Kerala

My mind is well and truly boggled. First off, let me say I'm impressed that this thing has been made available. It makes me giggle! Rs.15,999 is a lot of money for a single application kitchen appliance in India.

Phew! No one I know in real life actually likes celery, so that's one job less.

I only use celery as part of mirepoix or sofrito, and haven't ever peeled it. Seems to soften up just fine. I'll give it a try. Thanks @weinoo My prep will take even longer now!

The easy clean-up is certainly a big draw, @Dejah Could you please say how you did the pressure cooked black bean and garlic ribs?

Do tell. Or better still, show and tell!

@Dejah I scored the skin using a sharpie knife, taking care not to penetrate through to the meat. Then salted and rubbed it. Leaving it out for 20 minutes draws out plenty of moisture. I mopped the surface dry with paper towels. Add pepper and rub in. I'm not sure whether rubbing in a little vegetable oil at this point does any good. Then in the Ninja at 160 C for 20 minutes per pound/500g,then 10 minutes at 200C. Worked really well.

Thank you, @Norm Matthews Air fryer pork belly. I'm messing about with different temperatures and times, and the crackling was variable, some really crisp, some chewey. As I write, I realise I put the skin down on the wet surface when I applied seasoning to the meat side. This was after fastidiously salting and mopping dry the skin. Doh! This belongs in the "I will never again..." thread!

I don't really know what a boneless rib roast is, and I don't eat beef anymore anyway, but that looks fabulous. Could you expand a little bit on the stuffed potato, @Norm Matthews? Visually, I'm inspired to do a baked potato meal with lobster or prawn in mayo!

Bit of cross posting to the Dinner thread. Deboned or butterflied leg of lamb, as it's sold in Sainsbury's, done again in the air fryer. Salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic crushed to a paste under the side of my knife. I really do cook other stuff in the air fryer, I promise! Same times and temperatures as above. I've remembered to get a pic of the inside, @ElsieD Served with a salad of tomatoes (including two small ones from our garden!) red onions (again, a small one from our garden), feta cheese, cucumber and olives, with a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, honey and grey sea salt. Ciabatta bread toasted in the air fryer, drizzled with EVOO and balsamic vinegar, sorry no pics!

Deboned leg of lamb done in the air fryer with a salad of tomatoes, red onions, cucumber, feta and olives, dressed with olive oil, lemon juice and honey.

Just awesome!

Ah, sorry @ElsieD No money shot. It was medium well done, as preferred by the most squeamish at the table this evening. However the timings above seem right, I checked at 20 minutes per pound, and it was 59C.

The plan for this evening was a barbecue (ahem!) but we were running very late and it was very hot. So, Ninja Air Fryer, what can you do? Lamb. 20 minutes per 500g at 200C for medium rare at 60C internal temperature, 2 minutes more per degree of preferred done. I did use a thermometer probe to check. Nice and brown and crisp outside, moist inside. Definitely not a fryer but this thing is very handy!

Last night's pasta with the chicken pressure cooked then air crisped. Easy peasy for three drumsticks. Would they have been better in the deep fat fryer? Yes. Any chance of me doing them in the deep fat fryer for a quick lunch while I jumped in the shower? Zero.

Pork chop, potato wedges, carrots all pretty much following the instructions accompanying the fryer. Crisper than the oven, not as crispy as the grill/broiler. I'm having fun.

Well I'm learning. Pork belly. 30 minutes on Air Crisp at 160C, 10 minutes at 200C. Not bad. Not the puffiest skin but an even, crunchy layer. Very tasty. That's a pleasing result. The potatoes were also done in the air fryer. 3 minutes pressure cooked, 10 minutes Air Crisp at 200, in reality about 20 minutes in cooking time. Fluffy inside, not really crisp or crunchy skin. Again, tasty. The padron peppers and mushrooms were done separately on the pan. It took about 2 hours to get this meal on the table from the moment I picked up my knife, about the same time as if I were using conventional means. No doubt I'll get a little quicker with experience.

Wow, fabulous! My recent visit was a little after peak mango season, but we still managed 3 or 4 mango treats. I ate without documenting the event. I will do a return trip in May/June.

We're off to Cologne in October. Just me and Mrs K for four days. Does anyone have any recommendations-food, arts, music, whatever? The only thing I've picked out so far is the Kathe Kollwitz museum. Can't wait!

Itsu brand Chicken gyoza, 10 minutes from frozen with a turning over at 5 minutes. 200C on the Air Crisp function. Pork, same preparation. The instructions were for 10 minutes shallow fried. Taste and texture were very good. Crispy, not overcooked!

What have I done? Mahoosive!

Five years later, here's a follow-up.

It's monsoon season, so it rained for a few minutes a couple of times every day. We lucked out and missed the very heavy rains which stopped two days before we arrived. The rain is sudden, hard and heavy, never the endless grey drizzle of England. Temperatures were 28 to 30 Centigrade, which with the overcast made it quite comfortable to walk about. I couldn't believe the temperatures in the UK while we were away. I have never in my life in any season known it warmer in England than in Kerala. My father in law used to say that when he was at Medical School in Lucknow, they loved the overcast days to go on day trips and sightseeing, so different to the (understandable) British attitude.

And breakfast. Appam with egg curry/"egg roast." I've turned one appam over to show the seared surface. That surface and the edges are crisp and caramalised, the rest fluffy and moist. I do love this breakfast. Mrs K makes an excellent egg curry. We'll try to perfect the Appam now we're back in England. I'm sure I can get the chicken stew right, so that will please my eldest too. That's it for now. I hope it won't be another five years.

A bit of a hotch-potch dinner back at mum's. Mutton biriyani, chicken curry, fried prawns and yoghurt. Pretty much a perfect plate of food for me on my last night in India.

A last walk down to the beach. A shower outside. And a last, fruit-based breakfast at the Niraamaya. That was a wonderfully restful break.