Mole amarillo with vegetables

Step 1: Heat a dry heavy frying pan or comal over a medium heat. Toast 5 dried guajillo chillies and 2 dried chile costeño or chile de árbol for 20–30 seconds a side, pressing them flat, until they smell fruity and turn slightly lighter. Common mistake: letting them blacken, which turns the whole mole bitter.

Step 2: Put the chillies in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 15 minutes, until soft.

Step 3: Meanwhile, roast 3 tomatillos, 1 ripe tomato, ½ white onion and 3 garlic cloves on the same pan over a medium-high heat, turning, until blistered in patches and the tomatillos turn olive green and soft, about 10 minutes. Peel the garlic.

Step 4: Toast ¼ tsp cumin seeds and 2 whole cloves in the pan for 30 seconds, until fragrant.

Step 5: Drain the chillies and put them in a blender with the roasted vegetables, cumin, clove, 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano and 250 ml of the 5 cups vegetable stock. Blend for 2 minutes until completely smooth, then push through a sieve.

Step 6: Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large pot over a medium-high heat. Pour in the sauce (it will spit) and fry it, stirring, for 8 minutes, until it darkens a shade and thickens to a paste that leaves a trail on the base of the pot.

Step 7: Stir in the rest of the stock and 1 ½ tsp salt. Add 10 ½ oz waxy potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes.

Step 8: Add 1 chayote and 7 oz green beans and simmer for 8–10 minutes more, until the potato is tender to a knife and the beans are just soft.

Step 9: Whisk the 2 ⅛ oz masa harina mixture smooth, then pour it into the pot in a thin stream, stirring all the time. Simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring, until the mole thickens to the consistency of single cream and no longer tastes floury. Add 1 hoja santa leaf for the last 3 minutes.

Step 10: Taste for salt and serve in bowls with 12 corn tortillas and 1 lime on the side.