Category: Appetizers

Air Fried Potato Chops

(For 12 potato chops)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Growing up my mum often made potato chops (curried mince meat wrapped in mashed potato and deep or shallow fried) for an evening snack. I was craving these last month and decided to use my air fryer to “fry” the chops. My mother usually made a flatter shape but I decided to make them round and added a yogurt Raita dip for the chops. The most important thing is to make the mince mix dry and to use older potatoes so they don’t split when you fry them!

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Nepalese Momos

Prep Time: 40 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Total Time: 50 min

Making Nepalese dumplings is a fun project! I watched an episode of “Nadiya’s Asian Odyssey” on my flight to San Francisco where she travels to Nepal and makes dumplings for children at a school for a snack! Inspired, I decided to try them myself. The filling in the show was sweet with apple and cinnamon. I decided to go the savory route with a veal filling! My daughter absolutely loved them. The flower shape was what reeled her in and then the dumplings with the tasty sweet peanut sauce dip hit a home run on her taste buds!

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Crispy Cod & Onion Fritters

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

Growing up in India, we always had onion fritters or ‘bhajiyas’ on a gloomy rainy day. I remember gobbling down crispy hot fritters with a mug of hot chocolate as a kid and it brings back warm memories! This weekend was similar weather in NYC. Was really cold (in the 30’s F), windy and continuous light rain, so I decided to make a variation of the fritters with cod and onion!

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Garam Masala Spiced Acorn Squash Soup

(4 Servings)

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes

This recipe is perfect for a chilly winter day! We now have an abundance of pumpkins and a variety of squash in supermarkets so why not?! I picked acorn squash for my recipe but you could also try it with butternut squash or pumpkins. Got the inspiration for this dish from a meal I had at the restaurant Indian Accent in NYC. Here is my version of it.

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Purple Potato Coxinhas

(8 servings)

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes

Traditionally coxinhas are stuffed with chicken. I felt like a vegetarian meal so decided to use purple potatoes that I had picked up at the farmers market instead. The recipe remains essentially the same even if you use different ingredients to stuff like chicken, pulled pork or cottage cheese! The coxinhas came out delicious and so colorful. Loved it!

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Pao de Queijo

(6 servings)

Preparation Time: 10 minutes (Additional 15 minutes for dough to rest)
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Introducing Brazilian cuisine month with the ever favorite pao de queijo. The main ingredients for this recipe are tapioca flour and parmesan cheese that come together in simplistic form to produce a great tasting dish. Tapioca flour is extracted from cassava root which is native to Brazil and has a unique texture because of the starch. This pao or bread can be had as an appetizer or a tea time snack. Usually made with parmesan cheese, you could get creative and try this recipe with Comte cheese if you like!

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