This is a very easy and very fun casual dinner if you are cooking for a group. I made up the rice recipe as I wanted a sticky, spicy tomato based rice and it was really tasty. I served this with some juicy king prawns and left the shells on, which in hindsight, made the meal messier than it needed to be...
I made my own tortillas, which is a bit of a faff as you have to roll out the dough quite thin. If I am honest, I wouldn’t bother but as we didn’t have any tortillas and an excessive amount of plain flour I put myself up to the challenge.
The Mexican rice on the other hand was so easy and went down a storm.
As mentioned I served the prawns with the shells on, I would remove the shell minus the tail next time so that the prawns are easier to eat and soak up more of the chilli flavour.
If you don’t have prawns, you could swap for chicken or tofu or even just roasted veggies.
Serves 5
Ingredients
Mexican rice
1 red onion
1 tbsp of caster sugar
2 cloves of garlic - minced
1 Tbsp paprika
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tin of tomatoes
1 Tbsp Tumeric
1 red chilli or 2 tps of chilli powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Olive oil
1 cups of white rice
1 chicken stock cube
500ml water
2 knobs of butter
Method:
Finely dice the onion and fry with oil, spices and garlic in a heavy bottomed pan on a high heat
Fry for 6 mins with the caster sugar until the onion has coloured nicely and is carmelising slightly
Dissolve your chicken stock cube in a bowl with the boiled water
Pour the dry rice over your onions, add the tomato paste and give a good stir
Pour in your chicken stock and tin of tomatoes, give it a stir and leave to simmer for 15 mins
Check after 10 mins, you might want to add some more water
When the rice is ready add two knobs of butter and give it a good stir
It should not be too saucy, more sticky in texture
Pickled onions
Ingredients:
1 red onion
3 tablespoons of caster sugar
Small handful of coriander seeds if you have
White wine or apple cider vinegar
Method:
Finely slice a red onion and put into a shallow bowl
Dissolve the sugar with little warm water and add to the onions with the vinegar and coriander seeds
Cover and leave for an hour
Tortillas
Ingredients
250g plain flour
150ml lukewarm water
2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt
Method
Mix the flour, oil and salt in a bowl and pour over 150ml warm water
Knead the mixture for 5-10 on a floured surface until the mixture creates a nice ball of dough
Put the mixture in a bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for at least 15 minutes
Once the dough has rested cut the dough into 6 pieces and roll until very thin - this can take a bit of time
Heat your frying pan, with no oil until hot and cook the tortillas for a couple of minutes on each side until brown
Wrap them in tin foil until you serve
Chilli prawns
Ingredients:
12 prawns
2 cloves of garlic
1 fresh chilli or lazy chilli
Olive oil
Method:
De-shell the prawns, leaving the tails on and run your knife down the back of the prawn and remove the black vein
Heat up a frying pan with a little oil and some chopped garlic
Add the prawns and chilli and fry for 5 mins making sure you turn over half way
Once off the heat drizzle with some oil and lemon juice