Chirmol
Fire-charred tomatoes chopped by knife with onion and mint, a sauce no Guatemalan table sits down without.
Photo : Kc2072 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Total
- 30 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
Method
- Set the whole tomatoes on a very hot cast iron plate or under the grill.
- Turn them every 3 minutes until the skin blackens in patches, about 12 minutes.
- Char the chillies the same way, then seed them once they have cooled.
- Chop the tomatoes by knife on a board, keeping the juice that runs out. A blender would give a purée with no texture.
- Chop the onion, chillies, mint and chaya to the same size as the tomato.
- Combine everything in a bowl with the lime juice, salt and pepper.
- Rest for 20 minutes before serving with corn tortillas.
The word descends from the Nahuatl chilmulli, meaning chilli sauce. Charring the tomato over a live flame caramelises its sugars and gives chirmol the smoky note that sets the Guatemalan version apart.
