UPDATE: I’ve found an easier recipe for homemade tortilla chips. Check it out
here.
I’ve always wanted to try making nachos at home and yes, from scratch. Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about this amazing plate of Nachos that I had while I was in Goa for a few days. I knew that if I wanted it like that, I’d have to make it myself. The only thing I had a recipe guide me with was the corn tortillas for the homemade tortilla chips, which I took from Nita Mehta’s “Multi-cuisine Cookbook”. I didn’t spend time looking for recipes for the rest of the stuff, but just threw a few things together from memory. It really was quite funny, me, roaming in circles in my kitchen, trying to remember what was on the plate and what the flavors were and then checking to see if I had what was needed to put together a plate of Nachos. Crazy visual, anyway back to food.
Being my first attempt, I was very pleased with the way it turned out, the textures and flavors were nice. However, when I make this next, I’m definitely going to up the cheese. I think I will look around on the internet for a few ideas to pretty this up. I’d be glad if I could get a little input from you wonderful bloggers out there. I know a lot of you have made Nachos at home and have some tricks up your sleeves. I’d love to hear from you. For those of you who haven’t tried making these before, I suggest you do it, soon, if you love Mexican food that is, and only if you want to be able to dish out some yummy stuff right out of your kitchen. Here’s my humble take on it –
Nachos –
For the homemade tortilla chips –
(Makes 10-12)
1 1/2 cups corn meal
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
Warm water, to knead the dough
Oil, for deep frying
Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Knead it into a dough using enough warm water to make it a pliable dough.
Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for an hour.
Divide the dough into portions. Roll out to form a thin disc.
Heat a griddle. Place the rolled tortilla on the griddle and let it cook for about a minute on a medium flame.
Turn over and cook the other side till a few brown specs start appearing. Don’t let them crisp up.
When the tortillas are ready, cut into 8 wedges each and deep fry in hot oil.
Drain on some kitchen paper.
For the Pico de Gallo –
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1-2 green chillies, chopped
1 tbsp. fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Salt, to taste
Lime juice, to taste
Toss all the veggies in a bowl. Add the salt and lime juice. Toss well. Check for seasoning.
For the assembly –
I didn’t want to switch the oven on for this, so I just used the stove top and improvised.
Place the tortilla chips on a griddle. Grate some cheese over it. You can use whatever variant of cheese you enjoy, or have at hand. Don’t skimp on the cheese if you want some really deliciously cheesy nachos.
Carefully tip the nachos with the cheesy top on a plate, trying not to disturb the layer of cheese on top.
Serve up with sides of your choice. I served it with some sour cream and some pico de gallo.
You can also serve it with some guacamole and salsa if you’d like.
Wow, Trisha! When you said "from scratch", you really meant "from scratch"! You made the tortillas and everything. I'm impressed! We love Mexican food around here. Yummy! I love how you've added the recipe for the pico de gallo, as well. So fresh and healthy! Thanks so much for stopping by to see me and leaving a comment on my blog! I hope you get a chance to make those Spring Rolls and that you enjoy them as much as we did. Have a great day! Candace
These are beautiful nachos Trisha! For the cheese what I do is make a bechamel and add like 1 cup of cheddar cheese and then throw it on top of the chips. It is like a cheddar sauce and the chips soak the sauce and is very yummy!
Candace … will let u know how it goes!
Katerina … I guess that makes more sense, mine was a little lazy shortcut 😉
I love nachos,but have never been adventurous enough to make my own tortilla chips. I didnt even know that you are supposed to cook them twice (on the griddle and deep fried). I would love to give these a try soon!
I hear you can bake them off instead of frying them … i think i'll do some reading up on that before i try it next!
Love this post! Taking such a staple food like nachos and going all the way with it…..Great!
Thanks for sharing at the hearth and soul hop.
Thanks!
Mmmm…homemade chips and pico too? Those sound like some sensational nachos to me! Simple and perfect!
I love the taste of Monterey Jack cheese on nachos, and just a squeeze a lime!
Trisha, thank you for sharing another wonderful recipe on "A Little Birdie Told Me…" Tuesday!
Oh Jenn … now that you mention it, lime does sound like a nice touch.
Oh yummy! I love the use of monterey jack instead of the traditional cheddar. Can't wait to try these 🙂
-Ami
Thanks Ami!