(relaxed electronic music)
- Hi, I'm Kiano, and here's how
to make my favorite fried Kenyan street foods.
Mandazi are these little triangular shaped donuts.
They are eaten across the entire country,
but the way people make them varies slightly depending
on what spices they use and what kind of leavener they use.
Some people don't use any spices.
Some use cinnamon.
I like using cardamom.
Cardamom is definitely more common
in the coastal part of Kenya,
but honestly, it is one of my favorite spices to bake with.
The type of mandazi really varies depending
on which part of Kenya you're in.
On the coast, it's really common to use something
like coconut milk where inland
it's actually really normal just to use water
or even milk.
Good mandazi, unfortunately, are really tough to come by.
What you really want from mandazi is it to be soft.
Mandazi can be really tough if made improperly.
What can lead to a tough mandazi
is not using a good leavener or an expired leavener
or not having too much liquid.
If you can find in the market a really soft mandazi,
I am telling you, you have hit the jackpot.
You can eat mandazi any time of day
but it is most commonly had in the morning,
just as you would any other donut.
It's most commonly served with Kenyan coffee or chai.
Mandazi and chai are the most perfect breakfast match.
You can have it plain.
Some people will put a little bit of jam on it.
It's really whatever you like,
but mandazi on their own are so addictive
and so delicious and it's very hard to have just one.
Bhajias are an Indian import to Kenya.
They are really common to have in the major cities.
So you'll have it in Mombasa,
as well as street markets in Nairobi.
The blend of spices used to make bhajias also varies
from person to person.
I like mine just to have, like, a little hint of spice.
There's many different types of bhajias you can have.
You can have it with onions and, like, herbs
or some fried greens.
But my favorite and probably one
of the most common ones are potato.
The perfect size to cut them is an eighth of an inch.
That way they're still firm
and they're not too thin, like a potato chip.
If your potatoes are thick,
they might not be all the way done before your batter burns.
They are insanely delicious and packs with so much flavor.
It's served usually with different types of chutnies.
I like a tomato chutney.
You can find chips, aka french fries,
all over the entire country.
In Kenya, people say chips instead of fries,
because people speak British English rather
than American English.
Now, I've seen masala chips made three different ways.
I've seen a dry masala rub
where it's a dry spice blend that's tossed
into the chips which are really similar
to just, like, a seasoned french fry.
However, my favorite type of masala chips
are the ones that are tossed into a sauce.
Now this sauce is really simple to make,
using just a couple ingredients that are.
The biggest variation I've seen in making masala chips
comes down to the tomato.
I like using fresh tomatoes, only because I prefer
a less sweet masala chip, but it's really common
to find vendors using a ketchup
instead of the tomatoes.
I will note, though, that Kenyan ketchup
is not the same as American ketchup.
Man, it is hard to beat that.
Whether you call them samosas or sambusas,
these little triangle shaped pastries
are found all over east Africa, the Middle East,
all the way to India.
The Kenyan style of samosa uses a really, really thin dough
and is most commonly filled with spiced beef.
Kenya loves its meat.
Nyama choma, which is Kenyan barbecue,
is the national food of the country.
If you ask most Kenyans what their favorite food is,
the answer will be meat.
Samosas can be found in street markets,
but honestly the place I have the most are gas stations.
Kenyan gas stations are more than just a place
to fill up your petrol.
A lot of gas stations actually have restaurants
or cafes attached to them.
There you can find really delicious choma,
chicken and chips, as well as samosas.
And I'll tell you, probably the best samosa I've ever had
came from a gas station.
One thing I've noticed about a lot of street food
in Kenya is that even street vendors will have places
for you to sit down and enjoy your food.
Of course there are places
where you can kind of have portable items
where you can, like, walk and eat,
but it's not that common in the culture
to walk while eating.
It doesn't matter whether you're
in a market or a restaurant, people prefer
to sit down and enjoy their meals.
It's very common to find street vendors
with small tables and chairs right next to their stall
for you to enjoy the food.
To actually serve it on reusable plates
rather than disposable ware, because it doesn't matter
whether you have walls around a kitchen or not,
people like sitting down and enjoying meals together.
The most labor intensive part of samosa making
is really making the dough from scratch.
It's a very simple dough, just with some flour,
water, and a touch of oil,
but it can be quite time consuming.
So a little hack my family and I have are egg roll wrappers.
I kid you not, they work fantastically
because they are super thin.
All you have to do is cut the egg roll wrapper
in half diagonally and use it
in the exact same way.
You might not have time to make your wrappers from scratch
and it's totally okay.
People will love them regardless of what
the wrapper's made out of.
My favorite part of eating the Kenyan samosa
is the squeeze of lime in the end.
The flavors compliment each other so perfectly.
I'm telling you, it seems like an optional thing
but it will take your samosa to the next level.
I kid you not.
I hope you give some of these recipes a try at home
and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
- [Male] Oh, yes!
(upbeat electronic music)