Clem's Mexican Salsa
There are a great many recipes for this cold dish from Mexico. However, the base remains the same is all versions viz. it is of tomatoes, onions and chipotle (dried, ripened jalopenos chilli).
INGREDIENTS
- Fresh tomatoes; 5 to 6 medium-sized
- 400 g canned whole tomatoes.
- 2 to 3 hot-water-soaked chipotle chillis
- A whole large onion.
- A teaspoon of cumin powder.
- 3 to 4 cloves of garlic.
- A pinch of salt.
- A good handful of fresh coriander leaves.
- Sugar, lime juice and salt to taste.
The main
ingredients
METHOD
- Skin and half the fresh tomatoes.
- Skin and squash the garlic.
- Skin and quarter the onion.
- Grill all of the above until, browned/scorched.
- Add the grilled ingredients plus the chipotle chillis, canned tomatoes and a good handful of chopped coriander leaves to a food chopper or blender.
- Pulse cut the ingredients, taking cafe to chop to only as fine as you would the end product to be (chunky salsa only needs a few pulses).
- Mix in lime juice, sugar and salt to taste.
The salsa is ready to eat at this stage.
If you prepared more than can be consumed at one sitting and would like to store some for a few weeks, you will need to pasteurize the product. To do this, place the salsa in heat-proof sealable containers (I use Ball Mason jars). Place the containers with lids loose) in a pot of water at tap temperature. Heat up the water and containers to boiling and let it simmer for some 45 to 60 minutes (temperature of the salsa in the containers must reach a minimum of 63 degrees centigrade and held there for at least 30 minutes). After removal from the heat treatment and the containers have cooled enough to touch, screw the lids light. The product should now be shelf stable for a few weeks. Always test taste/smell the product when consuming after this sort of heat treatment to be assured that it has not gone off.
Salsa prepared as described, with corn chips
Enjoy your Mexican salsa!
17 February
2024
Created
by Clem Kuek