MEXICAN RIPES

My son, Nehal relishes his favorite Mexican snack – tacos and I set myself the task of preparing home made taco shells right from scratch using corn tortillas, loaded with a delicious paneer-vegetable-baked beans filling as a tea-time snack and use the left over tortillas to prepare enchilada casserole for dinner. The tacos I prepare at home are Mexican inspired and are no where authentic.:).

Its a simple recipe but does call for quite a bit of preparation work. First I prepared the corn tortillas, the recipe of which I had blogged earlier, and used these tortillas to prepare taco shells, using a taco mould. I bought a very convenient custom made aluminium taco mould/maker with a long wooden handle for Rs.120 (approx $ 2.70) from a cookware store in Vizag.

Taco mould (custom made at a cookware store)

Mexican Tacos Recipe

Prep & Cooking: 45 mts, cooking: 15 mts

Cuisine: Mexican

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Ingredients:
For filling:
1 1/2 cups chopped mixed vegetables (onions, carrots, beans, baby corn, capsicum, cabbage)
2 tomatoes chopped
3/4 cup grated paneer
3-4 tbsps coriander leaves or parsley finely chopped
pepper pwd or dried red chilli flakes for seasoning
salt to taste
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
home made tomato salsa
home made sour cream (optional)
1/2 cup baked beans (optional)
For tacos:
rolled out corn tortillas
taco mould/maker
oil for deep frying

1 Saute the mixed vegetables in olive oil for 2-3 mts. Next add the grated paneer and saute further for a minute. Turn off heat and cool.
2 Combine the sauteed vegetables-paneer, tomatoes, salt and pepper/red chilli flakes. Filling is ready.

Tomatoes, cabbage, capsicum, sweet corn, carrot, onions, paneer, green peas, baby corn and grated paneer

How to prepare corn tortillas at home
3 To prepare the tacos, roll out corn tortillas into small rotis or approx 6″ in diameter. Use a fork to prick lightly on the rolled out tortillas.
4 Heat enough oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed vessel. Once hot, slide a tortilla into the oil and immediately place the bottom of the taco mould on the center of the tortilla and press gently into the oil and hold for 12-15 secs. You will find that the tortilla takes the shape of the mould and forms a cup.

5 Remove the mould and cook the shell all over till golden brown. Drain and remove. Prepare with the rest of the tortillas.

6 Now fill the taco shells with 2 tbsps of the paneer-vegetable filling. Top with a tbsp of baked beans followed by a tbsp of salsa, a tbsp of sour cream and garnish with parsley. Crunchy crisp tacos with a delicious filling are ready to be devoured!

Note:

You can use any type of filling – vegetables or meat based and top with cheese.

Read more about Mexican Tacos
Interesting article on the history of tortilla and taco

Note:

Do visit this website for more information on Mexican recipes and cooking classes. The above recipes were originally prepared by Manju Sethia who designed the taco maker along with 2 other shapes.