the secret to making mole fast is to have on hand 5 or 6 key fresh ingredients, and to use the dry heat of a comal or cazuela to scorch or roast them. A red or black mole can be made in less than an hour, and a green mole can be made in 45 minutes with the help of prepared mole paste. Even great mexican cooks who are quite capable of making a forty-fifty ingredient mole from scratch use prepared mole paste most of the time.
Onions, tomatoes, and garlic are roasted until slightly charred to give prepared mole paste a fresh from the fire flavor. Dried mild red chiles, almonds, raisins, and chocolate, as well as cinnamon can also be added to enrich a prepared mole paste. For practical reasons, the blender outperforms the molcahete to achieve a smooth texture. Mole paste requires considerable liquid (chicken or veggie stock) to rehydrate.
