Pepián (Guatemalan Pumpkin Seed & Chili Chicken Stew)

About This Recipe

Pepián is the most quintessentially Mayan-Spanish dish in Guatemalan cuisine — a thick, terracotta-colored stew built on a foundation of toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas), sesame seeds, and three dried chilies (guajillo, pasilla, and chile zambo). The seeds and chilies are dry-toasted on a comal until smoking, then ground with charred tomatoes, tomatillos, garlic, and spices into a sauce that thickens itself as it simmers — no flour, no cornstarch, just the natural body of toasted seeds. Chicken pieces are then braised in this sauce until the meat absorbs the smoky, gently spicy, distinctly nutty flavors. Pepián is the dish you cook for important guests, declared one of Guatemala's intangible cultural heritage dishes in 2007. It is served with rice and corn tortillas, and the leftovers somehow taste even better the next day.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 1whole chicken (1.4 kg), cut into 8 pieces
• 2yellow onions, halved
• 2bay leaves
• 1.2 Lwater
• 1.5 tbspfine salt, divided
• 100 graw hulled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
• 30 graw sesame seeds
• 3dried guajillo chilies, stemmed and seeded
• 2dried pasilla chilies, stemmed and seeded
• 1dried chipotle chili, stemmed (or chile zambo if available)
• 4 mediumripe tomatoes
• 4tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 1head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
• 1cinnamon stick
• 4whole cloves
• 1 tspground black pepper
• 1small slice of corn tortilla, toasted (the secret thickener)
• 2 tbspvegetable oil

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the chicken

   Place chicken, one onion (halved), bay leaves, water, and 1 tsp salt in a large pot. Bring to a simmer and poach 25 minutes until just cooked through. Lift out the chicken and reserve the broth — you should have about 800 ml.

2. 2

   Toast the seeds

   On a dry heavy skillet or comal over medium heat, toast the pumpkin seeds 4 minutes, stirring, until puffed and pale golden. Tip into a bowl. Repeat with sesame seeds — they only need 2 minutes. Combine.

   The seeds must toast, not burn — burnt seeds ruin the whole sauce. Pull them off the heat as soon as they pop.

3. 3

   Toast the chilies

   On the same skillet, press the chilies flat for 10 seconds per side until they puff and smell smoky. Don't blacken them. Soak them in 250 ml of hot chicken broth for 15 minutes.

4. 4

   Char the vegetables

   On the same skillet char the tomatoes, tomatillos, remaining onion, and garlic cloves, turning, until visibly black-spotted all over — 8–10 minutes. This is where the smoky flavor comes from.

5. 5

   Blend the sauce

   In a blender combine the toasted seeds, soaked chilies with their broth, charred vegetables, cinnamon stick, cloves, pepper, the toasted tortilla, and 300 ml more chicken broth. Blend on high for 2 full minutes until completely smooth.

   Two minutes of blending — not one — is what gives pepián its signature silky texture.

6. 6

   Fry and reduce the sauce

   Heat oil in a heavy pot over medium-high. Pour in the blended sauce (it will spatter — keep a lid handy). Lower to medium and cook 12 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce deepens in color and visibly thickens.

7. 7

   Add chicken and broth

   Add 300 ml more chicken broth and the remaining salt. Return the chicken pieces to the pot. Simmer 25 minutes, partly covered, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon and the chicken is glossy and fully infused.

8. 8

   Serve

   Pull out the cinnamon stick. Plate a chicken piece in a deep bowl, ladle sauce generously over the top, and serve with white rice and warm corn tortillas.

Variations

• •

  Pepián de Indio: replace chicken with beef (use chuck, simmer 90 minutes) for the more festive K'iche' Maya version.

• •

  Add 200 g cubed potato or chayote in step 7 — common in highland Guatemalan versions.

• •

  Vegetarian: skip the chicken, use vegetable broth, and add roasted carrots, chayote, and chickpeas; reduce sauce time to 8 minutes.

Storage

Refrigerates 4 days — flavor visibly improves overnight. Reheat gently with a splash of broth to loosen. Freezes 2 months; thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.

Frequently Asked Questions