tajin

When the summer sun screams across Mexico’s city streets and sandy beaches, mangonadas come to the rescue. Also called chamangos, they can be made with any combination of mango sorbet, chopped fresh mango or mango purée, and may or may not be spiked, but they’ll always contain the salty, spicy and tangy flavors of Tajín and chamoy. Tajín, a chile-lime salt, is a delicious addition to sweet and savory foods alike. Its sister condiment, chamoy, is traditionally made from fermented fruit, salt, sugar and chiles. Depending on your location, you can find Tajín, chamoy and tamarind straws — their sour, chewy coating adds an extra tickle of tartness — at supermarkets or Latin American grocers; all three are available online.

Mangonada

sugar,

lime juice (from 2 fresh limes)

water,

silver tequila or rum (optional)

chamoy

Tajín,

tamarind candy straws (optional)

Place 5 cups mango in a blender, reserving the remaining mango. Add the sugar, lime juice and 3/4 cup cold water to the blender, and blend on medium-high speed until puréed. Blend in tequila or rum, if using. Blend in additional water, adding 1/4 cup at a time, until mango mixture reaches the desired consistency.

Chill mango mixture, covered, in refrigerator until ready to serve. For a colder mangonada, transfer mixture to the freezer until it reaches the consistency of a slushy.

To serve, pour or scoop about 1/2 cup of mango mixture into each of four 16-ounce glasses. Add about 1/3 cup reserved mango to each glass, followed by 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons chamoy and a generous sprinkle of Tajín. Repeat with the remaining mango mixture, mango pieces, chamoy and a final sprinkling of Tajín on top. Garnish each glass with a tamarind candy straw, if using, and a spoon. Serve immediately.

This homemade chamoy sauce recipe is the most versatile Mexican sauce, the ideal mix of sweet, savory and spicy, perfect drizzled over fruit, easy to make.

Homemade Chamoy Sauce Recipe

apricots

prunes (or use raisins)

hibiscus flowers

chiles

water

sugar

tajin seasoning

salt

lime juice (juice

Simmer

Add all of the ingredients except the lime juice to a large pan or sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the ingredients soften. They will plump up a bit.

Process

Cool, then transfer to a food processor or blender. Add the lime juice and process until smooth. Thin with water as needed.

Adjust

Watermelon with Tajin is one of my favorite summertime treats! Tajin, which is a spicy, sour and salty Mexican seasoning blend is delicious on pretty much everything you put it on... but when it comes to watermelon, well it's my favorite! The contrasting flavors make the watermelon taste even sweeter and more delicious. And the skewers make everything more fun!

Skewered Watermelon with Tajin

watermelon

lime

tsp Tajin

Long Wooden Skewers ((or more!))

Add a few watermelon cubes to each skewer and place on a serving platter.

Grab your lime and cut into the middle of it. Remove the knife, and stick the tip of the knife back in to one of the ends of the original cut, facing the other direction, so a zig-zag pattern is created.

Repeat this process until the cuts meet, then carefully pull the lime apart and you will see two beautifully cut zig zag limes. Please refer to the video for a more visual approach!

Next, squeeze a little lime juice on the watermelon skewers, then sprinkle the whole thing with as much Tajin as you would like before serving.

A spicy muddled jalapeño margarita with a Chamoy and Tajin rim.

Spicy Jalapeño Margarita

Silver Tequila

Cointreau

juice of 1 lime

jalapeño

Chamoy,

Tajin,

In a cocktail shaker add jalapeño slices, tequila,...

In a cocktail shaker add jalapeño slices, tequila, Cointreau, and lime juice.

Muddle with a wooden cocktail muddler to break...

Muddle with a wooden cocktail muddler to break up the jalapeño and infuse the tequila.

Fill shaker with ice and shake until well...

Fill shaker with ice and shake until well chilled.

Dip the rim of cocktail glass in Chamoy...

Dip the rim of cocktail glass in Chamoy sauce and then in Tajin.

Fill with ice and fresh slices of jalapeño.

Strain margarita into prepared glass, discarding the muddled...

Strain margarita into prepared glass, discarding the muddled jalapeño and old ice.

Garnish with lime.

Homemade Tajín for Elote and More

limes

chiles,

Toast the chiles on a comal or skillet until they’re crispy but not burnt, about 20 seconds per side.

Next, transfer the toasted chiles to your molcajete and grind them until they form a fine powder.

Add coarse salt to the molcajete and continue grinding to evenly mix the salt with the chile powder.

Grate the zest of the limes directly into the molcajete and mix thoroughly to infuse the seasoning with the citrus flavor.

Love Mexican? Find out how to make a homemade tajín using only a handful of ingredients. Then find out how to use it!

Homemade Tajín (Mexican Chilli-Lime Seasoning)

100 g dried red chillies OR 2

Tbsp fine sea salt

lime juice powder

tsp citric acid

deseed

Deseed the chillies. Using gloves if you want (especially if your chillies are not super mild), cut off the stalks and cut your chillies in half and split them open. Get rid of the seeds and membranes.

roast

Dry roast the chillies. Heat a large frying pan on medium-low heat and dry roast both types of chillies for 3-5 minutes. Keep an eye on them. When you start getting a fruity aroma off the chillies, take them off the heat and tip out onto a plate to cool.

grind

Grind the chillies. When the chillies are cool enough to handle, break them up and drop into a spice mill. Depending on the size of your spice mill, you&#39;ll have to do this in batches. You can see that mine is pretty small.Grind to a semi fine state. Tip out into a bowl.

With Whole Dried Chillies

Tip the chilli powder into a bowl. Once again, 2 different chilli powders will give you a wonderful mix of flavours and aroma.

With Chilli Powder of your Choice

Add the salt, lime juice powder and citric acid and mix thoroughly. Run your lime juice powder through a fine sieve as it tends to have tiny clumps. Mix thoroughly and taste. Add more lime juice powder or citric acid if you want.Transfer to a jar and store with the rest of the spices. It&#39;ll last indefinitely, although its potency will decrease over the months.

Mixing the Tajín

Thank you so much for this. I can't get it where I am but surprisingly found the lime powder and citric acid easily at the health food store. I looked at a few other recipes and decided to use yours as it seems to be the best in terms of ingredients used.

I have never heard of dehydrated lime juice before. I am definitely going to have to keep my eye out for this!

Powdered lime juice, who knew this was such a thing.  I need to get some.

Woah, totally love the detailed recipe! The Tajin spice blend sounds so intense and lovely - definitely trying it out.  

Dehydrated lime juice is completely new to me. Never heard of it before!

Top 6 tajin recipes from across the web

The most viewed tajin recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Mangonada

Homemade Chamoy Sauce Recipe

Skewered Watermelon with Tajin

Spicy Jalapeño Margarita

Homemade Tajín for Elote and More

Homemade Tajín (Mexican Chilli-Lime...

Top 6 tajin recipes from across the web

The most viewed tajin recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Mangonada

Homemade Chamoy Sauce Recipe

Skewered Watermelon with Tajin

Spicy Jalapeño Margarita

Homemade Tajín for Elote and More

Homemade Tajín (Mexican Chilli-Lime...

The most viewed tajin recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine