Mexican food is always a delightful way to nourish your hunger pangs. They also serve as the player of any function, owing to their superb taste. So let me introduce you to the pride of Mexican cuisine, Chile EnNogada. Mexicans love this dish as much as they love their country. Would you want to know why? There is an interesting story about this dish which I will share with you here.
The Story of Mexican National Dish-Chiles En Nogada: History
Agustin de Iturbide was a military commander who fought in Mexico’s war of independence and later became the emperor of Mexico between 1822-23. Now you must be wondering why am I sharing the glory of a military commander, what has he got to do with the dish?
Well, he is the reason behind the discovery of this dish. Surprised? Let me complete the story. In the August on 1821, Agustine Iturbide was coming back from Veracruz to Mexico City after signing the Treaty of Cordoba which made Mexico independent from the shackles of the Spanish colonization. As a result, this day is etched in the hearts of Mexicans. So he stopped in Puebla before heading for Mexico City. There the people of Puebla were overflowing with joy and pride for their country. They wanted to thank the commander- Agustin de Iturbide- so the nuns in the kitchen of the former convent of Santa Monica made a dish with the available ingredients. This became the pride for the people of Puebla. This is one of Mexico’s most patriotic dish and is sometimes called their National dish.
Now let's talk about this magical mouth-watering dish which holds so much history.
Get To Know it's taste:
Chiles enNogada is a traditional Mexican dish made of poblano chillies stuffed with Picadillo( That’s a mix of shredded meat, aromatic fruits and spices) covered in walnut sauce and garnished with pomegranate. The name of this dish comes from the Spanish name for the walnut tree, nogal. The most amazing part about this is that this dish has colours of the Mexican flag: Green from the cilantro, white from the nut sauce and red from the pomegranate.
Without much delay lets quickly take a look at the way to prepare this delicious dish
Recipe of Chiles en Nogada
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast diced
- 2 teaspoon diced onion
- 1 teaspoon dried apricot
- 1 teaspoon dried cranberries
- 1 teaspoon diced pear
- 1 teaspoon diced apple
- 1 teaspoon raisin
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoon tomato paste
- 1 cup dry wine
- Salt and freshly grounded black pepper
- Sugar
- 5 poblano peppers roasted and peeled
Sauce:
- 1 shallot minced
- ½ tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/3 cup almond ground
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cilantro to garnish
- 1 teaspoon pomegranate seeds to garnish
Now once we have accumulated all the ingredients lets start cooking this awesomeness...
- Use chopped beef and pork and place it in a pan brimming it with water. Bring it to a simmer and turn once to check out your meat pieces. Cook for about 20 minutes
- Once we have cooked the meat we put it aside and give it time to cool itself down and we don’t throw the cooking liquid since we use it for the tomato puree.
- Now we begin to chop the meat into cubes and then we chop the cubes into fine parts of meat, evenly and keep it to one side.
For the Stuffing
- Now we slice the tomato and make a smooth puree of them by adding the cooking liquid.
- Now we’ll add the onions in a pan and fry them until golden brown.
- Then we’ll add in potatoes and stir and cook for 5 minutes.
- Then we’ll add the chopped meat and stir.
- Add the tomato puree.
- Now we’ll add carrots, zucchini and raisins and cook until the tomato puree begins to reduce.
- Now we’ll add in peas, almonds, brown sugar and cinnamon and stir nicely.
- We’ll cook for 15 minutes until the vegetables get cooked. Keep in mind that we don’t want to make it too dry.
Time to clean the chillies
- Now we’ll take the poblano chillies and roast as well as clean them, once they are cool.
- Now we take a knife and slit the Chile down the side without cutting all the way to the tip.
Making the Nogada
- We blend Mexican cream, walnut, cinnamon and brown sugar until the walnuts fuse its flavours into this juicy sauce.
Now its time to serve!
- We take out the seeds of the pomegranate and keep them on a plate.
- Fill the poblano chillies with our stuffing and seal it with a toothpick.
- Place the Chile on a plate and wrap it up with the juicy sauce and spread the delicious pomegranate seeds over them.
- Decorate with few parsley leaves and you are all done with this delicious dish.
I think its love for the country which inspired the nuns to prepare such an amazing dish. And its love for food which made me prepare this dish and celebrate with myself. This dish not just looks fabulous but tastes even more. The Mexicans have every reason to be proud of this dish. The look, the history, the taste all of it adds up to make this dish the superstar of the country. Try it in your home and thank the nuns who discovered this awesomeness.