Recipes: Starters

A delicious recipe that Visit Mexico kindly allowed us to use from their collection of traditional Mexican recipes. Perfect for a starter or main course.

This world famous drink is a wonderful, fun cocktail drink served over crushed ice in a salt rimmed glass. The Margarita originates from Mexico in the 1930s and 40s. There are many versions of the story surrounding the specific circumstances of how it came to be but virtually all of them involve a Mexican bartender skilfully concocting the drink in honour of a lady.

This dish gives an artistic twist to a form of food synonymous with asian cusine – the dumpling. Delicious Thai fragrances and flavours of lemongrass, coconut milk and lime leaves flow throughout, and the 3 different types of fish give it an exceptionally tasty edge. The lemongrass sticks can be used as impromptu handles making these ideal for parties and small gatherings.

Tom Yam is a famous hot and sour soup of Thailand. The lemon grass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves give its tangy, sharp flavour and our Thai Long chillies provide the necessary kick. Our recipe is a seafood variation of this typically central Thai dish.

Tostadas are great party food. Tortillas are fried until golden brown and then used to layer different ingredients into a stack of 3 or 4 high. Usually made from corn tortillas though in some areas wheat tortillas are used instead. They look great on the table and are perfect for sharing!

Chimichangas are deep fried Burritos and are a very popular snack in the North Western Mexican regions of Sinaloa and Sonora. They are often a little smaller than a standard Burrito. Various restaurants in Arizona have laid claim to the Chimichanga though as they are essentially a deep fried Burrito we prefer to think of them as a Mexican invention!

This is a delicious Dosa filling recipe. Dosa is a popular South Indian pancake that is made from fermented batter of rice and skinned black lentils.

The rice and lentils are soaked separately in water overnight, then blended and combined. The mixture then ferments for another 10 hours. The bubbly batter is used to make thin and crispy pancakes, which are filled with all kinds of stuffings. One of the spicier fillings is this potato masala recipe. It's a great dish and if you don't have time to make the Dosa pancake mix can be enjoyed with naan bread or chapatis

This Shrimp soup is so good! It has a wonderful creamy texture with whole shrimp pieces and carrot chunks. Very tasty and the presence of chipotle chillies provides an embracing warmth and their characteristic deep smokey flavour. We've read a lot about Mexican shrimp soups and are thrilled to add this very easy to prepare version to our recipes list. If you can't find shrimp then try using prawns as a substitute.

Pumpkins are a big part of Mexican cuisine and you will find them being used in many great Mexican recipes. Here we have a delicious soup which is perfect as a winter warmer with delicious flavours of Chipotle, Ancho Poblano and Mexican cinnamon. If you're looking for an extra chilli kick you can add some extra Chipotle and perhaps a few Habanero flakes.