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Mexican Paneer Taco Recipe

This Mexican Paneer Taco Recipe makes for a fun weeknight dinner or a party starter. It’s filling, easy to put together, and disappear really quickly!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Snacks & Appetisers
Cuisine: international
Diet: Vegetarian
Servings: 8 tacos
Author: Richa

Equipment

Ingredients

For herbed paneer

  • 1 ½ litres full fat or whole milk
  • 1 ½ tablespoons vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves
  • ½ teaspoon chilli flakes
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon salt

For paneer marination

  • 1 teaspoon garlic paste
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • ½ teaspoon chipotle seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon salt

For fried beans

  • 1 tablespoon sunflower or any neutral cooking oil
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
  • 1 ½ cups boiled rajma
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon cumin powder
  • ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • ½ cup water

Other

  • 1 tablespoon sunflower or any neutral cooking oil
  • ¾ cup thinly sliced purple cabbage
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons finally chopped coriander leaves
  • 3 tablespoons hung curds / greek yoghurt
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli sauce
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • 8 leftover rotis of diameter 4 inch

Instructions

Making herbed paneer:

  • Take vinegar, 3 tablespoons of water in a glass, mix well and set aside. Add milk to a pot, add coriander leaves, chilli flakes, oregano, salt, mix well. Bring milk to a roaring boil and reduce the heat to low.
  • Add vinegar-water mix and stir with a spoon. Simmer for 1-2 minutes till you see the milk starting to split. Switch off the flame as soon as the milk splits completely and separates into whey and cheese curds.
  • Line a sieve with a muslin cloth or cheese cloth and place this over another vessel. Strain the paneer into the cheesecloth. Once the whey has strained out, cover the paneer with the edges of the cheese cloth and place a heavy weight on it so it forms a block of paneer. Set this aside for 10 minutes.

Marinating paneer

  • Take the herbed paneer block in a wide bowl or plate, add all the ingredients for marination and rub well on both the sides of the paneer. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Frying paneer

  • Heat oil in a flat pan, add marinated paneer block and fry on both sides for 2-3 minutes on low till the paneer is roasted well on both sides. Transport to a chopping board and when it cools a bit, cut into ¾ inch wide strips.

Re-fried beans

  • Heat oil in a pan, add chopped garlic and saute on high for a few seconds till fragrant. Add cooked rajma, salt, oregano, jeera powder, chilli powder, ketchup and mix well. Add ½ cup of water, mash well, cook on medium for 2-3 minutes till the beans absorb all the masalas.

Making tacos

  • Preheat air fryer at 190C. Take each sheet of aluminium foil to roughly form an oval shaped ball. Hold the roti on your palm and keep the foil ball inside and fold the roti to form a cup/taco shell. Insert toothpick at one tip of the roti to the other tip. This step ensures that the taco shells retain their shape. Watch the video for detailed steps. Repeat the same process to make all the taco shells and place them on the airfryer basket with some gap between each other. Do not spray or brush oil and air fry for 3-4 minutes till the shells turn crisp. Transfer them to a plate and once they cool a bit, gently slide out the toothpick from each of the shells.

Prepping garnish

  • Take sliced cabbage in a bowl, add mayonnaise, ⅛ teaspoon salt, mix well and set aside.

Dahi sauce

  • Add hung curds, chilli sauce, ketchup to a bowl, mix well & set aside.

Serving Tacos

  • Add 1 ½ tablespoons of re-fried beans to the fried tacos, place the paneer slices, add cabbage salad, drizzle dahi sauce and sprinkle coriander leaves.

Nutrition

Calories: 345kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.001g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 1048mg | Potassium: 494mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 615IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 357mg | Iron: 3mg