(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)
