Much as I love Asian food, I have to admit that I’m a late bloomer when it comes to appreciating Middle Eastern cuisines. Growing up, I only knew about curried dishes and I wouldn’t cook my first lamb biryani until my daughters were in grade school. And not many people I know like Middle Eastern cooking with the strong and often pungent aromas that come from the various spices that are added to the dishes. But as with any cuisine, the best way to introduce oneself to it is by first trying the less complex dishes “? the ones that resemble familiar shapes and those that use familiar ingredients.
The Indian samosa is mashed potatoes wrapped in pastry that is very similar to dumpling wrapper, deep fried and served with fruit (often, mango) chutney. It is eaten as a snack, an appetizer or even as a light lunch. It is not as unfamiliar as you may think because if you consider the form and preparation, you’ll realize that the samosa resembles the Mediterranean sambusak, Chinese dumpling, Italian calzone, Spanish empanada, Cornish pasty, Jamaican patty and the nationality-defying turnover in many ways.
The traditional way of cooking the Indian samosa is to start by making the pastry with flour, oil, salt and water. The dough is kneaded, allowed to rest, then rolled and cut into half circles which are formed into cones and stuffed with the mashed potato filling. It isn’t exactly a project for the learning cook but if you can do away with the pasty preparation part, the task becomes much easier. How? By using frozen dumpling wrappers. You’ll find them in most supermarkets. They are round and thicker than wonton wrappers and the texture isn’t really that different from traditional samosa pastry. Of course, they’re rather small so you can no longer cut them in half to make those traditional cone-shaped samosas. But half-moon samosas are just as tasty.
The following recipe makes 24 samosas.
Ingredients:
2 c. of mashed potato
½ to ¾ c. of sweet peas
2 tbsps. of chopped pimiento
2 tbsps. of finely sliced green chili peppers
1 tbsp. of finely chopped garlic
2 tbsps. of finely chopped onion
1 tsp. of grated ginger
½ tsp. of ground coriander
½ tsp. of cumin seeds
a handful of chopped fresh cilantro (strongly recommended but optional as many people do not like the taste of cilantro)
salt, to taste
24 dumpling wrappers
cooking oil for frying
In a bowl, mix together the mashed potato, peas, pimiento, chili peppers, garlic, onion, ginger, coriander, cumin, cilantro (if using) and salt.
Separate the dumpling wrappers.
Place a tablespoonful of the filling at the center of a wrapper.
Wet the edges of the wrapper with water…
… then fold over…
… pressing to seal.
Repeat until all the wrappers are filled and sealed.
Over medium-high heat, fry the samosas in batches in plenty of cooking oil.
Drain and serve hot with mango chutney.
I normally use frozen shortcrust or puff pastry for samosas (not quite the same, but I bake them anyway…), but I did a little digging around and found out that frozen samosa pastry are available, so you might be able to find them in a store that sells Indian food.
Also I know this is terribly nitpicky of me, but India isn’t a Middle Eastern country, it’s in South Asia. I can’t remember if you’ve tried cooking any Middle Eastern food, but people I know who don’t like pungent spices tend to still some ME cuisine like Turkish food – it’s got a lovely combination of spices without tasting too strong (or can be adjusted to be milder without compromising taste too much).
Replying to myself, sheesh – the “samosas” I’m talking about are really curry puffs, the Malaysian version of samosas.
You’re right about India being a South Asian country. I’m as bad in geography as I am with my math. LOL I just tend to categorize Indian cooking with Middle Eastern because if its similarity with those of many Middle Eastern countries like Iran.
hi atty.,
thank you for your recipes… pls give us tips on the ff.:
1) where to buy dumpling wrappers and preferably the brand.. i bought dumling wrappers but had a hard time separating them until they were torn…
2) i also love puff pastry.. can you pls feature easy recipes and where to buy puff pastry.. can we substitute these with lumpia wrappers? how do we do these?
3) what are the essential and basic cookwares? have you tried neoflam(made in korea)? with brand and the types, please..
thank you for your help.. i will pass these on to my 3 daughters…
1) dumpling wrappers: I use Jimcu. But it’s not so much the brand as the expiration date. The longer the wrappers have been in the freezer, the more brittle they get.
2) Love puff pastry but the only place I know where to buy it is Santi’s and no branch is near our where we live. Lumpia wrappers are not of the same texture as they are made only with flour and water while puff pastry contains a lot of butter.
3) There is a category devoted exclusively to the cookware and kitchen tools and gadgets that I use and find useful. Please use the category dropdown menu on the right sidebar.
I watched the Neely’s on Food tv and they had
something like this except she used mashed sweet potatoes. Can’t wait to try this recipe! I think
I’ll substitute potatoes. Thanks, Connie!
This is so timely.Last week out of a whim
my husband and I went to Little India located in suburban L.A.
At a small resto,my husband ordered Tandoori
chicken with Naan bread and mine was Vegetable samosa served with garbanzo dip with cabbage
salad drizzled with tamarind sauce.I knew that
I can replicate those at my kitchen so we went
to their market.
Although there was a peculiar smell,the place was a feast for the senses. I enjoyed looking
at the different spices which I’ve never used
before.
The freezer section didn’t escape my curiosity
and got a package of samosa pastry wrapper.
Thanks for your recipe and the photos.
Connie we should try to make tamarind chutney..
it’s very good.
Now that you mention it, tamarind is available all year round. Better than this hit-and-miss with out-of-season mango.
Its similar to pirojki, the same one who made the zebra cake Ms. Connie. Although the filling is just mashed potato with some herbs and spices.
I tried it and it was good. Will try to make this one soon. thanks..
So this is what I ate when I went over my friend’s house who is from India!
hmm.. i only make chicken samosa. which i learned eating in saudi, but then again. that recipe is of filipino taste, as if making spring rolls..the samosa makes the difference though as the wrapper gives it a different flavor.
This is one of my favorite foods. I treally love the taste!
it.s so deliciouse
i used bambi wrapper. was good too.