International food feast : Mexican Tortilla and Salsa

The time has come to try out international food in fourth sense samayal :)

A sudden thought arose to celebrate a week of International food feast in my blog. So viewers the next 7 posts would be my trial of simple versions of various cuisines. :)

The first one is here.

MEXICAN TORTILLA AND SALSA

I made tomato salsa to go with tortilla as well as tortilla chips :)

Salsa - Pico de gallo

In Mexican cuisine, Salsa pico de gallo is a fresh uncooked condiment made from chopped tomato, onion, chillies etc. It is also called as Salsa picada.

Ingredients:

Fresh tomatoes - 3 large
Onions - 2 medium sized
Jalapeno(Chilly) - 1
Cilantro(Coriander leaves)
Red bell pepper - 1/2
Lime juice - 1 tsp
Paprika - 1/2 tsp
Olive oil - 1 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Salt - for taste

Method:

Boil 3 cups of water in a vessel. Slightly slit the tomatoes and put them into the boiling water. Let it boil for another 5 min. Switch off the flame and remove the tomatoes from the water and let them cool for a while. Now gently remove the skin and and cut the tomatoes into halves to remove the seeds too. Chop the tomato into small pieces.

Dice onions, bell pepper and jalapeno into small pieces too. Take all the diced vegetables in a bowl and add finely cut cilantro to it. Now add salt, olive oil, paprika, pepper and lemon juice to it and mix well. Refrigerate for some time to blend flavors.

Tomato salsa is ready to serve. :) Serve it with tortilla or tortilla chips and enjoy eating :)

Tortilla

Tortilla is a flat bread that is made up of all purpose flour or corn base.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 2 cups
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Butter or Vegetable shortening - 1/2 cup
Salt - for taste
Hot water - 1 cup

Method:

Mix the flour and salt. Mix in the butter by hand until the mixture resembles small peas. Add the water slowly until you have a soft elastic ball. You may need to add a little more or less water, but do it slowly. You may not really need as much water as you think you do. Knead until smooth. Cover with a damp towel and then let rest 30 minutes.

Make about 7-9 equal size balls. Flatten and roll each ball into a flat round disk. Cook on a very hot cast iron skillet. Apply little oil on it if necessary. Flip when bottom side is golden, the top should be bubbling slightly when ready. Use a spatula to lift the edge and check for doneness before flipping completely. Keep the cooked tortillas warm by covering with a damp towel while you continue to cook.

Tortillas are ready to eat :) Serve it as you like. I have served it by making a pouch and filling it with salsa. :)

Tortilla Chips

Tortilla chips is an amazing snack food. They can be made in two ways. Either by deep frying it or by baking. They are extremely crispy and go awesome with salsa.

Method:

Make about 7-9 equal size balls from the tortilla dough. Flatten and roll each ball into a flat round disk. Now cut them diagonally 4 times to make 8 triangles. The shape is up to your creativity :)

Baking

Take a gresed baking tray and place the tortilla triangles on them leaving sufficient space between each other. Now apply some oil on the triangles using a brush. Place it in the microwave and bake for 5 min. Flip the triangles and bake for another 5 min. Crispy tortilla chips are ready.

The last pic of the post contains tortilla chips that were baked. :)

Deep frying

In case you decide to deep fry it, do remember to poke the tortilla triangles using a fork to makes tiny holes on it. This will not let the tortilla to puff up much. Now deep fry the tortilla triangles in a hot pan of oil till it turns light brown. Flip and fry for few min. Once done place it on a tissue.

Yummy deep fried tortilla chips are ready to eat. They go super cool with salsa. You can serve it by just sprinkling some paprika on top too :)

The first pic of the post consist of tortilla chips that were deep fried. You can see tiny bubbles in it.

For people who are not too conscious about oily food can surely try this one. :)

Happy making. Enjoy munching international food :)

I am sending this to Mexican fiesta 09.

Written by: Nithya
post your queries to fourthsensesamayal@gmail.com