Spicy Chicken Tacos With Mango Radish Salsa

Spicy chicken tacos , a sure crowd pleaser taco. Everything is made from scratch in this recipe, from homemade fresh flour tortilla, spicy and crispy chicken, and the most delicious mango radish – jalapeno salsa. This chicken taco is a fusion recipe, chicken strips is marinated with spices and instantly deep fried, flour tortillas is a no lard recipe with basic 4 ingredients, and salsa is prepared with freshly chopped mango, radish and Jalapeno Peppers. The most addictive chicken tacos and salsa flavors  your family will love it! Serve the chicken, salsa and the tortillas separately, and let the crowd build their own taco. This recipe includes detailed instructions with stepwise pictures of how to make the crispy chicken, flour tortilla and mango, radish and jalapeno salsa.

Apart from Indian Cuisine, my family likes Mexican cuisine because of the fresh ingredients used in various dishes. That’s is why we often end up going to a Mexican restaurant for a burrito bowl or a taco. Recipes involves more preparation time, than the actual cooking time for most of the recipes , so I enjoy preparing it with the family!

I didn’t want to grill the chicken with usual marinade but wanted something crunchy and spicy. So I landed up making this Indian twist to the recipe. I used the chicken recipe which I usually prepare for the fried chicken strips in the Indian cuisine . And the idea of making fresh mango and radish salsa came from Mexico. When I visited Mexico, this salsa was in the buffet, and I really like it. Ingredients used in that recipe was mango , radish , onions, fresh red chilies ,cilantro and some seasoning. I replaced fresh red chili with red chilli powder and added Jalapeno for extra spiciness on the salsa. It turned out to be delicious, and yum. Overall this spicy chicken taco with mango-radish salsa is a big hit with my family. Try it, I’m sure you’ll like it too!

Alternative ingredients for making flour tortillas

Instead of all purpose flour in the recipe, substitute Instant corn masa flour to make corn tortillas and rest of the ingredients remains the same.

I prefer to use butter for this recipe, but you can also use any cooking oil instead of unsalted butter. Make sure to mix the oil well to the dry flour first, and then add hot water.

Soft taco can be made into hard taco shells, after cooking the soft tortillas, then deep fry in oil until it becomes crispy golden color .

Different taco topping suggestions

For topping and garnish, use can also use thin sliced carrots, any flavored rice (Mexican /cilantro rice), black or pinto beans, sour cream, or any other proteins of your choice.

Chicken can also be grilled or baked with the same marinade in the recipe. It will taste delicious.

Should the texture of the salsa be chunky or smooth ?

Salsa tastes best when the texture is chunky. Taste of the salsa completely depends on the texture and consistency. I recommend not to grind the salsa to smooth paste consistency. The fruit flavor from mango , savory radish and spiciness from jalapeno in every bite gives the perfect flavor and texture to the salsa.

Options for  making it a Vegetarian Taco without meat 

Substitute meat with Crispy Cauliflower, and make it into a SPICY CAULIFLOWER TACOS . Follow the recipe here for Crispy Cauliflower . These crispy cauliflower is a sure treat for vegetarians!

• Gobi 65 / Crispy Cauliflower

Other Mexican Cuisine recipes , I’ve listed few below. ( I’ve a detailed post for salsa and flour tortilla, if you would like to check it out, link given below)

• Mango – Radish And Jalapeno Salsa
• Best Homemade Flour Tortillas Recipe
• Best Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
• Chipotle Veggie Burrito Bowl Air Fryer
• Chipotle Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice Instant Pot

Step by step pictures of how to make the flour tortilla

Ingredients required – All purpose flour , room temperature butter , salt , baking powder, hot water

Take a wide bowl fitted with the sieve . Dump all dry ingredients – flour , salt , baking powder and sieve two or three times.

Then add butter to the flour mixture and roughly mix them using hands. Now add hot water to the flour and mix well and kneed few minutes to form a smooth dough. Cover with any lid or cloth and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes.

Now make small equal sized balls from the dough. Now lightly flour the surface and the rolling pin . Using the rolling pin flatten each ball , shape and gently roll into rounds ( Do not press hard) . To make even sized rounds, after rolling the dough , use a lid of a medium sized jar and cut into round shape.

Repeat the step until you are done with the dough. Heat the tawa / griddle . Once its hot place the rolled tortilla on the hot tawa and wait until it is bubbly. Turn and cook the other side until slightly golden . Make sure both side are cooked and light brown spots appear. Place the cooked tortilla in tortilla warmer/ hot case

How to make the spicy and  crispy chicken strips?

Ingredients Required – cut chicken thighs into one -two inch thin strips ( rinse and clean chicken in cold running water for few times) , turmeric , yogurt / curd , salt , kashmiri red chili powder, corn flour , besan flour , rice flour , ginger and garlic paste , lemon juice and water.

Heat the kadai / deep pot with enough oil for deep frying the chicken in medium low flame only . Now mix all the above ingredients in a bowl except chicken strips into smooth paste. Then add cut chicken strips into the prepared paste and mix well to coat the chicken on all sides.

Once the oil is hot ( test oil temperature by dropping few drops of batter into the hot oil – it will bounce right back to the top surface of the oil). Now take each chicken strips one by one and drop it into the hot oil . Few pieces in a single batch of frying ( do not crowd). fry the chicken strips for 4 to 5 minutes approximately or until golden brown in medium low flame only. Repeat until all the chicken pieces are fried. Drain chicken on a paper towel after frying.

Preparing the mango, radish, jalapeno salsa

Ingredients Required – Salt , plain red chilli powder , clean- peel skin -chop the mango, clean – chop roughly 3/4 th of radish ( reserve 1/4 portion for garnish) , fresh coriander strands , lemon juice , Jalapeno Peppers , red onions roughly chopped.

Take all the above ingredients in the mixer / food processor and grind them coarse texture only ( make sure there is no big lumps and do not grind smoothly) . Transfer it to a bowl.

Building your own tacos or assemble as shown in the below picture and garnish

Ingredients required to assemble the tacos – Prepared Salsa, fresh tortillas , fried chicken, avocado cut into thin strips, fresh cilantro chopped, red onions finely chopped, radish finely chopped, shredded Mexican cheese blend , and lettuce cut into thin strips.

Take each tortilla, and place the fried chicken strips, top it with radish , cilantro , salsa , onions , avocado, finally with some cheese, and serve immediately or serve everything separately and build your own taco.