Basically I made this because I was having a dinner party and wanted to make raw vegan tacos with sprouted mung beans and then happened to stumble upon this recipe in Hari Nayak’s “Easy Indian Cooking” for beef chili. Despite the elevated temperatures my body wanted something hot and rich and spicy. I don’t know if it was the thought of mung beans that, though delicious, don’t really feel like comfort food taco fillings, or if it was the fact that I like to overwhelm guests with visual and gustatory options when they come to my house for dinner (the classic “duck – three ways” menu listing mentality, where confit leg, seared breast and torchon of fois gras together are clearly better any one on its own).
No one fell out of their seats in shock, mind you. I didn’t bowl anyone over with extravagant platings or an absurd amount of courses. But neither would anyone have guessed my mung bean filling was raw vegan, and no one would have guessed this meat was bison instead of beef. I don’t really eat beef. Once in a blue moon, maybe. Mostly I don’t eat it because it puts me to sleep. No, really, I turn into a narcoleptic. I remember passing out on my bed once in my university apartment and not knowing what had happened when I woke up. That was the first of a handful of strange naps and early bedtimes when beef was involved. Did I mention that the first time that happened was at 2pm? I wasn’t exactly groggy. Just poof! Asleep.
I say I mostly don’t eat it because it puts me to sleep, but the underlying reason is the low quality of the meat and its unsustainability. I think the passing out actually had to do with the quality of the beef. It may also be that meat’s just hard to digest, especially when I eat it so rarely. But bison doesn’t seem to give me that problem. It’s leaner (though a big methane producer too). I buy it at the place in Jean-Talon market that sells elk and deer and venison sausages along with rotisserie chicken legs and bison ribs in BBQ sauce outside their shop. It’s not organic bison, but they can tell you exactly where it comes from and how it’s raised. It’s also a whole lot cheaper than organic beef, which is the only beef I’d ever consider eating. If you’re going to eat a methane-producing monster, at least let it have a good life, mostly outdoors, good food, and preferably a respectful slaughtering. If the end of that sentence grossed you out, maybe you should try eating less meat…
So I had this recipe and I had a dinner party coming up focusing on mung bean tacos. I couldn’t really throw an Indian chili in there, could I? Sure could.
Stuff it in homemade taco cups. Done. I was going to do a dairy-free sorrel cream in place of a traditional Indian raita with yogurt (I have sorrel from my garden, and I still have lactose intolerance) but, well, two types of tacos, a caramelized carrot soup to start, and a large salad were all I could handle this time. If you don’t respect that, remind me to not invite you to my next diner party. And vice versa, of course.
Indian Chili Bison Tacos from Hari Nayak’s Easy Indian Cooking
The recipe for homemade taco cups is below but I can’t give the recipe for the bison (copyright). Know that it’s a mix of grated coconut, garam masala, curry leaves and chili peppers with my variation skipping the coconut milk to not make it soup-y, skipping the kidney beans, and replacing the beef in favour of ground bison. I also added a few stalks of diced celery, because that works in chili and the dish needed some vegetables. Again, I really wish the recipe didn’t say “salt, to taste” as I can’t taste it right away when I add the salt and know how much I need. Instead you have to re-adjust at the end, which doesn’t work as well I think.
Homemade Taco Cups
- 1 cup masa harina or cornmeal
- 1 cup brown rice flour (or more masa harina. I ran out)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup water
- 3 tablespoons olive oilIn a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, brown rice flour and salt. Whisk in the water and oil. Turn the dough out onto a surface covered with a thin layer of cornmeal and knead it about 10 times until smooth. You may need to add a little extra water a tbsp at a time to make it stick.
Divide dough into sixteen small balls. On that same lightly cornmealed surface, gently squish the balls, then roll each out as thin as possible, turning them occasionally as you roll out from the middle of the circles to make sure they don’t stick to the counter.
Lay the rolled out tortillas in 2 muffin tins (I put the extra 4 into small tart shells) with the tops staying fairly vertical (see photo). Prick bottom of each cup with a fork to release air.
Bake in a 350 F oven for seven minutes, or until brown.
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