This in one to try!I count myself as being very lucky to have grown up in such a multi-cultural society as California. Thirty years ago there were not very many Indian families in my hometown in California though there were a lot of Mexicans in my neighbourhood and it was food that brought us all together.
Food seems to do that quite well.
Nowadays, there are a lot of Indian families living in Northern California and it’s great seeing how many of the new families there are shopping at my favourite Mexican shops and visa-versa. It’s the Mexican and Indian shops where you find the best quality spices, vegetables, fruit and meat in my hometown of Turlock. These shops are where I go to purchase food when I go home.
The thing is, Mexican and Indian food is so similar. They both have their unique differences but so many of the spices and produce used are the same.
Take these crab tostadas for example. Tostadas are very Mexican but they could so easily be Indianised (not sure if that is a word but I’m sure you get the idea) in this day and age.
One thing I have really missed living in the UK for the past 20 years are corn tortillas. These tostadas could so easily be made with wheat flour tortillas as they are quite often in many US restaurants. I have made them with Indian chapatis too which work very well.
Today, however I want to inspire my friends around the world to try corn tortillas. If you’ve never tried them before, then please try to source some. In the UK, you can purchase fresh corn tortillas from The Cool Chili Company. They make their tortillas fresh every day and they are just as good as any corn tortillas I’ve every tried back in California or Mexico.
If you are not able to source corn tortillas, then you will still want to try this crab tostada recipe with flour tortillas or chapatis. I promise… you will love it.
In order to make the recipe as pictured, you will need to make some avocado raita and spicy tomato chutney. Or as my Mexican friends back home would call them, guacamole and salsa.
Indian Food Recipes - You Are Going To Love These Crab Tostadas

Ingredients
- 8 x 10cm corn tortillas
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
- Meat from one crab or 350g fresh crab meat
- 2 tablespoons mayonaise
- Juice of one lime
- 2 cloves garlic - finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 cup shredded cos lettuce
- 200g grated Cheddar or Paneer cheese
- Tomato chutney (As above)
- Avocado raita (as above)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan.
- When the oil is hot enough to fry a piece of tortilla in about 30 seconds, carefully lower the tortillas into the oil.
- Fry until the tortillas a ridged and crispy.
- Remove the tortillas from the oil and place on kitchen paper towels to soak up the excess oil
- Spread the crab meat equally over the tortillas. The crab meat can be served at room temperature or warmed. I prefer mine at room temperature.
- Blend the mayonnaise with the lime juice, garlic and cumin and then toss with the lettuce.
- Place the lettuce on the crab tostadas and top with the tomato chutney, the cheese and avocado raita.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Kusuma Rao
Tuesday 15th of January 2013
EXACTLY! There is so much crossover between Indian and Mexican food - the flavor profiles compliment each other so perfectly. There are so many cross overs between a lot of traditional mexican moles and Indian Kormas - it's really amazing. Most of the food I do is Indian Mexican fusion as I was raised in Tucson, AZ by Indian parents. I would just bring my parent's spice cabinet into all the Mexican foods I would make.
Kudos! Avocado riata is the best!
Dan Toombs
Wednesday 16th of January 2013
Thank you very much Kusumo. Really glad you stopped by. Love your blog BTW.
Dan
Kay.J.Sharp
Thursday 3rd of January 2013
A mixture of Mexican and Indian vegetables or spices. It seems quite healthy.
Dan Toombs
Wednesday 9th of January 2013
Very healthy and nice to eat too. :-)
Indian Restaurant
Friday 28th of December 2012
i read your blog and i love this amazing recipe.i am waiting next recipes.i also bookmark this post.
Dan Toombs
Wednesday 9th of January 2013
Thank you. Thanks for stopping by.
Dan