To make Achiote Paste

Name: To make Achiote Paste (Pasta de Achiote)
Yield: Yield: about ⅔ cup.
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: Working in three batches, process ½ cup achiote seeds to a fine powder in an electric coffee or spice grinder. (Don’t try to do more than this at once—they are so hard it’s best to work in small quantities.) In a small bowl, mix the ground achiote to a paste with the freshly squeezed juice of 1½ oranges (about 6 tablespoons) and ½ lime (about 2 tablespoons) and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Taste the mixture. If it is overly bitter, mix in up to 2 teaspoons sugar, adding ½ teaspoon at a time and tasting for balance. It will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator, tightly sealed.; Working in three batches, process ½ cup achiote seeds to a fine powder in an electric coffee or spice grinder. (Don’t try to do more than this at once—they are so hard it’s best to work in small quantities.) In a small bowl, mix the ground achiote to a paste with the freshly squeezed juice of 1½ oranges (about 6 tablespoons) and ½ lime (about 2 tablespoons) and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Taste the mixture. If it is overly bitter, mix in up to 2 teaspoons sugar, adding ½ teaspoon at a time and tasting for balance. It will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator, tightly sealed.; Working in three batches, process ½ cup achiote seeds to a fine powder in an electric coffee or spice grinder. (Don’t try to do more than this at once—they are so hard it’s best to work in small quantities.) In a small bowl, mix the ground achiote to a paste with the freshly squeezed juice of 1½ oranges (about 6 tablespoons) and ½ lime (about 2 tablespoons) and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Taste the mixture. If it is overly bitter, mix in up to 2 teaspoons sugar, adding ½ teaspoon at a time and tasting for balance. It will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator, tightly sealed.; Working in three batches, process ½ cup achiote seeds to a fine powder in an electric coffee or spice grinder. (Don’t try to do more than this at once—they are so hard it’s best to work in small quantities.) In a small bowl, mix the ground achiote to a paste with the freshly squeezed juice of 1½ oranges (about 6 tablespoons) and ½ lime (about 2 tablespoons) and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Taste the mixture. If it is overly bitter, mix in up to 2 teaspoons sugar, adding ½ teaspoon at a time and tasting for balance. It will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator, tightly sealed.; Working in three batches, process ½ cup achiote seeds to a fine powder in an electric coffee or spice grinder. (Don’t try to do more than this at once—they are so hard it’s best to work in small quantities.) In a small bowl, mix the ground achiote to a paste with the freshly squeezed juice of 1½ oranges (about 6 tablespoons) and ½ lime (about 2 tablespoons) and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Taste the mixture. If it is overly bitter, mix in up to 2 teaspoons sugar, adding ½ teaspoon at a time and tasting for balance. It will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator, tightly sealed.; Working in three batches, process ½ cup achiote seeds to a fine powder in an electric coffee or spice grinder. (Don’t try to do more than this at once—they are so hard it’s best to work in small quantities.) In a small bowl, mix the ground achiote to a paste with the freshly squeezed juice of 1½ oranges (about 6 tablespoons) and ½ lime (about 2 tablespoons) and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Taste the mixture. If it is overly bitter, mix in up to 2 teaspoons sugar, adding ½ teaspoon at a time and tasting for balance. It will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator, tightly sealed.; Working in three batches, process ½ cup achiote seeds to a fine powder in an electric coffee or spice grinder. (Don’t try to do more than this at once—they are so hard it’s best to work in small quantities.) In a small bowl, mix the ground achiote to a paste with the freshly squeezed juice of 1½ oranges (about 6 tablespoons) and ½ lime (about 2 tablespoons) and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Taste the mixture. If it is overly bitter, mix in up to 2 teaspoons sugar, adding ½ teaspoon at a time and tasting for balance. It will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator, tightly sealed.; Working in three batches, process ½ cup achiote seeds to a fine powder in an electric coffee or spice grinder. (Don’t try to do more than this at once—they are so hard it’s best to work in small quantities.) In a small bowl, mix the ground achiote to a paste with the freshly squeezed juice of 1½ oranges (about 6 tablespoons) and ½ lime (about 2 tablespoons) and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Taste the mixture. If it is overly bitter, mix in up to 2 teaspoons sugar, adding ½ teaspoon at a time and tasting for balance. It will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator, tightly sealed.; Working in three batches, process ½ cup achiote seeds to a fine powder in an electric coffee or spice grinder. (Don’t try to do more than this at once—they are so hard it’s best to work in small quantities.) In a small bowl, mix the ground achiote to a paste with the freshly squeezed juice of 1½ oranges (about 6 tablespoons) and ½ lime (about 2 tablespoons) and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Taste the mixture. If it is overly bitter, mix in up to 2 teaspoons sugar, adding ½ teaspoon at a time and tasting for balance. It will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator, tightly sealed.

Pasta de Achiote

Preparation info

Yield: about
⅔ cup
.

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Food and Life of Oaxaca

By Zarela Martínez

Published 1997

About

Ingredients

Working in three batches, process ½ cup achiote seeds to a fine powder in an electric coffee or spice grinder. (Don’t try to do more than this at once—they are so hard it’s best to work in small quantities.) In a small bowl, mix the ground

Americas
Mexico
Sauce
Spicy
Gluten-free
Central America
Vegan
Oaxaca

Method

Commercial pastes are available in Latin American stores, but they may contain a mixture of seasonings not suitable to Oaxacan food.

When a recipe call for achiote as part of a mole or sauce, always grind it first, separately from the other ingredients. This is also because of the extreme hardness of the seed.