I've been watching a couple of US programs recently which show alot of Mexican/Tex-Mex food and i've come to realise that the ingredients seem to be very similar to Indian food (in a broad sense - obviously there are many regions and cusines in both countries).

Onions, garlic, chillies, peppers
Cumin, corriander
Tomatoes

You could get a pretty decent stew out of those ingredients and it could be from either cuisine.

I'd say if you add oregano or tomitillos then it goes in a Mexican direction and if you add tumeric or ginger it goes the Indian way.


Any one else notice the similarities?

The same could be said for Indian versus North African, though.
Use of ginger, cinnamon, chillies, cumin, etc.........

I think the cooking process is what sets them apart, is it not?

You mean whereas in Mexican cooking they would slowly cook the dish until the meat falls apart but in Indian it would almost be stir fried?

Also I would say that Indian would probably use fresh peppers whereas Mexican would roast or slow fry peppers.

IMO, they are worlds apart in taste. I love Mexican food, but I strongly dislike indian food. I think cumin is probably the common denominator in both. However, with indian food there are several ingredients that are used that I don't care for such as, ginger, cardamom and garam masala.

lol, thats like saying you dont like veg. There is no standard garam masala

I peronally don't like the combination of spices. Just IMO of course.

garam masala = Indian sweet spice mix = sweet spice mix Notes: You can buy this either whole or ground. Durban is a well-regarded brand. To make your own: 2 parts ground cardamom + 5 parts ground coriander + 4 parts ground cumin + 2 parts ground black pepper + 1 part ground cloves + 1 part ground cinnamon + 1 part ground nutmeg (Adapted from a recipe in Substituting Ingredients by Becky Sue Epstein and Hilary Dole Klein. See my sources.) or see the recipe for Garam Masala posted on RecipeSource.com. Substitutes: equals parts cumin, pepper, cloves, and nutmeg, all ground OR curry powder (spicier, different flavor)

http://www.foodsubs.com/SpicemixInd.html

Spot on.

Spot on. The spices also vary dependent on which type of Indian cuisine you eat, for example south Indian food is very different to north Indian food for those very reasons.

The words garam masala just mean something like spiced mixture in Hindi. It can be whatever the chef wants.

I also reckon that Indian is nothing like Mexican. I've had Mexican in Mexico and in the US and I've had Indian in various parts of India as well as in this country. There is no comparison between Mexican food in Mexico and Mexican food in the US, same as the British Indian food is a far cry from the Indian food that people in India eat.

Also, Mexico and India are both massive countries with different styles of cooking in different regions, because there are different climates all over, due to their sizes, so different things are grown or raised for food, depnding on climate.

I mentioned some of those points in my OP but if you take a stew with the ingredients I listed it does seem very similar to ingredients that you could make a curry with.

I know it's very broad. Take out the cumin and corriander and it could be Italian.

They are totally different, but I do see the similarities. I have incorporated the use of some spices from Indian cuisine to my Tex-Mex cooking. It has added another dimension to my Tex-mex and I think it's been a positive addition. (Cinnamon comes to mind... when I am cooking up my refried beans... but here are more examples too).

Cinnamon is very much a part of Mexican cuisine. What would a mole sauce be without it?

I've not had much mole in my life, even though I am from San, Antonio, Texas. I've never known anyone to use cinnamon in their homemade Tex-mex recipes.. but now I can't make a pot of pinto beans without it. Even when I mentioned it to my Mom, she wasn't convinced. So I don't think cinnamon is that common to the Tex-mex that *I* grew up with. No matter, I love it in my own "Tex-mex" and won't cook without it now.

I'm not really sure where the line between (the varied) Mexican cuisine and Tex-Mex is drawn, but where I grew up in Washington State, there was a definite cinnamon element to the Mexican/Tex-Mex food I ate. What about sopapillas, flan or churros?!

I love San Antonio, btw. I still think about the avocado tostada I had at a Tex-Mex place along the River Walk.

although they are hot, that's the only similarity isn't it.

a chili (con carne) with bell peppers and tabasco, is nothing like any curry i have had.

indeed in many ways it seems similar to me, to an Italian ragu, with less tomato, and more heat.

That would be the case **only** if you limited yourself to places like Taco Bell.

I suspect you didn't do enough sampling or traveling in America.

I've never heard of cinnamon being a common ingredient in mole either.

Indeed. If you can't find authentic Mexican food in Southern California you're not looking very hard. When there is a critical mass of first generation immigrants from a certain area, they can support restaurants within their own community without having to change the food to appeal to anyone else. And over time the rest of the population becomes savvy enough to that style that at least some of them are going to demand better than just a pale imitation of it.

so true. Good Mexican food can be found all over the US. Immigrants have brought various cooking styles with them from different regions as well. Also don't discount excellent cuisine from El Salvador, Guatamela, Nicaragua which can be found in several American cities. My old city of San Francisco had some great Latin and Central American eateries.

I was in San Diego a few months ago and ate my Pozole stew practically every day. I wish wish we had decent Mexican in Hawaii.

real Mexican is nothing like I have tasted anywhere else. Maybe it was my holiday/ travelling rtaste buds... everything tastes better abraod.

Same said for Indian though.

Well it is! An authentic mole can have up to 20-30 ingredients, including cinnamon (canela).

Until I started watching these US shows I didn't know much about Mexican/Tex-Mex food. Mostly the US/UK versions such as Cilli Con Carne, Burritos, Fajitas, Enchalatas etc.

But watching the chefs cook you see the use of the ingredients and alot of the times i'm thinking they could be describing the recipe for Indian food.

Maybe it was that the stew i've seen making (described in my first post) are generic the world over, just like a bolognaise, moussaka, cottage pie, chille con carne.

You're right. Cinnamon is often used in sweet foods, but I wasn't familiar with using cinnamon in savoury/spicy foods until I started making my own Indian food. Now I find myself adding it to many of my Mexican recipes too.

Now you have me wanting sopapillas with honey!

San Antonio is a really cool place. It's overlooked by most of the UK tourists, which is a shame.

The first 2 are definitely more mexican than tex-mex.

and I don't think there is any cinnamon in sopapillas, just honey.

Personally I prefer mexican over tex-mex...