Paneer cooked in pickling spices to perfection, this Indian achari paneer is made at home and then filled in corn tortillas, topped with a delicious Spicy Green Sauce made with avocado, cilantro, mint, yogurt, and then finished with salad and hot taco sauce. These Fusion Tacos are so simple to make. But the results will make you think you are sitting in high-end restaurants. 😊 This Achari Paneer Tacos truly was delicious and I hate to tell you, but I ate four of them. 😉 When something tastes that good it’s just too hard to resist. By now, You all know how much my family love dishes made with paneer. Paneer is high in protein and has a lot of health benefits, and thus I make sure to prepare a paneer-based dish at least once a week at my home. (If you haven’t check yet, a couple of weeks ago, I shared one of our favorite Paneer Frankie recipes). Paneer is very popular and considered one of everyone’s favorite ingredients. You will see, the vegetarian menu in North Indian restaurants will be filled with Paneer dishes. From Paneer matar, Paneer Lababdar to Paneer bhurji and Palak Paneer, you will find it all in the menu. But Achari Paneer is one such recipe that you will see in very few restaurants. It is as delicious as the other paneer recipes and has a very unique flavor to it. I have combined 2 dishes – Indian classic Achari paneer and Mexican tacos and made Achari Paneer Tacos. It came out so so good. My family LOVED it!!
What is Achari Paneer?
As the name says itself, Achari Paneer is loaded with the spices that are used in Achaar, which is a Hindi name for Indian Pickles. It is served with rice, paratha, or tandoori roti but I went one step ahead and filled corn tortillas with it and the result was a bomb. The Achari paneer is so flavorful and gives you a real street food vibe versus a traditional paneer dish and the corn tortillas are charred for a little bit longer on the stove to give them an authentic feel. It’s topped with a delicious Spicy Green Sauce made with avocado, cilantro, and mint and then finished with salad and hot sauce. This recipe is perfect for a BBQ party, pool party, or any other gatherings. I assure you everyone will just love its unique flavors and friends will ask you for the recipe.
There are 4 main components of this recipe.
Lets me explain every component briefly and what ingredients are required.
1. Achari Masala
Achar means Pickle in English. Indian pickle is very different from the pickle we get here in the United States. The combination of spices like fennel, onion seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek, red chilies, aamchur powder, and coriander seeds makes this spice blend very unique in taste. It is a perfect balance of sweet, spicy, and tangy flavors. This masala is easily available in the market/grocery stores. But I prefer to make it at home. It hardly takes 5 minutes of your active time. You can store this masala at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to a month or two.
2. Achari paneer
Once achari masala is ready, the next step is to make achari paneer. This preparation is very flavorful and delicious. You can serve this with any Indian flatbread and sirkewale onion. For achari paneer, you will need
Paneer cubes – You can use homemade paneer or store-bought. Make sure to cut into small bite-sized cubes.Tomato – it gives a nice tangy punch to the curry.Aromatics – Onion, garlic, ginger, and green chilis are used for the aroma and flavors.Achari masala – Homemade or store-bought. This masala includes salt so you might not need to add extra salt.Heavy cream – to give the smooth and creamy texture.Mustard oil – Mustard oil is a must for this recipe. Sure you can use any cooking oil but mustard gives authentic flavors.
3. Spicy Cilantro-Mint-Avocado Crema (sauce)
This sauce is Oil-free, low calorie, and perfect for tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, salads, and rice dishes! This is creamy, flavorful and the best sauce to keep in your fridge for when you need a little boost of flavor without too many calories! This magical Creamy Avocado Cilantro Sauce is finger-licking delicious. It takes just 5 minutes to make in a blender. This sauce makes Achari Paneer Tacos Very flavorful. For this sauce, you will need –
Avocado – Choose ripe avocado.Herbs – Cilantro and mint are used as herbs. It gives refreshing flavors to this sauce. You can use parsley instead of cilantro. I highly recommend you to use mint. Don’t skip it.Green chilies – I have used hot green chili. You can use jalapenos or serrano peppers too. Use it according to your spice level.Garlic – one clove of garlic makes a huge difference in this sauce.Greek yogurt – gives an extra creamy texture to the sauce.Lemon juice and salt. Use lime or lemon juice to brighten up the flavors of this avocado cilantro sauce.
Pro-tip – You can also add mango, pineapple, or peach to make this sauce. It will give a very nice fruity flavor.
4. Salad
You can garnish this taco with whatever you like. My favorite –
Purple cabbage – you can use white cabbage or lettuce too instead of purple cabbage.Onion – Any onion works fine.Cucumber and tomatoCilantro – you can use parsley too.
Pro-tip – you can use fruits too as a topping. I didn’t use any kind of seasoning to season the salad as sauce and achari paneer is already full of flavors. But you can season it with salt, pepper, and lemon juice if you wish to. Other ingredients On top of the above, you will also need
Corn tortilla – Use white or yellow. Both are fine.Hot taco sauce – This is a must. It elevates this recipe and takes it to the next level. Any taco sauce will work here. But my favorite is Traders Joe’s spicy taco sauce.Sour cream –
How to make this recipe? Step by step process
Achari Masala Take red dried chili, coriander seeds, onion seeds, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, and cumin seeds in a pan and dry roast them on a medium to low flame for 2 to 3 minutes. Let them cool down. Take roasted masala, salt, turmeric powder, hing, and amchur powder in a blender jar and grind them until smooth powder. Keep it aside. Achari Paneer In a blender jar, take tomatoes, green chilies, ginger, garlic, and onion. Crush them to make a smooth puree. Keep it aside. Heat mustard oil in a pan well. Now add prepared tomato-onion gravy, stir well, cover it and let it cook for 8 to 10 minutes on medium heat. Stirring occasionally. Now open the lid, add prepared achari masala. Stir and cook everything for 2 minutes. Now add ½ of water, mix well and let it come to a boil. Then add paneer cubes and heavy cream. Mix everything well and cook for a minute. Taste the achari paneer. Adjust the seasoning if required. Switch off the flame and keep it aside. Avocado cilantro sauce. Take all the ingredients in a blender jar, add ¾ cup of water, and blend it until you get a smooth and creamy sauce. Keep it aside. Salad Take all the salad ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Keep aside. Assemble Warm all the corn tortillas on the grill or in a hot skillet or directly on the stove flame until a little bit charred over high to medium heat. Take a tortilla on a plate or a work surface, apply some sour cream, avocado cilantro sauce, place some salad and few pieces of achari paneer. Then drizzle 1 to 2 teaspoon hot taco sauce and some lime juice. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Some Mexican Recipes
Instant Pot Mexican Casserole | Vegetarian CasseroleHomemade Chalupa (Taco Bell Copycat)Instant Pot Enchilada RiceArroz Verde (Green Rice)Instant Pot Mexican Rice
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