Garam, Garam Air Fried Samosas by Meagan

We love working with guest bloggers and readers who enjoy Indian cuisine as much as we do.

Meagan is a self-taught chef that has worked in many different types of professional kitchens. Growing up with traditional American Southern food, she didn’t really know about food from other cultures. She ate mostly unhealthy, fried, salty foods. When she was an adult, she got a job at a bagel shop in Charleston, South Carolina. Learning how to make omelets, assorted cream cheeses, and making the perfect latte catapulted her into the food industry. She found she was very interested in cooking and started working towards growing her skills and knowledge in the kitchen. It has been 11 years, and she continues her journey of learning as much as she can about food, flavor, and cultures around the world. Indian food is one of her many favorites!

Meagan has tried samosas at restaurants, but this was her first time making them herself! She tries to keep her food relatively healthy most of the time. Her air fryer saves her from having a kitchen that smells like frying oil, so she uses it whenever she can.  

We hope you enjoy Meagan's Samosas made using the air fryer.

Ingredients for the Samosa Dough

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 cup avocado oil*
• ¼ tsp black cumin, toasted
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp water

Ingredients for Potato Filling

• 2 medium potatoes
• ¼ cup peas (blanched)
• ½ tsp ghee
• ½ Tbsp ginger, minced
• Pinch of asafoetida
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cumin, ground
• ¼ tsp garam masala
• ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro/coriander, chopped

You will also need

Extra oil for rolling dough Pastry Brush & Rolling Pin Water for sealing samosas

Procedure 1) Boil potatoes until just done; so, a fork can go through. Crumble potatoes and set aside. Add ghee, ginger, and spices to a pan until it sizzles, saute for about 30 seconds, stirring, add peas and cook for another 2 minutes. Add mixture to potatoes along with vinegar and stir well. Set aside to cool. 2) Mix together flour ingredients, except water. Rub the flour well for a few minutes to mix the oil in well. The dough should be able to hold shape and not crumble when it is ready to add water. Mix in the water a little at a time to make a stiff dough. Cover and rest for 30 minutes. 3) Knead the dough to smooth, cut into three pieces, and roll into balls. Cover remaining dough while rolling out each piece. Oil the rolling area and flatten a ball, drizzle oil on ball. Roll ball into an oval shape about 8 x 6 inches. Cut into two parts, this will be two samosas.

4) Take one part and add water over the straight edge, joining edges to make a cone. Press down carefully to seal the cone from the inside also.

5) Add cilantro to potato filling and mix well.

6) Fill the cone with potato masala and gently push filling inside the cone. Brush water on both remaining edges bring together, and seal, pinching the edges together. Cover to keep from drying while working on the others.

7) Once finished, turn on the air fryer to 350. Brush or spray samosas generously with avocado oil. Bake in the air fryer for about 30 minutes or until light golden brown.

Quick Tips

-  If avocado oil is not readily available, you can use substituted with ghee or canola oil. 
- If baking in the oven, turn on the oven about 10 minutes prior to forming samosas.

We thank Meagan for sharing her love of Indian cooking with us. Like these vegetarian Samosas, follow Meagan: on Twitter and on YouTube.

You're Never Too Old to Enjoy Murukku!!

Pretzels, potato chips, and Chex Mix are some examples of crunchy and fun snacks we all enjoy!

However, have you ever tried Indian snacks? Most Indian snacks are also gluten-free. Some examples are Murukku or Chakralu, Pappuchekkalu, Corn Flakes Mixture, and nutty pakoda. 

Whenever my relatives from India visit, they always bring these tasty and spicy snacks for us. It feels like Christmas but instead of presents, we receive snacks! I'm a big fan of edible presents any day! 

Murukku is a pretzel-like Indian snack. I love murukku because they are light and crunchy. Besides using gluten-free flours, you can also add ajwain seeds, whole cumin, or sesame into the mix. Every ingredient adds more flavor and taste to these snacks. 

Aren't you curious how we make this snack? Let's take a look:

Ingredients for the Dough:
- 3-1/2 cups rice flour

- 1 cup Roasted chana dal, finely powdered

- 1 tbsp Ajwain or Carom seeds

- 2 to 3 tsp chili powder
- 3 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)
- 2 pinches of Hing (Asafoetida)

- 5 tsp salt

- 3 tbsp Vegetable oil, lukewarm (to mix into the dough)

- Water (as needed to mix flours into a tight dough, not sticky or wet)

Utensils needed:

Kitchen Press (use the single star disc in the press)

Large mixing bowl

Frying pan

Slotted ladle

Mesh strainer

Ingredients for Frying:

- 2 to 3 cups Vegetable oil 

Procedure

1) Sieve together rice flour and chana dal powder into a large mixing bowl, and then add the dry ingredients as listed above. Mix well and adjust the salt and chili powder at this time by tasting a pinch of the mixture. 

2) Next, add the warm vegetable oil into the mixture and coat it well. Slowly, add water to the flour until it forms into a soft and tight lump, but it's not sticky. Keep the dough covered. 

3) Insert the single star disc into the kitchen press. Take a handful of dough, and form a log and insert it into the press cylinder and then close the cylinder with the screw-on cap. 

Make murukku in spiral design starting from the center and then circling and towards outward circle to the desired size on a greased plate or on wax paper. Cover all the spirals with a towel until you have made 10 to 15 or so to fry.  

4) Heat the oil for frying until you feel the heat when you place your palm at a safe height above the frying pan. Test the heat by dropping a small ball of dough into the oil. If the ball sizzles and surfaces to the top, then it is ready. 

Slowly insert approximately 10 murukkus (reduce the number based on your frying pan size) into the oil and fry them until golden brown by turning them over in between for uniform frying. 

Remove them from oil using a slotted ladle and put them into a mesh strainer for the oil to drain further. Later transfer into a container. 

5) Cool them for 10 to 15 minutes to attain the proper crunchiness to serve. Store them in a tight lid container after it is cooled for 1 hour. Makes approximately 30 to 40 murukkus. It is best to store this snack in a tight lid container and can be enjoyed for 15 to 20 days. 

I like stacking my murukku or chakralu as high as I can before I pop them into my mouth. How do you enjoy murukku? 

Simple Coconut and Tomato Rasam

I love rasam. The simplest meaning for rasam is juice. So mango rasam means mango juice. There's also a South Indian dish called rasam. It goes great with any type of rice or also can be eaten as soup. A well known rasam that is offered in most Indian restaurants in the US is Mulligatawny soup (made with pepper).  Did you know there are 25 variations of rasam? That's a lot of rasam. I've probably tasted only about 5 in my life, which means I've still got a lot of ground to cover. I love the one I'm going to tell you about today. It's a step up from the basic rasam recipe; the additional ingredient is coconut powder.

Ingredients:

- 3 Plum tomatoes, chopped into 1" pieces

- 2 tbsp Coconut Milk Powder (or 4 tbsp of unsweetened coconut milk if coconut milk powder is not available)

- ½ tbsp Madras Rasam Powder

- ½ tbsp Salt

- 400 ml Water

Finely chopped Fresh Coriander for garnish

Ingredients for Seasoning (Taalimpu):

- 1 tbsp Vegetable oil

- ½ tsp Mustard seeds
- ½ tsp Whole Cumin seeds
- A pinch of Hing (Asafoetida)

Procedure: 

Dice tomatoes into cubes and grind them in a blender until sauce consistency. Transfer the sauce into a (2qt) medium saucepan and add water, rasam powder, salt, and coconut powder. (Hint: mix the coconut powder with a little bit of water so when it is mixed into the tomato sauce, it doesn't clump).  Bring the rasam mixture to a boil on medium heat (approx. 7-10min). Check to see if all the coconut powder is mixed into the rasam, and no lumps are noticed. Continue to boil for another 2 minutes and remove from heat. 

In a smaller saucepan (tadka pan), heat oil on low-medium heat. When you feel the heat on your palm, add mustard and cumin seeds. When they splutter, add hing. After about 1-2 minutes, remove from heat, and add directly to the rasam. Add chopped coriander and serve hot with rice or as soup with croutons.

I enjoy eating rasam on cold nights; it warms me up instantly. What is your favorite kind of rasam? Please share with us.