Mexican soup

Ingredients For Mexican Soup:

Corn 1/2 cup
Oil 2 tbsp
Onion 2
Celery 2
Garlic 1 tbsp
Carrot chopped 5-6 cloves
Salt to taste
Coriander powder 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder 3 cup
Vegetable stock 1
Jalapeños 1
Red capsicum 

Coriander a few sprigs

Method:
Heat 2 tbsp oil.
Add onion and celery .
Crush garlic and add and sauté for 2 minutes.
Add carrots, salt, coriander powder, cumin powder and mix well.
Add vegetables stock, cover and cook for 2 minutes.
Add half the corn, cover and continue to cook.
Add jalapeño and cook till carrot is soft.
Strain the stock into a bowl and put the solids into a mixer jar.
Add 1/4 cup cold vegetable stock and blend till smooth.
Pour the stained stock back into the pan, add the purée and mix well and bring to boil.
Add the rest of the corn, most of the roasted capsicum and mix.
Pour into a soup bowl and serve piping hot garnishing with remaining roasted red capsicum and a sprig of fresh coriander leaf.

Mexican Soup by Zarnak Sidhwa

Zarnak's wardrobe for this episode was sponsored by Flairs by Naureen Fayyaz

Mexican Chicken

Ingredients For Mexican Chicken:

Cooked chicken 2 cups
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Onion 1 large
Tomatoes 1 cup
Green chilies 1/2 cup
Tomato paste 1/2 cup
White vinegar 1 1/2 tsp
Garlic peeled 2 cloves
Sugar 3/4 tsp
Red chili flakes 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder 1/4 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Sour cream 1/2 cup

Method:
Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
Add the onion, cook and stir until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, puree the tomatoes with green chili, tomato paste, white vinegar, garlic, sugar, red chili flakes, cumin powder and salt.
Pour into the onions, and add chicken.
Cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
To serve, mound the chicken onto mini tortillas and garnish with a dollop of sour cream.

Mexican Chicken by Kausar Z. Ahmed

The guest Kausar Z Ahmed is the owner of Kitchen Craft Studios.

Zarnak's wardrobe for this episode was sponsored by Mingle Mangle. 

Mexican Style Tapas Platter

Ingredients For Mexican Style Tapas Platter:

For Chili Cheese:
Cream cheese 250 gm
Mild sweet chili sauce 3 tsp
Garlic crushed 1 clove
Lime juice 1 tbsp
Fresh red chili 1/2 small
Green onion 1 
Parsley chopped 1 tbsp
Pistachio nuts 2 tbsp

For Salsa:
Cucumber 1 small
Tomatoes 2 medium
Red onion 1 small
Vinegar 1 tsp
Chili powder 1/4 tsp

For Tortilla Crisps:
Tortillas few
Vegetable oil for frying

Method:

Chili cheese: beat cheese in small bowl with electric mixer until soft and creamy, add sauce, garlic, juice and green onion, beat until combined.
Transfer mixture to sheet of plastic wrap, shape into 8 square.
Wrap in plastic, refrigerate at least 1 hour, roll in combined parsley and nuts.
Salsa: combine all ingredients in bowl, mix well.
Tortilla crisps: Cut each tortilla into 12 wedges.
Shallow fry wedges in hot oil in batches until lightly browned and puffed, drain on absorbent paper.

Mexican Style Tapas Platter by Kausar Z. Ahmed

The guest Kausar Z Ahmed is the owner of Kitchen Craft Studios.

Zarnak's wardrobe for this episode was sponsored by Mingle Mangle. 

Mexican Fajita with salsa and Roasted Garlic sauce

Mexican Fajita with salsa and Roasted Garlic sauce

Ingredients for Tortilla
Flour 2 cups
Butter 75 gm
Salt 1 tsp
Baking powder ½ tsp
Warm water for kneading

Ingredients for Chicken Fajita
Chicken Breast pieces 1
Fajita seasoning 2 tbsp
Red chili powder 1 tbsp
Salt as required
Oil 2 tbsp
Lemon half
Butter for grilling
Baked or refried beans for assembling

Ingredients for Roasted Garlic sauce:
Garlic ½ bunch
White bread, torn into pieces 1 slice
Olive oil 3 tbsp
Sour cream 2 tbsp
Fresh lemon juice 2 tsp
Salt ½ tsp
Water 1/3 cup

Ingredients for Salsa:
Tomatoes 5
Green Chili peppers 4
Mint leaves a few
Coriander leaves a few
Salt to taste

Method for Tortilla:
Sift all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. 

Add the butter and rub it with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add water to form soft dough.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth. 

Divide the dough into pieces as required and shape each into a ball and let it rest for a while.

Roll out 1 ball at a time. 

Heat the griddle pan or large, heavy based frying pan over medium- high heat. 

Cook the tortilla for like about 1-2 min on each side or until lightly browned in places and puffed up.

Method for Chicken Fajita
Marinate the chicken with the fajita seasoning, red chili powder, salt, oil and lemon juice. 

Leave it for a while.

Brush the grill pan with little bit of oil and butter but not too much or you won’t get the grill marks on the chicken.

Grill the chicken on medium high heat for about 3-4 min on each side. 

After grilling, cut the chicken in an angular way into strips.

Method for Roasted Garlic sauce:
Chop the garlic and wrap it up in a foil and put it in the oven for roasting for about like 10 min. 

After it’s done add in all of the ingredients including the garlic in the blender and blend until smooth and mixed.

Method for Salsa:

In a pan of boiling water add in the tomatoes for blanching for about 5 min or until the skin starts to peel off. 

Let the tomatoes cool for a bit then peel off the skin of tomato and put it in the chopper. 

Add in all other ingredients as well and chop it. 

Don’t chop in too much as it has to be left a bit chunky.

Assembling of the Fajita:
Before assembling everything, cut out the bell peppers in juliennes as well as the onion and the mushrooms. 

Slice out olives as well. 

Then, in a large bowl, add all of the vegetables and season it with salt and pepper and also add in 2 tbsp of soya sauce and 1 tbsp of hot sauce. 

Toss them well and grill them in the same grill pan used for grilling the chicken, for about 2-3 min.
Take a tortilla and spread in the baked beans / refried beans in the middle of the tortilla. 

Put the chicken strips in the middle. 

Put the garlic sauce on top of the chicken. 

Add in the grilled vegetables and the salsa as well and wrap it up and enjoy. 

Serve while it’s still hot.

Mexican Fajita With Salsa & Roasted Garlic Sauce by Doha Khan

Chilli Con Carne Jacket

Ingredients
Red kidney beans 1 can
Mutton mince 250gm
Oil 2 tbsp
Onions, chopped 2
Fresh red chilies, chopped 2
Garlic 2 cloves
Flour 1 tbsp
Stock 2 cups
Tomato puree 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Capsicum, cubed 1
Coriander, chopped as required
Cream ½ cup
Lemon (Juice) 1
Potatoes 3 large
Oil 2-3 tbsp
Salt to sprinkle

Method 
To bake the potatoes:
Scrub potatoes well and brush with oil and salt.
Put each potato individually in a piece of foil.
Bake at 180 degrees C for 1 hour or till done. 
Cut in half and scoop out the potato slightly. 

To make the sour cream:
Add lemon juice to the cream and let stand for 10 minutes. 

For the filling:
Heat oil, add mince, brown it and take out.
In the same pan add onions, garlic, red chilies, flour, stock, tomato purée, salt and pepper, sauté.
Add mince and let cook.
Add the beans and let simmer, add red capsicum and let cook for 5 more minutes. Serve in scooped out large jacket potatoes, top with a little sour cream and coriander.

Chilli Con Carne Jacket by Zarnak Sidhwa