Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Beef Enchiladas

While everyone on the blogoshpere is celebrating Cinco De Mayo and posting recipes of delicious Mexican food, I could not resist making Mexican food myself this weekend. 



To be honest I did not know about Cinco De Mayo until a week ago when every one started doing round ups of Mexican recipes, the reason being I live too far away from the US and I also donot have any Mexican friends. So I did a little research and I found out that Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in US by Mexicans in remembrance of a battle won in a small town Southeast of Mexico city. 
All the pictures and recipes of Mexican food gave me really bad cravings of enchiladas, tacos, fajitas and quesadillas so I ended up making Beef Enchiladas for Sunday night dinner. 


The enchiladas are made in 3 parts;
First, the tortillas
Second, mince filling
And third, the tomato sauce


You can use ready made tortillas also but I prefer home made ones.. Although they add more than a bit of extra work but the softness and taste is incomparable to store bought ones. So for the tortillas you will need:

  1. Flour (1/2 kg)
  2. Salt (1 tsp)
  3. Baking Powder (1 tsp)
  4. Luke warm water (for kneading)


Method:

  • Knead dough like you would knead for chapati or use your stand mixer.
  • When the dough stops sticking to the bowl, transfer it to a clean bowl, cover with a cloth and let rest on the kitchen counter for an hour.
  • Make tortillas like chapatis are made at home or you can also use a tortilla maker.
For the mince filling and tomato sauce, you will need the following ingredients:



Ingredients for mince filling:

  1. Minced beef (1/2 kg)
  2. Garlic (chopped - 2 tbsp)
  3. Salt (1-1/2 tsp)
  4. Dried oregano (1 tsp)
  5. Dried thyme (1 tsp)
  6. Ground red chilies (1 tbsp)
  7. Onion (julienne - 1 cup)
  8. Oil (1/2 cup)
Ingredients for tomato sauce:
  1. Tomatoes (4)
  2. Garlic (5 cloves)
  3. Salt (1/2 tsp)
  4. Dried oregano (1 tsp)
  5. Dried thyme (1 tsp)
Method for mince filling:
  • In a pan heat oil and saute garlic.
  • Add mince and all seasoning. 
  • Cover and cook until water dries and mince is cooked. If the water dries before mince is properly cooked add more water and cover.
  • When the mince is cooked, turn off heat, add onions and cover again.
Method for tomato Sauce:

  • Put tomatoes and garlic in a blender with a splash of water and blend thoroughly
  • In a pan put 2 tbsp oil and tomato/garlic mixture
  • Cover and cook on low flame for about 20 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
  • Turn off the heat, add salt, oregano, and thyme. Mix well.

For assembling:
  1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees
  2. Spread tomato sauce on a tortilla
  3. Add mince filling
  4. Roll and place seam side down on a baking dish.
  5. Spread more tomato sauce on top and sprinkle grated cheddar cheese.
  6. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese melts and tortillas become toasted and crispy.
  7. Serve hot. 

1 comment:

  1. The enchiladas look authentically amexican! I am impressed:)

    ReplyDelete