Salsa Roja (Cooked Red Table Salsa)

Toast the dried chilies in a dry pan over medium heat for 20–30 seconds a side, pressing them flat, until they smell nutty and darken slightly. Don't let them blacken or they turn bitter. Cover with hot water and soak 15 minutes.

💡 That few-second toast is where dried-chili salsa gets its flavour, but the line between toasted and burnt is thin. If a chili goes black, throw it out — one scorched chili turns the whole batch acrid.

Meanwhile, char the whole tomatoes, the onion wedge and the unpeeled garlic on the same dry pan, turning, until blackened in patches and softened — about 8 minutes. Peel the garlic once cool.

Drain the soaked chilies. Blend them with the charred tomatoes, onion, garlic and salt, adding a splash of the soaking water only if needed, until smooth.

Heat the oil in a small pan until shimmering, then pour in the blended salsa — it will hiss and spit. Fry it, stirring, for 5 minutes until it darkens and thickens slightly. Taste and adjust the salt.

💡 Frying the blended salsa — 'sazonar' — is what turns a raw purée into a proper cooked salsa: it deepens the colour, rounds off the sharp raw edge and helps it keep for a week in the fridge.