The ICC World Cup 2015 Cricket tournament is on. For us, Indians, this is the most important sporting event every four years of our lives. And since a one-day cricket match is about 6 hours of play (okay, Americans, do not overreact; that’s approximately how long it takes to WATCH an average NFL game!!!), it means 7-8 hours long parties with lots of friends, foods, and drinks. Consequently, this also means a lot of cooking, cleaning, and dishes for the hosts. So people frequently ask me to post easy recipes with minimal cooking and chopping time that are also good for entertaining. In this regard, I think, nothing beats tacos. I love tacos because of its endless possibilities of flavors. It makes for a fun and pretty presentations gives you the opportunity to easily diversify the spread such that everyone finds something they like, and gives people the flexibility to build their own tacos. This also means fewer dishes (I use paper plates and cups) and no waiting around the tables.
For the India Vs. Pakistan match (yaaaaay!!!), I made this Indianized / Pakistanized taco, marinating the shrimp with tandoori spices, and they came out delicious! You can totally use chicken/fish/paneer or other veggies instead. I used pickled radishes, but pickled onions will make for a very tasty substitute too. Go ahead and experiment with this recipe, find a version you like, and share it with us!!
Tandoori Shrimp tacos
Ingredients
- 1 lb shrimps peeled and deveined (35-40)
- 1 tbsp garlic paste
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 cup Greek/hung yogurt
- 1 tsp or less red chili powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp black pepper powder
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp gram flour or cornflour
For wrapping
- 8 flour or corn tortillas/rotis/paranthas/pita bread
- 1 avocado peeled and sliced
- 1/2 cup cilantro/coriander leaves chopped
- 8-10 lime wedges
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients listed under tandoori shrimps in a bowl, cover with a cling wrap and refrigerate for 30-45 minutes.
- Line a baking tray with aluminum foil, grease with oil, and evenly arrange the shrimps on the tray. Broil for 5-6 minutes on each side.
Wrapping
- Heat tortilla and fill them with the desired amount of shrimps, pickled radishes, avocados, cilantro, and lime juice.
Pickled radishes
Ingredients
- 1 bunch radishes
- ¾ cup white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- ¾ cup water
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 dry red chili
- ½ tsp black pepper corns
- 1 clove of garlic
Instructions
- Bring the water to a boil, remove from heat, and add all the rest of the pickling ingredients. I like to slice the radishes after pickling them, but you can slice them before pickling too.
roasted Jalapeno aioli
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro chopped
- 1-2 fresh roasted jalapeno peppers ribs and seeds removed
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until tacos are ready to serve.
Dhrubaa Mukherjee--An academic by profession, a contributor to Huffington Post, a dancer by passion, a compulsive foodie, a former flight attendant, and a constant traveler, I am, what they call, a transnational gourmand (gourmet?). I am not only fascinated by the tastes, colors, textures and aromas of food, I am equally intrigued by the histories, traditions and cultural inter-junctions that drive/influence recipes.
Craving tacos right now after seeing this post -they look delicious!
Do it! 😀