Chimichangas

Dry roast the whole cumin until fragrant and grind it fresh.

Toast the dried chilies in the same pan over medium heat, one to two minutes, until fragrant but not smoking.

Kill the heat, cover the chilies with water, lid on, and let sit about ten minutes until completely soft.

Tip the chilies and their soaking liquid into a high-powered blender with the onion, canned tomatoes, garlic, paprika, oregano, ground cumin, the optional chipotle, salt and pepper.

Blitz on high until completely smooth, then taste; add more tomatoes if the sauce is too hot.

Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, pat dry, and sear over medium high heat in the vegetable oil until coloured on both sides.

Add a cup and a half of the sauce as a braising liquid, lid on, lower the heat and braise about half an hour.

For the salsa, pulse the drained de-seeded plum tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, garlic, cilantro, salt, pepper and lime juice in a food processor in short pulses. Cover and refrigerate.

For the crema, whisk the sour cream with the juice of half a lime until homogenous and drizzlable, and pour into a squeeze bottle.

For the guacamole, mash the avocado with lime juice, crushed garlic, minced red onion, ground cumin, the optional jalapeno, black pepper and salt to the consistency you want.

Take the lid off the chicken and reduce the sauce until thick, then shred the chicken in the pan, toss it with the sauce and set aside to cool.

Pulse the flour and shortening in a food processor 15 to 20 times until it looks like wet sand.

With the machine running, pour the warm water through the feed tube until a ball of dough forms. Knead a couple of seconds by hand.

Weigh the dough and divide into six even balls; roll them tight, set on an oiled rimmed baking sheet, dot with oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

Rest at room temperature one hour.

Dust each ball generously with flour and roll out as thin and round as possible, dusting the rolling pin too.

Cook on a bare cast iron skillet heated to 400F until you see wisps of smoke; about 90 seconds a side until big bubbles form, then 30 to 60 seconds more after flipping for burnished brown spots.

Stack the cooked tortillas wrapped in a clean dish towel to stay warm, soft and pliable.

Onto the lower third of a tortilla put the shredded chicken, refried beans and cheese.

Brush the slurry around the outside edges of the tortilla as a glue, and roll it like a burrito.

Bring the vegetable oil to 350F and fry about two minutes until deeply golden brown, then flip and fry one to two minutes more.

Drain on a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet and keep warm.

Serve with a generous drizzle of crema, a generous dollop of guacamole and a slightly less generous dollop of salsa.