'Holi Bites' - Healthy Oil Free Gujiyas And Namakparas with Philips Airfryer

It won't be wrong to say that Philips Airfryer is full of hot air !! Literary speaking of course.

The Airfryer uses an unique patented combination of high-speed air circulation, with a top grill, called Rapid Air technology. The Rapid Air technology makes the hot air circulate very rapidly around the ingredients in the basket. This heats up the ingredients in the basket from all sides at once, making it a healthy, fast and easy method to prepare tasty food. 

Food prepared in the Airfryer is deliciously crispy on the outside, without being dry on the inside. As the basket is confined within the base pan, the hot air circulates within this space cooking the food with its own fat in the process hence minimising the need for using oil.

Conventional deep fat fryers use oil to heat the food and create the crispy layer. The airfryer does not need frying oil. The food is only heated by the circulating hot air. When you air fry French fries, the fries prepared contain up to 80% less fat compared to fries prepared in a deep-fat fryer. When you prepare homemade French fries, the fat percentage can get as low as 1.5%. It also has air filters so your whole house does not smell of the food that you are frying.

Philips Airfryer is the latest gadget which has taken the market by storm, appealing to the health conscious customers because of its claims of cooking food with upto 80 percent less fat.

Having heard so much of this revolutionary product I had to see it for myself what the hullaboo was all about. Was it just another gimmicky kitchen gadget which will end up taking space and gathering dust on your kitchen counter or would it actually hold up to its promise? So, when someone on behalf of Philips contacted me to review their Airfryer I thought to myself, "Why not ?" After all I have been planning to buy the product ever since I was introduced to it at an event held by Philips 'Foodathon'. Its just that I haven't been able to convince myself till date if it is really worth investing in another voluminous food gadget. 

The Philips Airfryer arrived 2 days back. I think the person who was most excited about it was my son who loves to experiment in the kitchen and needless to say, his exams having gotten over the same day, he was the first one to try his hands on it. He made seekh kebabs with absolutely 0% oil. I was quite delighted with the outcome. The seekh kebabs were nicely browned and cooked to perfection without a hint of being dry - which was contrary to what I was expecting.

With one successful experiment done, I thought why not try out my Gujiyas and Namakparas for this Holi in the Airfryer, instead of frying them in oil?  I was quite impressed with the results as both the Gujiyas and the Namakparas came  out nice and crisp and 'Khasta' like I would have liked them to be. Its amazing just to think how much consumption of oil I will be able to reduce in my everyday usage of the Airfyer. Its absolutely hassle free to use and the best part is that it is even safe for the kids to operate without any fear of untoward accidents happening. It looks like a large rice cooker with a squarish basket which you can remove to place your food inside. And contrary to what I had thought the basket is not all that small. It is a okay size. But the thing is that it cooks so quickly you can easily do two batches in a jiffy. You can put about 800 gms of frozen chips at one go which cooks in 12 minutes. Just ensure that you shake the basket halfway. 

Now that the Philips Airfryer has roused my interest, I will be experimenting a lot more with this unit. So watch my space for some more Airfryer recipes. It is definitely a much more healthier option and in today's world with all the health worries surrounding us, I think it is a wonderful way for enjoying all those snacks which we had kept away from because of being deep fried.

So what say you, ready for a plate of hot Samosas or some scrumptious Gujiyas?

                                           

                     

Gujiyas

Ingredients

Maida - 100 gms

Ghee - 15 gms

Khoya - 100 gms, grated

Cashewnuts - 10 gms, chopped

Raisins - 10 gms

Powdered sugar - 80 gms

Green cardamom powder - 5 gms

oil for brushing

Method

Rub the flour and ghee together till they resemble breadcrumbs. Add water and knead into a stiff dough.

For the filling mix grated khoya, cashewnut, raisins, cardamom and sugar in a bowl.

Divide the doughinto equal portions. Roll out thin rounds of dough. Place them on the gujiya mould. Brush the edges of the mould with plain water. Place a spoonful of the filling in the middle of the mould and press together the edges of the mould. Remove the extra dough. Open the mould and remove the gujiya. 

Preheat the Airfryer at 180 degrees for 5 minutes.

Brush the gujiyas with oil. Arrange the gujiyas in the Airfryer and air fry for 12 minutes or till golden brown.

NamakParas - (Basic recipe adapted from Sanjeev kapoor)

Ingredients

Maida - 1 cup

Semolina (suji)- 1/4 cup

Ghee - 1/4 cup

Ajwain- 1/2 tsp 

Salt - to taste

Method 

Mix the maida and the suji. 

Add ghee and rub in with your fingertips till the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add salt and crushed carom seeds. Add sufficient cold water to make a stiff dough. 

Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes. 

Sprinkle some refined flour on a surface and roll out the dough into half a centimeter thick disc.Cut the rolled dough into diamond shaped discs.

Preheat the Airfryer at 180 degrees for 5 minutes.

Take out the tray from the Airfryer and place the namakparas on the tray and air fry them for 8 minutes or till golden brown.

First time I just placed enough to cover the bottom of the tray as I wasn't too sure how they would turn out. But for my second attempt I stacked them on top of each other. Just ensure that you shake the basket halfway to get them evenly cooked.

Now go ahead and enjoy your snacks without feeling guilty or compromising on the taste. 

Enjoy and have a wonderful time on Holi.