Sweet potato enchiladas

In Mexico every family makes enchiladas a little differently. The idea is always the same: tortillas are filled, rolled and covered in a chilli sauce. In Puebla and central Mexico, the red sauce made from dried chillies is the best known. Our filling of roast sweet potato and black beans suits autumn perfectly. It is sweet, earthy and filling, and the smoky sauce balances it nicely.

The sauce matters most. Dried ancho chillies are mild and taste of raisins, cocoa and smoke. You can buy them from Latin American shops or online. Toast them briefly in a pan, soak them and blend them with tomatoes, onion and garlic. If you cannot find them, use mild chilli powder and a pinch of smoked paprika. Make the sauce a bit looser than you think, because the tortillas soak up a lot of it in the oven.

Roast the sweet potato before it goes into the tortillas. It gets browned edges and keeps its shape instead of turning to mash in the filling. Corn tortillas give the most authentic result. Warm them briefly so they do not crack as you roll. Wheat tortillas work too, though they soften more in the oven and soak up more sauce.

Enchiladas are ideal for cooking ahead. You can assemble the dish the night before and simply bake it the next day, and leftovers reheat well. At the table add coriander, onion rings, soured cream and lime. To drink, try agua de jamaica, a cold hibiscus tea that turns up with almost every meal in Mexico.