp Cinnamon
• 28 Oz Whole Tomatoes, peeled
• 4 Cups Chicken Stock
• 1 Cup Pineapple
• 1/3 Cup Green Apple
• 1/3 Cup Dried Apricots
• 1/3 Cup Raisins

Break Down the Chicken

We will begin by breaking down the chicken. In the first part of the video above Kelly shows how she cuts it up. We also put that out as a video of its own.

Put the Chicken and Vegetables In A Large Soup Pot

We’ll put all the chicken pieces in a soup pot. Include the back and everything to help give the broth more flavor. Add to the pot 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery, 1/2 an onion (We’ll use the other half later), and a head of garlic, all roughly chopped. No need to peel the onion or cut the ends off the carrots, just throw everything in the pot.

Add Spices, Chiles and Water

We’ll also add 4 Bay Leaves, a Tbls of Black Peppercorns and 3 Arbole Chiles. You can substitute 2 teaspoons of Red Pepper Flakes. Add enough water to cover the chicken.

Cook For 50 Minutes

You need to make at least four cups of broth. We use 7 to 8 cups for this. If you end up with less broth you can add water to make up the difference. Bring the pot to a boil, turn down the heat and let it simmer for 50 minutes.

Strain the Broth

Remove the chicken to a plate, strain and reserve the stock. Shred the chicken once it’s cool enough to handle or leave the pieces whole to serve with the molé poured over.

Prepare the Chiles

Next, work on the chiles. Remove the stems and seeds and then tear them into pieces. Sweat the pieces in a dry pan over medium heat. This process releases some of the flavors and sugars in the chiles. Be careful not to burn them or they will become bitter. You need to do this in batches, turning chiles over and remove them to a small saucepan.

Boil the Chiles

Add enough water to the saucepan to cover the chiles. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the chiles and reserve the water.

Cut the Pineapple

Cut the pineapple into bite-size pieces. You’ll need a generous cup for the molé and some for garnish when plating. If you need to you can use canned pineapple for this.

Peel and Dice the Plantain

Now we need to peel and dice the plantain. If you haven’t worked with a plantain before, they can be hard to peel, especially when green. Cut off the ends and then score down one side with a sharp knife. Then you can pull the peel off. Once you have the peel off, dice the plantain.

Cut the Apple, Onion, Garlic and Jalapeños

Dice the Green Apple and the remaining half Onion. Then peel and chop five garlic cloves. Chop 2 Jalapeños. Leave the seeds in for a hotter molé and remove them for a milder result. This is all going in the blender eventually so you don’t have to be too particular about sizes.

Blend the Chiles

Place the chiles in a blender with 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock. Blend until as smooth as you can get it. If it gets too tight to blend, add some of the chili soaking water.

Push the Chile Paste Through A Strainer

Using a rubber spatula, push the chile paste through a fine mesh strainer. This can take some patience but it’s worth it to get a beautiful, smooth sauce.

Cook Onion, Garlic, Plantain and Jalapeño

It’s time to work on our spices and tomatoes. Heat the oil in a stockpot and then add the onion and garlic. Let that cook a little and then add the plantain and Jalapeño and cook for 8 minutes.

Add Spices and Nuts

Add the Cinnamon, Cloves, Mexican Oregano, Cumin Seeds and Almonds. Stir this. It will be getting a little bit dry and the plantains will try to stick to the bottom of the pan.

Add Tomatoes

Add the tomatoes and 1 cup of the chicken stock and then stir them in. Let this cook together for 20 minutes.

Blend the Vegetable Mixture

Let this cool a bit before putting it in the blender. It’s easy to hurt yourself blending hot stuff so let it cool a little and be careful. I blend half of this at a time.

Cook the Chile Sauce

Now we are ready to assemble our molé. Heat three tablespoons of Bacon Grease, Lard or oil in the stockpot. Then add the chile sauce and cook for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. This will splash so have a cover handy.

Add the Vegetable Mixture and Chicken Stock

Add the tomato and spice mixture along with 1 1/2 cups chicken stock. Cook for another 20 minutes.

Add the Fruit

Add the fruit and cook for another hour. At this point we have our pot of Molé Manchamanteles. You have choices now. You can put all the chicken into the molé and then serve it like a stew. We prefer to freeze some of the shredded chicken and some of the molé and then just mix together enough for a couple meals.

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Here are some more molé recipes:

• Molé Colorado
• Molé Verde
• Molé Amarillo
• Classic Molé Rojo
• Easy Molé Rojo
• Molé Coloradito
• Molé Chuchilo Negro
• Molé Poblano
• Oaxacan Molé Negro

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