A taste of Guatemala: Chirmol (salsa)

Directions:

1. Peel tomatillos and rinse in a bowl of water.
2. Roast the tomatillos and tomatoes on a hot griddle, turning as needed. Remove tomatillos when soft and skins are partially blackened. Continue to let tomatoes cook while preparing other ingredients, checking on them regularly until they are soft and skins are partially blackened. When roasted, remove from griddle and set aside.
3. Strip peppermint leaves from stems and place in bowl of water.
4. Pull cilantro from stems and also add to the water. Swish in water to rinse thoroughly. (Discard stems.)
5. Remove the outer skin and finely chop half of an onion. (Set aside other half of onion for another use.)
6. Finely chop the peppermint and cilantro leaves.
7. Add onion, peppermint and cilantro to one side of a large bowl with wide, flat bottom.
8. Add chiltepes to bowl alongside other ingredients. Mash the chiltepes using a large pestle.
9. Add roasted tomatillos on top of chiltepes and mash thoroughly.
10. Remove skins from roasted tomatoes while they are still hot. Add to bowl on top of the chiltepes and tomatillos mixture and mash with pestle. Use knife to cut larger pieces and continue mashing.
11. Add salt as desired and stir thoroughly.
12. Transfer into smaller bowl for serving.

Learn more about Guatemala