Bhavna
My favorite fusion food is the mix of two cuisines, Indian with Mexican touch!
Mexican Salad is a great addition to your weekly menu with its rich combination of flavors from Mexican staples – beans, avocados/guacamole, tomatoes, cheese, and spices!
My family loves little crunch in Mexican Salad/Bowl so I usually fry tortillas or use corn chips. I fry and store flour tortillas in bulk so whenever I crave for Mexican salad, I can prepare salad quickly. Fried tortillas can be store up to a month in an air tight container or refrigerate for longer and slightly reheat when ready to use. But if you don’t have time to fry flour tortillas, simply go for thin crispy corn chips.
Mexican salad is easy to make and it requires only a few ingredients. You just toss and combine everything. This makes it an ideal picnic pick as it won’t take much of your time to prepare.
Beans is a must for this recipe. I prefer Chili Pinto or Black Beans. I stock cans of chili pinto beans but can be made easily at home as well. Just boil a cup of dry pinto beans (put your instant pot to use here), add 1 tbsp chili seasoning and a tbsp of Tomato paste or 1/4 cup of tomato sauce to boiled pinto beans and simmer for about 10 minutes for the best flavor.
What makes this dish ultra special is the richness of Mexican flavors balanced in one easy recipe. Also, you get all sorts of textures and flavors from the vegetables and spices all tied together nicely.
Mexican Bhel
Ingredients
For Chips
- * 2 flour tortillas 8 inch, uncooked
- I usually fry big batch of Tortillas and store in an air tight container stays great for up to a month or refrigerate for freshness.
For The Bean Mix
- * 15 oz can Chili Pinto beans or use boiled black beans
- * 1 cup bell pepper finely diced, I am using mix of different colors
- * ½ cup frozen corn thaw and pat dry
- * 1 tbsp jalapeño finely diced
- * 2 tbsp cilantro finely chopped
- * 2 tsp lime juice
- * ½ tsp salt
- For Salsa
- * 2 cup tomatoes chopped, I prefer to use ready canned diced tomatoes with chiles, helps to preserve salsa up to a week as well. If using all fresh veggies, it is recommended to finish the same day or can be refrigerated for couple of days.
- * 1/4 cup onion
- * 2 cloves of Garlic
- * ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- * 1 jalapeño chopped
- * ½ tsp salt
- * ½ tsp cumin seed powder
For Hot Sauce (No Sauce required if using Chili Pinto Beans)
- * 10 dry whole red chilies
- * ½ cup tomatoes roughly chopped
- * ½ tsp salt
- * ½ tsp cumin seed powder
For Serving
- * 1 ½ cup lettuce thinly sliced
- * 1 jalapeño thinly sliced
- * ¼ cup shredded Mexican blended cheeses cheddar/Monterey
Guacamole – Avocado Dip
- 2 avocados peeled, pitted, and diced
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic, minced
- ½ lime, juiced
Instructions
For Bean Mixture
- Toss all the ingredients together, beans, bell peppers, corn, cilantro, jalapeno, salt, cilantro, and lemon juice , and set aside.
For Tortilla Chips
- Cut the tortillas into 1/2-inch square to use as the “papdi”. Heat the oil in frying pan oil should be about 1/2-inch-deep, on medium high heat. Fry the tortillas until they are light golden brown.
For Hot Sauce
- Boil the chilies in about 1 cup of water, till they are soft and tender. If needed add more water. Blend all the ingredients together, tomatoes, chilies, salt and cumin seed powder. make it into paste.
For Salsa
- Blend all the ingredients tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno, salt and cumin seeds powder, making into chunky.
- Assembling
- Spread lettuce in the bowl, put the bean mix over, spread some chips, cheese some taco sauce. I will leave on individual how much they want to add the hot sauce.
Making of Guacamole
- Combine avocado, green onion, cilantro, seasoned salt, black pepper, garlic, and lime juice in a bowl; mash with a spoon or potato masher until mostly smooth with small chunks.
Video
For more Mexican Recipe Videos, watch the playlist below:
