The credit for fajitas goes to the cowboys from the ranches of South and West Texas apparently — while there are several claims about who coined the term or sold it first, we like this story the best. The legend goes that around the beginning of the 20th century, ranchers there would throw away the less-desirable cuts of meat — mainly beef — to the vaqueros (Spanish: cowboys), including the skirt steak or faja (Spanish: belt/girdle). The vaqueros would then marinate it, grill the strips over open fire, and plate it up with pico de gallo, a kind of salsa, on a bed of colourful veggies, with tortillas. Over time, the delicacy made it to taco stands, Texan restaurants, and soon enough, people were digging into the sizzling Tex-Mex dish across the globe. As the US celebrates National Fajita Day today, chef Abhijeet Gomare, head of culinary, Chili's India (West & South), gives us the lowdown on nailing the flavours with two recipes.

Chef Abhijeet Gomare