So what is a samosa though? A samosa is an Indian deep fried snack that’s made with a flour dough and with a stuffing. You can stuff meat, potatoes & peas (my favourite samosa), paneer (I love a paneer jalfrezi stuffing!), cheese and/or veggies. The possibilities are quite numerous!
That being said, while deep frying is the traditional method of making samosas, and while I love to deep fry, let’s be honest and that we probably shouldn’t every day! Not only would that amount of refined oil be unhealthy, but it’s a lot of clean-up! You’ve got the wok, the slotted spoon, the paper towel to absorb the grease…
I find air frying the most convenient alternative to the oven because all you need to clean up is the air fryer! Also, at least with my air fryer, you save some time because my air fryer doesn’t need to preheat. If you’re wondering, I have the Ninja Foodi 6-in-1 2 basket air fryer! I’ve used it pretty much every day since I got it back in December, and I totally recommend it! If you want more details about this air fryer, then be sure to check out my full first impressions review on YouTube!
Why Make These Air Fryer Keema Samosas?
You have to try this Air Fryer Chicken Keema Samosa recipe! If you want one of the best Indian snacks made fresh in your kitchen, then this is what you have to make! Let’s go over why these Air Fryer Keema Samosas are going to rock your world!
- A juicy minced chicken filling
- An addictive snack
- Perfectly crispy outside
- Adored by guests for any occasion
- Stores well in the fridge, making it excellent to prepare for grab and go snacks!
- Healthier than traditional fried samosas
Is your mouth watering? Mine sure is thinking about these amazing samosas and I’m wishing I could munch on one right now! Let’s get to the recipe!
Tips & Tricks for Perfect Air Fryer Keema Samosas
- Let the dough rest for as long as you can be patient. This is usually the hardest part for me, after all, I want to eat and who wants to wait to eat these treats. Trust me, wait at the least 15 minutes and you will be glad. This will allow the dough to rest and be easy to shape into samosas.
- Roll the dough thin and even. The thinner the dough, the quicker it will cook, however be careful not to roll it too thin - or you will run a risk of it tearing during the stuffing step.
- Let the stuffing completely cool down to room temperature. If it’s any warmer, you will risk tearing the dough while stuffing.
- Use water to seal the seams. Steam may want to escape during cooking and if any open gaps are present in the seam, you risk the samosa coming apart.
- Fill the samosa cone as much as possible. You want to fill the cones as much as you can so that there’s no extra air. Make sure there’s about 1/2 inch gap at the top so that you can seal your samosa really well so that it doesn’t fall apart when baking.
- When adding the samosas in the air fryer, leave as much space as possible. Make sure they don’t sit on top of each other or side by side. The more gap there is, the more room there is for the air fryer air to cook the samosas.
Ingredients for Keema Samosas
We’ll go over the ingredients needed to make the samosa dough and our chicken keema filling. Remember, the complete recipe with all ingredient quantities can be found in the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD at the bottom of this post! You can easily scale the amounts based on how many Chicken Keema Samosas you’d like to make!
FOR the DOUGH
- Flour/Maida: I’m using all-purpose flour for these samosas. For best results, this is what I recommend, as you will get different flavours by using whole wheat or any other kind of flour.
- Ajwain: They add a subtle flavour and this helps with digestion.
- Water: As needed.
- Salt: Just a pinch.
- Ghee: Helps make a smooth and soft dough. The ghee will also allow for the samosa dough to get crispy as the samosas are air frying. You could also use olive oil.
For the Chicken Filling
How to Make Juicy Air Fryer Chicken Keema Samosas
For the Chicken Filling
- Heat pan on medium heat and add ghee. When the ghee is hot, add cumin seeds and hing sauté until reddish brown.
- Add ginger, garlic, chopped carrots and onions and let that saute until the vegetables start to turn brown. Keep mixing so they don’t get burnt.
- Add the minced chicken and break down the large pieces.
- Add spices. Add red chili powder, ground coriander, garam masala and turmeric. Mix well and keep breaking down large chunks of chicken.
- When the chicken is no longer pink, add peas and chopped green onions. Mix well and add salt. Add a splash of water if you notice the mixture is dry.
- Let the mixture cool down in a bowl and prepare the dough.
FOR the DOUGH
- Measure flour in a bowl and add ajwain and ghee. Mix the dough well until the texture feels crumbly.
- Then add water as required to knead a dough that is smooth but not too soft. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest at room temperature for at least 30-40 minutes.
TO MAKE the SAMOSAS
- Divide dough into 3-4 equal parts, rolling out each dough into a thin disk
- Using a knife, cut from the centre of the dough until the edge, and wet the edges with some water. Pick up one edge and place it 1/4 of the way up the other edge, making a cone. Press to ensure the edges stick.
- Scoop out roughly 2-3 Tbsp of chicken mixture and add to the cone, Fold the edges of the samosa, making sure to overlap the fold down the centre such that once sealed, the samosa can stand. Repeat the same process for the remaining dough and samosa.
- Brush ghee over the samosas.
- In the basket of the air fryer, place your samosas. Leave as much gap as you can and ensure the samosas don’t touch.
- Set the air fryer to Air Fryer mode and set the temperature to 350 F. Cook for 20 minutes.
- After 10-12 minutes, brush some more ghee if you would like.
- Cook until golden brown and crispy. Serve hot with tamarind chutney/mint chutney or ketchup and enjoy :)
Are these air fryer samosas healthy?▼
I would say they are! We’re only going to brush a tiny bit of olive oil over the samosas before air frying them. The amount of olive oil is nearly negligible, we just want a bit so that our samosas are perfectly crispy and have a lovely golden brown colour. Plus, olive oil is a nutritious oil, containing monounsaturated fats! On the other hand, when we deep fry, we typically use refined oils such as vegetable oil, canola oil, or grapeseed oils, and we use them in large quantities! There’s no nutritional benefit of using these oils, and they just add extra calories.
Admittedly, deep frying sure is delicious, but I would reserve deep frying for a special occasion! By air frying, we can still have the delicious
Serving Suggestions for Air Fryer Chicken Samosas
You can serve these Air Fryer Chicken Keema Samosas in so many ways! I suggest Cilantro-Mint Chutney or Tamarind Chutney. I personally love to have my samosas with some ketchup too! To cool off, you my want to sip on a cold Mango Lassi! Samosas are a perfect snack or appetizer before any main dish, or you could even have them for breakfast! I don’t think there’s ever a bad time to enjoy samosas, and you can eat them with any kind of dip of your choice!
Can I make chicken samosas ahead of time?▼
Of course! You can air fry the samosas and reheat later, or have your dough and stuffing ready, and then assemble and air fry the samosas fresh when you’re ready to eat. The ability to make Chicken Samosas ahead of time makes it perfect to snack prep - that is if you have the discipline to keep them in the fridge and don’t snack on them all in one sitting!
Storing Leftover Samosas
I’m not sure how there could be leftover samosas since these are sure to be some of the best samosas you’ve ever had, and if you’re preparing these for guests, I’m sure they won’t be able to stop eating them once they’ve started! That being said, if you’ve made a large batch ahead of time to serve guests later, or you’re snack prepping, then you can store leftovers in the fridge for 3 to 5 days. You could either leave them on a plate and cover with plastic wrap, or store in an airtight container. If you have leftover samosas that have gone a little soft, you can use them for samosa chaat!
How to Reheat chicken Samosas▼
To reheat your samosas, you could reheat in the microwave for about 30 seconds to a minute, depending on how strong your microwave is. Simply reheat until the outside and inside are warm.
To keep the outside of the samosa nice and crispy, the best methods would be to air fry or reheat in the oven! To reheat in the air fryer, heat for about 2-3 minutes at 350 F. To reheat in the oven, also set your oven to 350 F and heat for about 5 to 10 minutes. If you’re reading this recipe, I assume you have an air fryer, and I believe that the air fryer is the best method! As the pros for air frying versus oven baking, it will be a lot quicker to do, and I find it maintains the crispy outside much better than the oven does, while maintaining the heat outside and in.
I Have Leftover Filling! What Can I Do!
There are so many options you could do with leftover keema filling! You could use it in sandwiches & wraps, puff pastry, such as in my Chicken Puff Patties, Chicken Keema Paratha, or just enjoy it on its own with a side of Indian bread, such as roti or paratha, or with rice, such as Simple Basmati Rice, Jeera Rice, Turmeric Rice, or Mint-Cilantro Rice. The choices are really endless, so fear not if there’s extra filling! I’m sure it’ll be gone in no time!
I don’t have an air fryer! Can I Bake the Samosa Instead?▼
Of course! To bake the samosa, preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and apply a thin layer of spray oil. Line up the samosas on the baking sheet and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. For more details about baking your samosas in the oven, check out my Paneer Jalfrezi Samosa recipe, and perhaps save that one for later for an exciting filling idea to try!
Can I Fry the Chicken Samosas?▼
I don’t see why not! This recipe is all about air frying, but if you want to use this filling and instead deep fry - perhaps for a special occasion! - then check out the Aloo Samosa recipe I have where the samosas are deep fried!
Other Chicken Keema Recipes!
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