Enchilada Sauce

Method

1. whisk2 min
   medium, until it smells nutty
   flour into hot oil — the roux is the body of a chili gravy; unlike a white sauce it wants a minute of real color, because pale roux tastes of paste under this much spice
2. toast1 min
   medium, stirring constantly
   + chili powder + cumin + garlic powder + oregano directly into the roux — the fat blooms the ground chiles the way soaking blooms whole ones; it will look alarmingly dark and thick, which is correct, but it goes from bloomed to scorched in seconds, so the stock stands ready
3. whisk2 min
   stock in a stream
   + tomato paste, then stock added slowly against the thick base — dumped at once it lumps; streamed in it opens into a smooth pourable sauce
4. simmer8 min
   low, until it coats a spoon
   with salt, until spoon-coating but still pourable — it thickens again over the enchiladas in the oven, so a sauce that looks perfect in the pot bakes into sludge
5. season1 min
   off heat
   + vinegar — a teaspoon of acid at the end does what more chili cannot: it lifts the whole sauce and keeps the spice from sitting flat and heavy