The Mexican culture is diverse and vibrant, where they are proud of their native heritage. They celebrate their festivals with music and dance and they have their folk dance too! The way they celebrate regional festivals with their own customs is very similar to India. The vibrancy and diversity of the Mexican culture reflect in their food. They use fresh produce in their food like chile peppers, herbs and vegetables, cheese, tomatoes and beans. Mexico shares a distinctly similar heritage and food culture with India and therefore, Indians too relish the Mexican food.

Some ingredients like tomatillos, jicama, and cactus are native to Mexico and used in their foods which aren’t common in other countries. Tomatillos aren’t related to tomatoes but are green in colour and covered in a brown husk. Jicama is a root vegetable that looks like a potato and gives a crunch to Mexican dishes. Cactus, known as nopales, is used to prepare a base for many Mexican dishes. 

Mexican cuisine is ever-evolving as its staples continue to change. First, the staple ingredients of Mexican cuisine were corns and bean and slowly, the new ingredients in the form of spices were added over the past 600 years to make Mexican cuisine what it is today. 

Mexican food has bright colours and is extremely flavourful. Mexican flavours have a spectrum of being highly complicated to simple. It covers the two ends of the spectrum, for example, the mole sauce has 30+ ingredients and tastes complex, while steak fajitas are simple to make with no complexity whatsoever.

When we think of Mexican cuisine, we immediately think of cheesy nachos and enormous fishbowl margaritas. But Mexican cuisine is much more than that. The famous tortilla, taco, flan, enchiladas, and more are very much a part of Mexican cuisine. 

From drinks to desserts, here are some of the authentic Mexican dishes that you can try your hands at cooking:

1. Churros:

A Mexican favourite among various countries, churros are cinnamon-sugar dusted fried fritters. The best way to enjoy them is by dipping them in a chocolate sauce or dunking them in coffee. 

2. Fajita:

Fajita is a Tex-Mex dish that was originally made with grilled skirt steak. But today, fajita has lost its original meaning and anything that is served rolled up in tortilla is called fajita. 

3. Horchata:

Horchata is an authentic Mexican drink that is enjoyed during hot sunny days. It is made up of white rice soaked in water, flavoured with cinnamon and sweetened with granulated sugar. Some version of horchata contains milk and some versions have nuts or added flavours like vanilla or coconut. 

4. Mole:

It’s a versatile sauce that is used to make many dishes. Most of the mole sauces consist of different types of chiles like guajillos, pasillas, anchos, and chipotles. These chiles do not add spiciness but are added to give flavour to the sauce.

5. Elote:

Elote is the Mexican street corn and you’ll find it all over Mexico. The corn is doused in mayo, chile powder, cotija cheese and lemon juice. It’s tangy and doesn’t overpower the taste of the corn and is a refreshing snack. 

6. Salsa verde:

It is a flavourful Mexican sauce that can be a perfect marinade, a dip for chips or an accompaniment for different dishes. Verde means green and it is called salsa verde due to its green colour. It is made from tomatillo, jalapeno, yellow garlic, onion, lemon juice and cilantro.

7. Michelada:

It is a refreshing summer drink made with beer, lime juice, assorted sauces, spices, tomatoes and chile peppers. It is served chilled in salt-rimmed glasses. Numerous variations of this beverage are available throughout Mexico.

8. Flan:

Flan is similar to the French dessert crème caramel. Mexican flan is made with fresh milk or condensed milk. Though the origin of this dessert isn’t in Mexico, it was adopted quickly by the natives and became a part of their cuisine.

9. Mexican hot chocolate:

Mexican hot chocolate is made with milk, unsweetened cocoa, cinnamon, vanilla extract, chile powder and bittersweet chocolate. It is best enjoyed during winters in the cold, chilly weather, with Christmas preparations being in full swing. 

10. Quesadilla:

Quesadilla is a heated tortilla filled with melted cheese. The filling in quesadilla can be anything of your imagination- beans, veggies, meat. Traditionally quesadillas in Mexico are prepared with corn flour tortilla rather than wheat flour tortilla with melted white cheese. 

11. Reganadas:

Mexico celebrates The Day of the Dead between 1st and 2nd November, where an altar is set up in each house and reganadas, traditional cookies, are offered to the dead. They are puffy pastry cookies made with all-purpose flour, eggs and cinnamon.

12. Guacamole:

Guacamole is an avocado dip or a spread that can be served with chips, fajitas or tacos. It is an addition to modern Mexican cuisine and has become famous internationally, especially in America, where it is used as a dip, condiment and salad ingredient. 

These dishes are only the tip of the iceberg of Mexican cuisine. We can try to make Mexican food in our homes, but we may not be able to achieve authenticity due to the lack of important ingredients that might not be available in the local market. But we can always make some Mexican dishes with our own twist and keep in mind the availability of the ingredients.