Indian Street Food Recipes: Samosas and Snacks!

Questions You May Have!

What is Indian street food?

Indian street food is the food sold from carts, stalls and small counters across India. You can find chaats, fried snacks, wraps and griddled dishes eaten standing up. In addition, the options vary enormously by region: Delhi is known for chaat and chole bhature, Mumbai for pav bhaji and vada pav, Kolkata for kathi rolls.

What is the easiest Indian street food to make at home?

Bread-based snacks are the easiest starting point. Aloo bread pakora and masala cheese toast both use ingredients most kitchens already have and take under twenty minutes. Masala corn is quicker still.

Can you make Indian street food in an air fryer?

Yes, for most fried snacks. Chilli paneer, chicken cutlets, samosas and pakoras all work in an air fryer, though the texture is drier than deep-frying. Recipes written specifically for the air fryer give better results than adapting a deep-fry recipe.

What is chaat?

Chaat is a category of Indian savoury snack built on contrast, where you have something crisp underneath, something cool and creamy over it, something sharp and tangy on top. Aloo tikki chaat, fruit chaat and papdi chaat are all versions of the same idea.

Can Indian street food be made ahead or frozen?

Most of it freezes well raw. Samosas, momos, cutlets and tikkis should be frozen uncooked on a tray, then bagged once solid, and cooked from frozen with a few extra minutes. Chutneys keep in the fridge for a week or more.

A few things worth knowing before you get started!

Most of these recipes are built from the same handful of ingredients. Get ginger garlic paste and tamarind chutney made ahead so that you can just focus on making the recipes themselves, and your dips are covered!

Deep frying is less frightening than people expect. The oil needs to be hot enough that things sizzle immediately. I recommend you do a taster to see the oil temperature: if a scrap of batter sinks and sits there, wait. Most soggy pakora or samosas are those that were made in cold oil.

And nearly everything here can be freezer-friendly for prepping in advance! Momos, cutlets and patties all go into the freezer raw, on a tray, then into a bag once solid. Cook them from frozen and add a few minutes.

If you're making these for India’s Independence Day, I'd genuinely love to know which ones you picked. The aloo puff patties are my all-time favourite, but really they’re all so awesome! However, I can understand that it may be hard to pick which one you’ll try first, as I know I totally love them all! Tag me @cooking.with.anadi or use the hashtag #cookingwithanadi, leave a comment, or just make them quietly and eat them all yourself. No judgment here, because I’m definitely guilty of it!

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