Experiments in Paleo meets Tex Mex

It has a long way to go but at least it finally sprouted!

If you know me, you know that I heart Tex Mex. Fortunately a lot of the ingredients found here in India lend themselves to the Tex Mex cuisine. Confusingly though, avocados are not as popular here and are insanely expensive. They went from being about 25 cents apiece in Kenya to 5 dollars a pop here. It's a travesty; I'm attempting to grow my own avocado tree in rebellion. 

Despite the ridiculous prices, I occasionally splurge and indulge on my favorite fruit. This was one of those days. Since I'm off bread, my favorite avocado toast was out so I decided to make a chicken avocado tortilla soup sans the tortillas. I adapted a few recipes to suit my tastes and pantry; original recipes found here, here, and here.

1 1/2 tbsp ghee
1 red onion
8 cloves of garlic
1 kg chicken mince  
6 c chicken broth
1 tsp Tabasco® sauce
4 jalapeño peppers 
1 tomato, seeded
1/4 c fresh coriander (cilantro) 
1 avocado
1 large lemon/lime
1/2 tsp ground cumin
salt and black pepper (to taste)

In a large saucepan, I poured 6 cups of water with 4 Maggi® chicken broth packets (totally not paleo, I'm sure) with a dash of Tabasco®, since I didn't have any sriracha lying around. I then threw in the diced tomato and American Garden® (American in name only) jalapeño slices instead of using their smaller, hotter, green cousin commonly found here.

In a separate pan (I use a kadai, it's like a small wok-like frying pan) I sauteed the onion and garlic in the ghee for a few minutes (until the garlic is lightly browned and the onions are clear) before adding the chicken mince. Once browned, I stirred it into the simmering broth. I then mixed in the lemon juice, cumin, salt, and ground pepper. I added avocado slices and cilantro to each bowl just before serving. If you're not off dairy, I would also suggest topping it off with a dollop of sour cream or thick yoghurt (my favorite is Nestlé A+ Dahi®).

What's your favorite way to eat avocados? I am always looking for more creative ways to incorporate avocados into my dishes.