I used to buy chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, thinking that they met all of my ingredient requirements-oil free vegan, whole food. Lesson learned – always read the label. The store bought version has oil in  it. So off I go to make my own. In my version I purée all of the peppers and use about 3 tablespoons for every chile called for in a recipe. 

Ingredients

9 dried Chipotle Morita chiles

½ cup diced yellow onion

2 garlic cloves

1 Roma tomato

¼ teaspoon Mexican oregano

⅛ teaspoon cumin

1½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 ounces water (or soaking liquid)

½ teaspoon salt

freshly cracked black pepper

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet over high heat
2. Wipe off the chiles with a damp towel. 
3. Place them in the pan and toast each side for 2 minutes until they are fragrant. Remove them from the pan and add them to a mixing bowl. Cover them with hot water for 30 minutes.
4. Add the onion, garlic, and Roma tomato to the pan the chiles were in, and saute them for 4-5 minutes until the onions start to brown.
5. Remove the chiles from the soaking liquid and set the liquid aside. De-stem and de-seed the chiles and add them to a blender with the onion, tomato, garlic, oregano, cumin, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, black pepper and ¼ cup of the chile soaking liquid*. Process until creamy.
6. Store refrigerated for up to 2 months.

*Taste the soaking liquid. If it is bitter, discard it and use water instead.