1. The tomatillos: Boil the fresh tomatillos and chiles in salted water to cover until tender, 10 to 15 minutes; drain. Simply drain canned tomatillos.

2. The puree: Place the tomatillos and chiles (raw ones if using canned tomatillos) in a blender or food processor, along with the coriander, onion and garlic; if using a blender, stir well. Process until smooth, but still retaining a little texture.

3. The sauce: Heat the lard or vegetable oil in a medium-large skillet set over medium-high. When hot enough to make a drop of the puree sizzle sharply, pour it in all at once and stir constantly for 4 or 5 minutes, until darker and thicker. Add the broth, let return to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until thick enough to coat a spoon, about 10 minutes. Season with salt.

Techniques

Blender Tricks: In blending in gredients of such different consistencics to an even-textured puree, make sure that (1) harder items are chopped before blending, (2) the mixture is well stirred before blending, and (3) the blender is first pulsed, then turned on low. Blending should never take more than about 20 seconds.

Timing and Advance Preparation

The sauce can be made in ½ hour. It keeps, covered and refrigerated, up to 4 days.

Contemporary Ideas

Herby Tomatillo Sauce: Puree the drained tomatillos, 1 large chile poblano (roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped), 3 cloves garlic (roasted and peeled) and 10 large leaves fresh basil. Fry and simmer as directed in Step 2. For a more Mexican balance of flavors, replace ½ the basil with a few leaves of epazote (or mint) and sprigs of fresh coriander.

Kitchen Spanish

In Mexico, the tomatillo may be called anything from tomate, to tomate verde, miltomate, or tomate de cascara (“husk tomato”), not to mention fresadilla in the northeast and tomatillo in the northwest.