Family Recipe: Mexican Gumbo

Image Source: Joege Avalon's Flickr Photostream

The recipe is a recreation of Qdoba's Mexican Gumbo so it does not quite qualify as a family recipe. Although just a soup, the amount of toppings make this a really filling meal after only a couple of bowls. The traditional Gumbo is a stew that is part-Lousianan and part-French. The recipe we have is a basic tortilla soup with all sorts of Mexican toppings. This makes it part-Texan, part-Mexican and part-junk food as well. Regardless of all the different parts, the result as a whole is deliciously complete.


The recipe is enough for 10 people.

First comes the Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

• 2 packs of boiled american corn
• 1 diced onion
• 5 tbsp taco seasoning
• 10 crushed tomatoes
• 2 tbsp oil
• Lemon juice squeezed from 1 lemon
• 1 canned jalapeno pepper
• 10 tortilla chips/nacho chips
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp ground black pepper

Heat oil in stockpot. Fry onion, corn kernels, taco seasoning, season with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes. Saute for a few minutes. Add 5 cups water and jalapeno pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add lime juice and a handful of chips and use a blender to mix all the ingredients in the soup.

Then some seasoned beans

Ingredients

• 500 grams/1 lb. black beans/kidney beans/rajmah beans 
• 3 red onions grated
• 10 cloves garlic grated
• 4 tomatoes grinded into paste
• 1 pack of Taco seasoning
• 2 tbsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• A pinch of asafetida/hing

Soak beans for at least 6 hours and boil them until cooked. Heat oil, add asafetida, add garlic and onions and sauté them for 2 minutes. Add tomato puree and sauté for 3-5 minutes. Add kidney beans, chili powder and taco seasoning. Sauté the mixture until cooked well.

Some cilantro lime rice (Adapted from Rockin' Robin's Recipes)

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cup basmati rice
• 3 cups water
• 5 cloves garlic (minced)
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• Zest (grated yellow part of the lemon skin) from 2 lemons
• 1 cup cilantro, chopped
• 2 tsp salt       

Add the oil to a sauce pan and heat on low. Add the garlic and rice to the oil and saute for 2 minutes on medium heat stirring frequently. Add the water, salt, lime juice and bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes or according to rice package directions. When the rice is done, add lime zest and chopped cilantro and stir to mix in.

Some Sautéed Vegetables

Ingredients

• 3 bell peppers, thinly sliced (red, yellow and green each)
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1 lemon
• 1 packet fajita seasoning
• 1-2 tsp olive oil
• cilantro to garnish

In a saute pan, add olive oil and saute bell peppers, onions and zucchini. When these veggies are little tender, add lemon juice and fajita seasoning. Cook until all the ingredients are well-blended. Garnish with cilantro. 

Time for some sour cream (Adapted from Asha Khatau's Book)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of thick yogurt (Hung curd is fine too)
• 1/4 cup fresh cream (Amul fresh cream is easily available)
• 1 tbsp of lemon juice

Mix all the ingredients and beat them until thick. Refrigerate for 2 hours before use.

And the final touch

You need

• 30 tortilla chips/nacho chips
• 3 cups of cilantro
• 5 cups of grated cheese
• Salsa roja
• Salsa Verde
• Guacamole (if available)

Use all for garnishing.

Finally, assembling the Gumbo

• Fill a soup bowl up to 2/3 of the way with the tortilla soup
• Add 3 tbsp of seasoned beans on top of the soup
• Add 3 tbsp of cilantro lime rice on top of the beans
• Add 3 tbsp of sautéed veggies on top of the rice.
• Add a scoop of sour cream
• Top up with 2 crushed tortilla chips, 2 tsp of cilantro, 3 tsp of grated cheese
• Need some more spice? Try the Lousy Hunter's salsa roja and salsa verde as toppings
• Also, if you have guacamole add that too in this gumbo.  

Mexican Gumbo places we love:  Any Qdoba outlet