Pipián is a sauce from Mexican cuisine made with puréed greens and thickened with ground pumpkin seeds. The sauce is said to have origins in the ancient Aztec and Mayan cuisines. The greens used to make the sauce include

tomatillos The tomatillo (''Physalis philadelphica'' and ''Physalis ixocarpa''), also known as the Mexican husk tomato, is a plant of the nightshade family bearing small, spherical, and green or green-purple fruit of the same name. Tomatillos originated ...

and peppers like poblano, serrano and

jalapeño The jalapeño ( , , ) is a medium-sized chili pepper pod type cultivar of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. A mature jalapeño chili is long and hangs down with a round, firm, smooth flesh of wide. It can have a range of pungency, with Scovi ...

. It can be served with carnitas, and roasted poultry or vegetables, or served as an enchilada sauce. It is sometimes added to rice and beans to enhance flavor or worked into dough to make spicy

tamales A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tamale ...

. Other ingredients used for the sauce are sesame seeds, ancho chile,

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...

s and spices like cinnamon, cumin and garlic.

References

Squash and pumpkin dishes Ancient dishes Mexican sauces {{Mexico-cuisine-stub