Samosas!

I have been wanting to make samosas for quite some time but was intimidated by the prospect of making pastry that has to then be wrapped around a filling. There are apparently such things as samosa wraps; but not in any stores near me, not even at the Indian grocery store. I can buy frozen ready-to-fry samosas, which taste just fine–heck, shoe leather would taste fine fresh out of the Fry Daddy– but the prepackaged samosas are too spicy for JL and too pricey for our budget.

Other solutions I have heard of are pre-made egg roll or wonton wraps or even filo dough layers. And one I thought up, as I was rolling out the dough tonight, would be pre-made pie crust. Because after all the hunting for exotic solutions, I realized that is all a samosa wrapping really is. Pie crust. And I got an A in pie crust in Home Economics class. I think. Or I just really enjoyed making it (if I did it was rounded down by the C’s I got in party planning and sewing.)

It is kind of a pain and my first few efforts felt a little like playing twister with my hands, but the convincing plus-side is the mere pennies invested rolling out my own dough vs dollars to buy the dough pre-made. And I can make a double batch and freeze half of them for deep-frying later.

I used this recipe from cuisinecuisine.com as my jumping off point. The filling can really be anything, meat or vegetarian, that you would put in a savory tart. I used some ancient mashed potato flakes and TVP (a soy-based texturized vegetable protein), both ingredients being basically tasteless. Then I counted on the masala to give it flavor, and so it did.

JL was skeptical, of course, because they are new, until she saw them come out of the fryer (see final picture for her attempt to snatch one). She ate two in rapid succession and declared me the best. mom. ever. No better compliment can be had.

Samosas

Makes 16

Filling

3 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
A pinch of asafoetida
2-5 cloves garlic

2 cups base ingredient such as mashed potatoes, textured vegetable protein, ground chick peas, ground cauliflower, mixed vegetables etc

1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp Cumin powder
salt to taste
optional: red chili powder or cayenne

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Heat ghee and season it with cumin seeds, asafoetida and garlic cloves. Stir in the base ingredients and spices. Cook over medium heat for 5-6 minutes covered. Add the lemon juice and mix well. Remove from heat and set aside. Let it cool.

Pastry

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup ghee
1/4 cup water
2 tsp salt
1 beaten egg

Mix flour, ghee, water and salt with a fork, forming a stiff dough. Lightly beat an egg and set aside, along with a pastry brush.

Divide dough in 4 equal parts, making balls. Roll one ball until thin and round, about 6 to 8 inches in diameter. Cut into two semi-circles.

Then take one semi-circle and fold it in a shape of cone.

Fill cone, leaving enough room on top to pinch the edges together.

Dip pastry brush in egg and line the inside of the cone with egg, then pinch together.

Bottom can be folded up, using a little egg as glue, too.

And so on until you have 16 samosas.

Deep fry 4-5 samosas per batch, at about 350 degrees for 3-5 minutes, turning once, until a rich golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Serve with a sweet/sour chutney. My pluot chutney was perfect. If I do say so myself. And I AM the best. mom. ever.

No hands were deep fried for the taking of this picture!

Some for now and some for later!