Vegan Pozole verde with young jackfruit
Vegan twist on a hearty Mexican soup flavoured with green chillies. This recipe is also oil-free!
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1 can young jackfruit 14 oz can, or use about 250g of fresh/frozen young jackfruit.
- 1 can hominy 15.5 oz can
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ white onion
- 3 cups water used divided
- 1 tsp vegetable stock concentrate Optional ingredient, I used better than boullion
- ½ tsp cumin powder optional
- ½ tsp dry oregano optional
- 1 bay leaf optional
- salt to taste
For verde sauce
- 2 poblano peppers
- 1-2 anaheim peppers optional
- 2 tomatillo
- ½ jalapeno adjust to suit taste
- ½ cup cilantro/coriander leaves
- ¼ white onion
- 5 cloves garlic
For garnish
- ½ white onion
- 4 stalks cilantro/coriander leaves
- 1 lime
- 1 avocado
- 4 small red radish optional
- ½ cup shredded cabbage or as needed
Instructions
Roasting chillies, tomatillos and garlic.
- Heat a cast iron pan or griddle on medium-high heat.
- Place the poblano and Anaheim peppers , 5 cloves of garlic and tomatillos on it.
- Roast by turning them around when one side is charred.
- Garlic will get roasted before the chilies, remove them when they look roasted.
- Once the chilies are charred, place them covered in a bowl.
- Once the chiles are cool enough to handle, peel the skin and remove the seeds.
Cook young jackfruit
- Rinse canned young jackfruit and add it to a pot. Into it, add ¼ of an onion, 2 garlic cloves cut in half and the bay leaf. Add a cup of water.
- Cook jackfruit until fork tender.
While jackfruit cooks, make the verde sauce.
- Taste test the roasted chillies for spiciness. Continue with the next step based on personal spice level.
- Add peeled, de-seeded chiles, garlic, tomatillo, jalapeno, ¼ of onion, cilantro/coriander leaves, 1 cup of water into a blender jar and blend smooth.
Making the soup
- Shred the cooked jackfruit using a fork.
- Add in the rinsed and drained hominy.
- Add the blended green sauce and remaining 2 cups of water. Adjust water as needed.
- Add cumin and oregano, if using.
- Taste the broth and add salt as needed.
- Bring to a boil on medium heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Assembling pozole
- Chop the white onion, cilantro/coriander leaves, shred cabbage, slice red radish and avocado.
- Ladle out the soup and garnish it with chopped white onions, cilantro, sliced radishes, shredded cabbage, avocado and a wedge of lime.
- Squeeze some lime over the soup and enjoy hot. Can be served with tortillas and tortilla chips.
Video
Notes
- If poblano peppers are not available, use any flavourful mild green chilli local to your region. In India, the less spicy pakoda chillies can be used.
- Roasting chillies directly over a gas burner or on a coal grill gives the best smoky results. The chillies can also be broiled in an oven.
- Poblanos and anaheim peppers are generally mild but they can be spicy too! After roasting the peppers, taste test before deciding how many need to go into the verde sauce.
- If tomatillos aren't available, use green tomatoes instead.
- Tomatillos can be added into the blender raw too. Alternatively, tomatillos can also be boiled in water. I however like to get them roasted along with the chilies.
- I have made pozole without cumin and oregano many times. As the chillies bring in a lot of flavour, I do not miss the taste of the herbs.