Last Sunday I made Tacos at home. It was like a cool dinner table, with so many sauces and stuffing, salad option. My girls were so happy and they made their own combos. We had a great time, and I wonder, why I haven’t shared a Taco recipe yet with you here. Anyways, sharing it now, and its a very interesting healthy recipe. Hope you like it
Related Articles
Tacos is a fried corn flatbread, and as it comes out of the frier, it is shaped into a U, quite similar to, how we shape papad at home. I wanted to skip the Deep frier, so opted for my oven. You can choose to go with either deep frying or baking, the dough and the ingredients will remain same.
I am gonna take you through the recipe, ingredients, the whole making process. As well as some interesting facts as we proceed further in the recipe.
You can make a choice between baking or deep frying when you make tacos at home. It can be a healthy alternative to bread in sandwich wraps, make a great pizza base to top with cheese and veggies and are ideal for dipping into salsa or guacamole.
There are some interesting taco sauces and a classic taco spice mix for you here. All homemade and made easy.
Homemade Taco Sauces and Seasoning
Interesting Fun info:
Tacos/tortilla/Quesadilla/Burrito, all these are quite similar. They are all flat cornbreads, call them cousins …
There are so many types of Mexican flatbreads where corn and wheat are the two main flours used for the base. When I searched on google, the names were endless. Some of them we are familiar with and some of them, I can’t pronounce even. It’s like a big family with almost same bread base, but different serving styles. Little confusing but interesting.
Tortilla: A flat round bread made out of cornmeal and flour.
- Taco: it’s a taco, served soft and deep fried also.
- Burrito: it’s a really big tortilla, served folded with a whole lot of stuffing +rice and now we have Burrito bowl too.
- Quesadilla: it’s two tortillas filled with cheese and some stuffing, and grilled. Great with salsa.
- Gringa: it’s a really big taco with cheese and is made using white flour tortillas.
- Sincronazada: it’s two tacos smashed together with cheese. Call them tortilla base sandwich. They are then grilled or even lightly fried until the cheese melts and the tortillas become crispy, cut into halves or wedges and served, usually with salsa, guacamole on the top.
- Enchilada: it’s a stuffed and rolled, soft taco smothered in spicy chilli sauce.
- Enmolada: it’s a rolled corn tortilla, stuffed with meat/ vegetables or beans and cheese smothered in mole sauce
- Taco Sudado: it’s a steamed taco.
- Flauta: it’s a deep-fried version. A tortilla that is rolled around a filling of meat and cheese and then fried.
- Chimichanga: this is like a big deep-fried burrito. A tortilla which is filled with rice, cheese, beans, dried meat, marinated meat, folded into a rectangle package and deep fried.
When it comes to stuffing ideas for tacos any filling meat or vegetarian can be added to the taco shell. Diced onion, radish slices, grilled onion, pulses, grilled or roasted peppers, cauliflower, tofu, paneer, mushrooms, ahh the options are endless.
A) Roasted cauliflower, seasoned lentils and creamy chipotle sauce combine to make a delicious taco!
B) Cooked lentils/ pulses that are seasoned with onions, garlic, tomato paste, cumin and chilli powder. Top all that off with a drizzle of spicy, creamy chipotle sauce and some fresh herb, and you have one tasty taco.
C) Something like a Szechuan tofu/ panner with some salad and sauce will make an interesting combo.
D) Roasting sweet potatoes with cumin, paprika, and coriander. Tossed together with black beans, corn, tiny bit of honey, and lime, these sweet and spicy tacos are just amazing.
E) The tofu cubes marinated and then baked, which creates a hard crust and chewy centre, mingled with some caramelised onions and garlic base sauce, and of course fresh coriander.
f) How about amazing BBQ jackfruit, along with some fresh salad filled in a crispy taco shell.
Making taco shells at home is not a difficult task. First step is to knead the dough then roll in to small rounds as shown in the images. You can very well deep fry them or bake them. Deep frying will add more taste to the tacos and of course more calories too.
The thinner you roll out the taco, tastier it will be. And will also take less time in the oven. Use a sharp edge bowl to cut a clean circle from the rolled out taco dough, for even looking taco shells
Though, baking and giving the classic U shape to tacos while they are getting crispier in the oven was a challenge. I somehow managed with few ideas to do the job.
The images here will show you some ideas, how when baking you can give tacos their typical U share. You can also give a try to taco cup, super easy to make.
Yes, the only thing, here to care about when baking is to keep the oven temperature 120* C and keep rotating the tacos from time to time when baking for even colour.
Ingredients
1 cup maize flour (makai ka atta)
Go Earth Organic Makki Atta 500gm
1/2 cup Maida
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp Caram seeds (ajwain)
1/4th tsp of turmeric powder
1/4th tsp of red chilly powder
Salt to taste
Oil for deep-frying (optional)
Method
Sieve the maize flour and maida together in a deep bowl.
Add the oil, carom seeds, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt and knead into a semi-stiff dough using enough warm water.
Divide the dough into equal portions. Roll out a portion into a 100 mm. (4”) diameter circle using little plain flour for rolling and prick it with a fork at regular intervals.
To deep fry: Heat the oil in a deep non-stick kadhai and deep-fry it till it turns light brown in colour from both the sides.
Once it turns light brown, immediately shape it into a shell (‘u’ shape) using a pair of tongs and a frying ladle and continue deep-frying while holding the shell till it turns golden brown in colour from both the sides. Drain it on an absorbent paper.
To bake: Preheat the oven to 120* C and As shown in images adjust the rolled out taco shells in the wire rack. it will take almost 20 minutes. You will need to change the sides during the baking time for even colour.
Allow it to cool completely, store in an air-tight container and use as required.
