A Birthday Feast

This week I’m in San Francisco visiting my nephew and to thank his nanny Kenda for being so great to him, I prepared a special birthday meal for her and her partner Charity. We had Indian tacos which I’ve made before, but with some additional items. I really like making these for dinner parties because with such a variety of fillings, they never get old and there are also so many Indian ingredients that go well in tacos.

I’ve included a few of the recipes below and a complete list of fillings at the end of the post:

Ingredients

3 tablespoons oil

1 block extra firm tofu, cubed

1/3 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon garam masala

salt to taste

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a non stick fry pan under medium heat. Throw in tofu and fry until sides are lightly browned and skin is starting to get more firm on outside ~ 25 minutes.

Make a free area in the middle of the pan and put 1 tablespoon of oil. When heated, put in turmeric, chili powder, coriander, cumin powder and garam masala and mix well. Fry for a few seconds and throw in garlic.

Mix well and fry for a few seconds. Next throw in the tomato and mix, still keeping everything in the middle of the pot. Fry for 2 minutes and then coat tofu with this mixture. Fry for another 5 minutes or until tofu is completely browned. Add salt.

Mix up the following:

2 mangos, peeled and cubed

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

1 tablespoon mint, chopped

1 small pickling cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 lime, juiced

salt

Rough chop the following ingredients:

4 plum tomatoes

1 small shallot

1 jalapeno

3 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon cumin powder

salt

Method

Puree tomato, shallot, jalapeno and garlic in blender.

In a saucepan, heat 2 teaspoons of oil. When hot, pour mixture in with water and cumin powder. Simmer for 15 minutes – should be dark red when done. Add salt to taste.

Taco Fillings – we used soft corn tortillas

curried tofu

radish raita with sour cream

mango salsa

cooked tomato salsa

cotija cheese

sliced avocado

lime

cilantro