Cómo preparar guacamole rojo en molcajete

What does “martajamos” mean in Spanish?

When Janet drops the tomato into the molcajete and says “lo martajamos,” she does not mean fully mash it. “Martajar” is a Mexican kitchen word for crushing something into rough, chunky pieces — broken up but not smooth. So her red guacamole stays a little lumpy on purpose. If you only know “machacar” (mash) or “moler” (grind), this word adds the middle step: coarse, not fine.

She says: “Lo agregamos al molcajete en trozos y lo martajamos.” — “We add it to the molcajete in pieces and we mash it coarsely.” The “-amos” ending means “we.” A few uses: “Martaja el tomate, pero que quede con trozos.” (Crush the tomato, but keep some chunks.) “El maíz martajado se usa para atole.” (Coarsely cracked corn is used for atole.) “No lo muelas tanto, solo martájalo.” (Don’t grind it so much, just crush it roughly.) Note: this verb is common in Mexico and may sound new elsewhere; in other places people might just say “machaca un poco.” The molcajete is the stone bowl she uses; with no molcajete, she says a fork works too.