Clan: Black Dragon
Category: Obsidian Feast Recipes
Obsidian Mesa Mole Turkey
This dark, complex sauce combines dried chillies, toasted seeds, tomato, spice and a little chocolate. Turkey thighs simmer slowly until they carry every smoky, bittersweet note.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Deeply layered celebration food
- Ideal for making ahead
- A memorable way to cook turkey thighs
- Rich rather than aggressively hot
Prep Time
30 Minutes
Cook Time
1 Hour 15 Minutes
Serves
6
Ingredients
- 1kg boneless turkey thighs, cut into large pieces
- 2 dried ancho chillies, stems and seeds removed
- 2 dried pasilla chillies, stems and seeds removed
- 1 chipotle chilli in adobo
- 2 tomatoes, halved
- 1 onion, quartered
- 3 garlic cloves
- 30g sesame seeds
- 30g unsalted peanuts
- 1 corn tortilla, torn into pieces
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 750ml chicken stock
- 25g dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp brown sugar, optional
- Salt
- Rice and warm tortillas, to serve
Method
- Toast the ancho and pasilla chillies in a dry frying pan for about 20 seconds per side. Cover with just-boiled water and soak for 20 minutes.
- In the same pan, toast the sesame seeds, peanuts and tortilla pieces until golden. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil and char the tomatoes, onion and garlic on their cut sides.
- Drain the chillies. Blend them with the chipotle, toasted ingredients, charred vegetables, cinnamon, cloves, oregano and 300ml stock until very smooth.
- Season the turkey. Heat the remaining oil in a casserole and brown the pieces in batches.
- Pour in the mole sauce and remaining stock. Cover and simmer gently for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Uncover, add the chocolate and simmer for 15 minutes until thick and glossy. Taste for salt and add the sugar only if the sauce needs balance.
- Serve with rice and warm tortillas, scattered with extra sesame seeds.
Adventurer’s Notes
Dragon’s Tip
Mole should balance smoke, fruit, spice and bitterness. Adjust at the end with a pinch of salt or sugar rather than adding more chocolate.
🌶️ Obsidian Heat
Toast an extra dried chilli for a darker, fiercer sauce, or remove the seeds for a gentler feast.
🍫 Alchemist’s Balance
Add chocolate sparingly and taste as you go; it should deepen the sauce rather than make it sweet.
⏳ Cauldron Secret
The mole improves after a night in the refrigerator, making this an ideal feast to prepare ahead.
🌽 Mesa Serving
Serve with rice, warm flatbreads or roasted corn, with lime wedges to brighten the rich sauce.
Lore of the Hoard
Obsidian Mesa cooks guard their mole recipes like spellbooks, passing each toasted seed and measured spice from one generation to the next. No two cauldrons are identical, and that is considered part of the magic.
Recommended With
Continue Your Journey
Explore another dish from the vault or visit the Workshop and Spice Merchant for a fitting companion.
- Copper Bazaar Cheese Khachapuri
- Azure Archipelago Chicken Adobo
- Glacier Lemonade — a workshop pairing for the table
- Tavern Steak Marinade — explore another flavour path
