Taco Deconstructed w/Paratha

Last week, Ram went into an Indian grocers for candies and came out with paratha. Paratha is an Indian flatbread, perfect for dining with your hands because it serves as a vessel for getting food from the plate to your mouth. With a package of paratha in the fridge, it became my mission to design a meal around it. Only, I lack any real ability to cook Indian food. So I made it Mexican instead.

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Indian meals usually consist of several dishes (a smorgasbord of sides, basically) from which each diner scoops or selects what they like. Flatbreads of some kind (chapati, roti, naan, paratha) are almost always served, and they often function as a utensil, not just an addition to the meal. The flatbreads themselves usually don't have a ton of flavor, though I have had some roti that tasted fantastic and garlic naan. In a typical meal, it's all about the dishes.

In my Indian-style eating Mexican meal (did you follow that?), I chose to arrange the components of tacos and let Ram and I build our own meals. The meat, of course, is the foundation. I took ground turkey (which I mistakenly did not take out of the freezer in time to thaw, which resulted in me steaming it before frying it) and added about two tablespoons of chili powder, two tablespoons of oregano, a quarter teaspoon (because I'm a wimp) of crushed red pepper, and some salt and black pepper to taste (light on the salt, of course!). If I had had garlic powder, I would have added that too. These are the spices I use in my family-famous chili, so I knew the flavor profile would be spot on. I wasn't wrong. I also sauteed some carrots and onions to add a little fiber and a little flavor to the meat. When the meat was browned (sort of blacked, actually), I added about a half cup of chicken stock (low sodium), covered it, and let simmer for about twenty minutes.

The sides were ridiculously simple. I can't call myself a chef based on these, that's for sure. I made wild rice out of a packet, I chopped some green pepper, and I sauteed some frozen corn with a little chili power and black pepper. The salsa I made myself. I enjoy making salsa because, with just a couple of ingredients, you can make a fresh, special topping for just about anything. The basic components of any of my salsas are some finely chopped onions, a little salt and pepper, and lime juice. This time, I used tomato, because we had some in the fridge. I have also made mango salsa and orange salsa, both of which were totally delicious. If I have cilantro in the fridge, I use that too. Cilantro immediately elevates any dish it's in with its distinctive freshness. I always chop and toss my salsa ingredients ahead of time (maybe an hour or two) so they can settle in together in the fridge. It does take a little time for the acid of the lime juice to break down the other components, so resting is fairly important. But if you've got a time-crunch, go ahead and eat it right away.

That's it. My Indian-style dining with Mexican foods. It makes little sense, but it tastes delicious. And, if you've got picky eaters in your family, tacos remain one thing that can not go wrong. So, bon appetite-- with (or without) a fork in hand.