Homemade Enchilada Sauce

So, being home for an extended period time definitely has its advantages. One is time to actually make things from scratch. For years, my mom (and most Indian women of her generation I know) has used Old El Paso Enchilada sauce. Though I like it the sauce well enough, it always tastes a little tin-y and not nearly as fresh as the stuff I get at the local tacqueria.

I haven't experimented with tomatillos yet to make enchiladas verdes, but I have found yet another way to utilize canned tomatoes (okay, so they aren't COMPLETELY made from scratch) in making fairly decent sauce. The recipe is below, let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

1 28 oz. can, petite diced tomatoes
1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 medium jalapeno (seeded if you like a milder flavor)
1 small chipotle pepper, softened and seeded
1 lime
cumin powder
dried oregano
salt
black pepper


Directions:

Soak the dried chipotle in one cup warm water for about 30 minutes, or until softened. Remove the seeds (they are TOO hot), and finely chop. Reserve the water.

Coat the bottom of the pot with olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sautee until clear. Add garlic and chopped jalapeno and cook until garlic turns a nice brown. Then add the can of tomatoes, plus the water from the chipotle and the diced chipotle and bring the entire mixture to a simmer.

Then add 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp dried oregano flakes, course black pepper and salt to taste. Allow the mixture to continue to simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally, add the juice of one lime and puree the mixture with a hand held blender or food processor. You can add a little more water to thin out the sauce, if necessary. Run through a sieve to remove any remaining pieces of chipotle which do not blend and allow the sauce to cool. It can keep up to a week in a glass jar.

We like our sauce a little thicker, but for those of you who like a thinner sauce, I recommend adding a little more lime juice and an extra 1/2 cup of water before blending.

Enjoy!