Spooky Indian
Snacks
For Your Halloween Party

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Quick Summary

The West have its assortment of decorated pies, croquettes and fries all dressed up as mummies, cobwebs and eyeballs. How about going local this Halloween? Think pakoras, samosas and kebabs all masquerading as spooky yet adorable hors d'oeuvres for your desi Halloween party.

Deep Dive

Sure, serving the usual samosas and pakoras is great at any party because there’s nothing like these appetisers during evening hours. But for Halloween, these seem a little boring given how spooky decor is the call of the hour. You need your usual ingredients, some food colouring (you can use natural vegetable powders or fresh veggies like beet, spinach to make edible dyes), and a little creativity to turn these snacks into the highlight of your Halloween party.

Ghost Pakoras

You have fries or smashed potatoes with ghost motifs on them, and now you've got ghost pakoras! The best way to approach these is to use shredded cabbage or onions, shaping them into the form of a ghost – with a tapering end and bulbous tops. Fry them as usual, and then top the pakoras with a thin slice of cheese or melted cheese to turn them into the white shroud of the ghost. Use black sesame or kalonji (nigella seeds) to make the eyes and mouth (optional) of the ghost.

Mummy Samosa

Take your regular samosas and turn them into tasty mummies! Use samosa pastry or strips of dough to loosely wrap around each samosa like bandages, leaving small gaps. To get them to be white, you can add cheese to them. Stick on edible eyes (use olives, peppercorns, or dots of ketchup and mayo), peeking out from behind the bandages. Bake or fry till golden. Serve with ‘slime’, aka green chutney’. Perfect for a Halloween platter, and kids will love this one.

Witchy Finger Kebabs

Making kebabs from scratch? Then this one’s for you! Start with making seekh kebabs the usual way with minced meat and shape them in a way to resemble long, crooked fingers with a crevice on the tapering end (for the nails). The concave bed on the seekh kebabs can have onions sliced and dipped in ketchup or dyed red with a food dye. You can add the onions before making the kebabs or after, just make sure you make them stick well if adding them after.

Mini Idli Eyes

This one will intrigue your guests as mini idlis (steam them to be fluffier than usual) turn into creepy eyeballs. Add a dot of ketchup or red chutney in the centre, then top with a sliced olive or a cluster of nigella seeds for the pupil. Arrange them on a plate with chutney or sambar for dipping. You can even add food dye to make the ‘eyes’ bloodshot. You can add the eye elements, especially the pupil, when steaming the idlis.

Face Toasts

Perhaps the easiest on this list, you can use a variety of spreads of different colours (use food colouring) to create spooky faces, like Frankenstein's monster, snakes, skulls, ghosts or even mummies with a little creativity. Use olives, mushrooms, jalapenos, cheese strips, tomato ketchup, guacamole and the like to add to your toast; you can even cut your toast into assorted shapes based on your character. Depending on the character, you might need to roast, shape or toast the bread.

Jalebi Spiders

Make spooky spiders using jalebi, but the batter should be dyed a darker shade, black or perhaps brown. Pipe small spiral shapes with the batter to form the spider bodies. Since the batter is a darker shade, keep a watchful eye to keep it from burning. After frying, stick a small round chocolate or candy in the centre as the spider’s head. Use thin pretzel sticks, chocolate strands, or liquorice for the legs, if you are making the usual jalebi shape. Drizzle with chocolate syrup or stick to the classic sugar syrup.

Cheesy Brain Momos

Imagine cracking into a zombie skull, for these momos will do that exact thing once you bite into one. If gruesome is your go-to, this filling snack is a must-try. Make momos the usual way, only make sure you use black food colouring for the momo dough and to mimic that oozing brain juice, dye the cheese inside with red food colouring. The filling, be it vegetables, paneer, or chicken, can be pink or a contrasting colour of plain white (dehydrated brain).

A Boo-ffet Of Horrors!

So, there you have it – a frightfully fun feast to die for (not literally)! From mummy samosas to eyeball idlis and sugary spider jalebis, these spooky bites will thrill your guests and keep them talking. They don’t need a lot of time, just a little creativity to keep things rolling.