Food Wisdo

This recipe for chillies in nogada is a special Mexican dish from Puebla. Ours consists of roasted poblano chilies stuffed with a ground turkey picadillo, coated with a creamy nut sauce and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. It is an extraordinary blend of flavors.

Chiles en nogada (chiles in nut sauce) are a classic Mexican dish and a specialty of the city of Puebla. It is a green chili poblano filled with a picadillo and covered with a nut cream sauce and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds.

History of Chile in Nogada

Here’s what Diana Kennedy has to say about the dish in her flagship book les cuisines de Mexico:

The recipe was allegedly made by the grateful residents of Puebla, who gave a banquet in honor of the feast of the Holiness of Don Agustin of Iturbide on August 28, 1821. He and his followers had led the last uprising against Spanish rule; as a self-proclaimed emperor, he had just signed the Treaty of Córdoba. All the dishes of the banquet were prepared with ingredients in the color of the Mexican flag; in this dish there were green chili peppers, white sauce and red pomegranate seeds.

Minced meat for picadillo

The classic Mexican dish uses a pork picadillo with dried fruits and spices. Guaymas, a restaurant in Tiburon, California, where I ordered it, used chicken mince. My adaptation of this recipe uses ground turkey. This dish is a little involved, but the effort is worth it. It really is an extraordinary mixture of flavors. You will not be disappointed.

More informations about Chiles en Nogada

Most often, Mexicans serve this dish, which includes the colors of their flag-green of the chili peppers, white of the sauce and red of the pomegranate seeds — on the Independence Day of their country, on September 16. Some consider it the national dish of Mexico.

While the stories of its origins usually give credit to the track as an honor to Agustín de Iturbide (as mentioned above), most of them also give credit to the Augustinians who created the track. However, another legend of his origin attributes the creation of the dish to three sisters, whose friends were in the army of Agustín de Iturbide, to celebrate the homecoming of their loved ones.

Variations on chillies in Nogada

Golden apples and raisins accompany minced meat in this recipe, but these other fruits will also work.

• Bulb
• Fishing
• Plantain

Although they are not real, almonds or pecans can replace nuts.

Dip the stuffed chili peppers into the dough and fry.

You need to start this dish a day in advance by soaking the nuts for the nogada sauce overnight.
We use turkey in this recipe, you can also easily use chicken or pork.

Ingredient

The nut sauce:

• 1 cup Lumps of peeled walnut halves
• Milk (about 2 cups)
• 1/4 Pound queso fresco (or farm cheese)
• 1 1/2 cup Thick sour Cream (or sour cream)
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons of sugar
• 1/4 Teaspoon ground cinnamon

Chile:

6 large poblano chilies (use only poblanos, no other type of chili, for this dish)

The Picadillo:

• 1 1/4 Pounds chopped turkey thigh Meat
• Kosher salt
• 4 Tablespoons olive oil or rapeseed oil
• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 Cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon of butter
• 3/4 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 Teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup of tomatoes crushed and roasted on the fire
• 1/2 cup golden Raisins
• 2 Tablespoons blanched and tapered almonds, coarsely chopped
• 1 Apple, peeled, stuffed, chopped

Garnish:

• 1/2 cup Pomegranate Seeds
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Coriander or persil