Taco Day 2023: How the Mexican dish has evolved in India to include desi and unique flavours

Chef Ashish Multani is busy giving the final touches to the tacos on the new menu, set to be launched in the next 10 days at Dobaraa in Lower Parel. The menu has flavours that traditional Mexican food lovers would have never imagined in tacos. Imagine Paneer Chettinad, Sukkah Chicken, Bhuna Mutton and even Fish Koliwada stuffed into tacos. While they stuff paneer, an Indian vegetarian favourite, made in the Tamil Nadu staple-style in a homemade tortilla, along with a cheese melt and delicious curry leaf butter for the Paneer Chettinad, there is more thought to it than meets the eye. "The Mutton Bhuna is a shredded lamb dish, which we do instead of Carnitas, the Chicken Sukkah on the other hand, has a very strong Maharashtra vibe, and Koliwada is the Indian variation of batter fried fish, and since it is one of the most famous styles of fish we like In Mumbai, we have included it on the menu," adds Multani.

Coincidentally, every year Mexican food lovers who absolutely relish tacos celebrate Taco Day on October 4. With this day being more popularly celebrated in the United States of America, the influence is understandable among the neighbouring countries. The fillings include local vegetables as well as meats like beef and pork and chilli peppers too. Over the years, Indians have also loved their fair share of tacos influenced by travel and curiosity to try out new flavours as they get the world on their plate. Multani's recent inclusion is proof of how much tacos have evolved over the last few years, and more particularly in Mumbai.

A touch of India
The city chef, who is associated with Bellona Hospitality, that handles the restaurant, says the reason for this trend is simple. He explains, "If you look at ingredients and textures Indians and Mexicans have a very similar flavour profile. From chutney to salsa, beans to rajma, tortilla to roti - it is pretty much the same." Multani also highlights how just like Mexican food also uses a variety of chillies like Adobo or Jalapeno, India also boasts of Kashmiri chillies and Bedki chillies for its spice. It is also the reason why he has used Indian ingredients and flavour profiles and infused them with Mexican styles of cooking. The fact that tacos are a popular bar bite in the city, only aided his philosophy, and that is why the city chef hopes diners will like the new touch.

Elsewhere in Mumbai, Cafe Panama, another restaurant in Lower Parel, has also incorporated the dish on their menu, ever since they opened. "Being a Latin American Restaurant, adding tacos on the menu was a no brainer since it is the quintessential epitome of Latin America's variety of flavours as well as its vibrancy," says Shaan Gidwani, founder and managing director of Acapella Hospitality, continuing, "whether it is our Baja Fish Tacos, Birria Tacos or Pulled Pork Tacos -- each unique preparation blends a diverse set of flavours to satiate all the diner's cravings."

While they haven't typically done non-Mexican flavours, the restaurant has adapted their preparations by using their culinary expertise to cater to the diner who loves Mexican food. In fact, Gidwani has observed that there has been an increase in the number of eateries serving tacos after the Covid-19 pandemic. He expresses, "There is a noticeable increase in the number of Mexican eateries in the country, which is reflective of the cuisines increasingly growing presence in the Indian market."Unsurprisingly, while attributing that to the similarities in flavours like Multani highlights, he says, "The use of spice, acid, sweetness and pungent flavours along with usage of lime, chilli, garlic, cilantro, corn and tomatoes is something that is common in both cuisines," he adds.

Vegetarian only
At the restaurant, they serve a wide variety of tacos with unique fillings. Some of them are the Portobello Mushroom along with onion, tomato and cilantro; Crispy Artichoke with lemon, mint and garlic; Refried Bean, avocado & Pico De Gallo, macha chicken with pickled peppers and queso fresco; Baja Style Fish with chipotle sauce; Pork Al Pastor made with char-grilled pork belly and pineapple; Lamb Barbacoa with onion and cilantro; Birria, a pulled beef brisket with mozzarella and Mexican consommé, and last but not the least, Prawn Tostadas with cilantro and lime.

Among so many different types of options, Gidwani says the Birria Tacos have got the attention of true meat lovers, and the mushroom and jackfruit tacos are popular among the vegetarians. The fact that they can not only be eaten as an appetiser but also a small plate as well as a sharing plate is what makes it even more popular among people today and may be indicative of their popularity. That is besides the opportunity, chefs get to experiment with different fillings, and with that there is a whole world of flavours for diners to explore.

Many of these are Mexican in flavour but have been tweaked to help vegetarians also enjoy tacos in Mexican cuisine. While they are traditionally known to have different kinds of meats and seafood, the gradual evolution of tacos has seen many variations. Moreover, just as India has its meat-loving diners, there are a large number of Indians who love their vegetarian food, which makes chefs take note and curate menus serving different variations for them and vegans too.

So, it is no surprise when we hear that Café Panama isn't the only city restaurant serving jackfruit tacos because Navi Mumbai-based Communion Café also serves Mexican-inspired Chipotle Jackfruit Tacos, along with BBQ Chicken Tacos. "The chipotle chillies lend a nice fiery heat to the tacos, while the BBQ is easy and pleasing. Both tacos come with the full works - guacamole, sour cream and salsa. It is fuss-free and everyone loves them," shares celebrity chef Karishma Sakhrani, who runs the café. The popularity of jackfruit can be attributed to its ability to be a substitute for meat, especially for vegans. "Jackfruit is an amazing meat alternative and a change from the usual paneer and mushrooms," she adds.

While the non-vegetarian options are definitely popular, at Café Duco in Bandra, chef Urvika Kanoi has 13 different variations of both on her menu that has a separate section for tacos. She explains, "Tacos work very well with the Indian palette and I noticed a gap in the city specially for authentic tacos. It seemed to just make sense to introduce these flavour bombs on the menu." Apart from the versatility of the dish, the city chef says she has also been inclined towards Latin American flavours right from the beginning, and that is what prompted her to have the extensive offering of the Mexican dish; the best part is that she highlights some of her favourites from the vegetarian options.

One of them is the Sweet Corn and Potato Taco. While she likes to make her tacos as close as she can to the Mexican flavours, her love for the Latin American cuisine made her borrow one from Argentinian cuisine for her menu with the sweet corn and potato filling. "With the sweet potato and corn taco, the zing of the chimichurri, saltiness and cheesiness of the Provoleta just accentuates the dish to another level. When I was creating it, I decided to try marinating it in Argentinian herbs and roasting them off the same way. It is one of our bestsellers now," she informs. The other one she personally loves is the Wild Mushroom Tacos, which is also served at the restaurant.

With such an interest in Mexican dishes, Kanoi is one of many chefs who believes the overall love for Mexican food has grown by leaps and bounds in the city and India on the whole, with not only restaurants but also cloud kitchens and home chefs wanting to offer the dishes, and tacos being the most popular among them. So much so that even when she and her team try to stick to authentic Mexican flavours, they can't help but feel the itch to put their own twist to it. "We also showcase seasonal produce and lesser-known flavours of Latin America through them. We have not deleted any tacos from our menu but only added to it, right from our inception," she adds.

Regional Indian and global flavours
Just like Multani, the chef at Woodside Inn on the other hand, chose to go local while exploring their flavours with taco fillings. The restaurant makes a mean East Indian Ros taco with a pulled pork filling, and green apple slaw. "The taco is made up of rice flour and not regular maize flour as a healthier option.We have created this flavour for the taco because it is familiar to the Indian palate and very light to go with any drink on the menu," says Abhishek Pednekar, who is the executive chef at the Andheri outlet, as he mentions that the taco variation has been on their menu ever since it was introduced three years ago.

For Pednekar, turning to local flavours was natural because he had wanted them to appeal to the Indian diner. "This flavour is also inspired by various regional Indian cuisines. There are other restaurants also using millets for the taco base or using vegan meat substitutes like pulled jackfruit, giving a unique twist to tacos to get you hooked," he adds. The city chef says the fact that they can be assembled with seafood or that it can be substituted with beans, potato and rice base, and most importantly, they are cheaper from the cost perspective as they can be made with a handful of ingredients.

Just like Pednekar at Woodside Inn, chef Bhakti Mehta, the founder and chef behind The Little Food Co., has been making a wide variety of fillings for tacos. Some of those that stand out are the Bulgogi mushrooms and lamb with gochujang and rice crips, the Bhakri taco with thecha prawns, kachumber pico and black salt sour cream, and the togarashi tofu & avocado nori tostadas - giving diners the opportunity of not only exploring Mexican flavours but also Korean, Japanese and Maharashtrian flavours. She explains, "I have been obsessed with tacos ever since my first trip to the USA. So, cooking with Mexican chilies and ingredients began for me when I would get these on my trips." Seeing it's so close to the Indian palate, she practically began with specialising in Mexican cuisine for catering with The Little Food Co. Even though she is catering to Mexican food enthusiasts, Mehta believes there is still room for more in the cuisine. It is also why she believes that with tacos and their many unconventional fillings getting popular, Mexican food is only going to become more popular in Mumbai.

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