El Relajo
(el re-lah-ho)
Panes con Pollo & The Weekend Feast
Throw pepitas, sesame seeds, and a torn guajillo chile into a smoking cast-iron skillet, shaking the pan as the seeds snap, slowly dry-roasting these seeds, chiles, and nuts on the hot skillet to create a relajo, the essential spice blend that transforms a basic sauce into the rich recaudo you need for panes con pollo. Stick to exactly two bay leaves to avoid bitterness, and toss in a few raw cacao beans to build a deep, unsentimental complexity finishing in a dark, earthy bite. Grind the whole roasted mess to a powder and build your sauce.
Ingredients
- white sesame seeds3 tbsp
- raw pumpkin seeds2 tbsp
- unsalted peanuts2 tbsp
- dried Guajillo chile1 large
- dried Ancho or Pasilla chile1 large
- dried bay leaves2 small
- whole cloves4 small
- whole black peppercorns1 tsp
- dried Mexican oregano1 tsp
- dried thyme1/2 tsp
- cinnamon stick1 small
- garlic clove1 large
- raw cacao beans3 small
- achiote powder1 tbsp
Method
- 01
Blister the chiles and garlic in a dry skillet over medium heat.
Place the unpeeled garlic clove and torn chiles in the pan, pressing the chiles flat with a spatula for a minute or two until they release a smoky aroma, then move the chiles to a cool plate so they don't turn bitter and blacken.
- 02
Toast the heavy seeds and hard spices.
Leave the garlic in the pan and add the pumpkin seeds, peanuts, black peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon stick, and cacao beans, shaking frequently for about two minutes until the nuts turn golden.
- 03
Carefully toast the delicate herbs and sesame.
Lower the heat to medium-low, add the sesame seeds, bay leaves, oregano, and thyme, and stir constantly for roughly a minute until the sesame turns a sandy brown.
- 04
Halt the cooking process immediately to protect the sesame.
The moment the sesame seeds are golden, pour the entire pan's contents onto the plate with the chiles to cool completely.
- 05
Grind the cooled mixture into a fine powder.
Peel the roasted garlic, transfer everything on the plate to a spice grinder or high-speed blender, add the achiote powder, and pulse until thoroughly pulverized.
Notes
Never dry-toast the achiote powder.
It will burn instantly and turn the entire blend acrid, so always add it raw into the grinder.
Make it ahead of time.
This yields enough for one large batch of recaudo, but you can scale it up and store the blended powder in an airtight jar for up to three months.