Papadzules are corn tortillas dipped in a green pumpkin-seed sauce (pepita molida), rolled around hard-boiled egg and finished with a fresh tomato-and-chiltomate sauce.

The dish dates to pre-Hispanic Maya cookery, where pumpkin seeds were the daily grease and protein source on the peninsula. The name in Mayan ('papak suul') means 'food for lords'. Spanish hard-boiled egg overlay made the modern version: corn tortillas dipped in a green pumpkin-seed sauce (pepita with epazote and chaya), wrapped around chopped hard-boiled egg, topped with a separate tomato-habanero salsa and crowned with the green pumpkin-seed oil. La Chaya Maya, La Tradición and Mercado Lucas de Gálvez puestos all run canonical recipes today; the dish is a popular Lenten plate in Mérida.

Where to eat Papadzules in Mérida

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Make it at home

Serves 41 hrIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 200g raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas), shelled
  • 1L chicken broth, hot
  • 1 small bunch epazote leaves (or substitute with cilantro)
  • 8 corn tortillas
  • 6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
  • Salt to taste
  • For the chiltomate sauce: 3 ripe tomatoes, 1 small onion, 1-2 habanero peppers, 1 tsp salt

Method

  1. Toast pumpkin seeds in a dry pan over medium heat until lightly browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
  2. Cool slightly, then grind in a blender or food processor with the epazote and a pinch of salt until very fine.
  3. Slowly whisk in hot chicken broth to form a smooth, thick green sauce. Keep warm but do not boil (it can split).
  4. For chiltomate: char tomatoes, onion and habanero on a dry pan or under a broiler until blackened. Blend to a chunky salsa with salt.
  5. Briefly dip each warm tortilla in the green sauce, place a spoonful of chopped egg in the centre and roll closed.
  6. Arrange 2 tortillas per plate. Spoon more green sauce over the top, then drizzle chiltomate down the centre.
  7. Garnish with extra chopped egg and serve immediately.

Editor tip. The pumpkin-seed sauce splits if boiled. Keep it just below simmering and whisk in hot broth gradually.

Common allergens: Egg, Gluten.