Anyone know how to make Samosas?

[Aggie_Ama]

When I was in high school my best friend was originally from India. Her mother made killer Samosas. They were just potato and peas with all the seasoning. I have lost touch with my friend and still think of her fondly. Lately the Samosas have been on the brain. Anyone know a recipe?

[alpinerabbit]

hem, hrm, I think I cooked some up myself once, w/o recipe.

As you say, just use some diced boiled potatoes, peas,
add fried onions, garlic, ginger, maybe a bit of bell peppers or mild chilies.
season with "curry" powder/garam masala, maybe cumin, fennel...

problem is, real samosas are fried, which I can't do (and won't).
I used ready-made leaf pastry and painted with an egg/turmeric mix...

[bikerz]

This is my favorite samosa recipe - from the great Madhur Jaffrey's "World of the East Vegetarian Cooking" book:

http://blog.2sparrows.org/2005/11/28/samosas/

(Some kind soul transcribed it onto their blog - the cookbook itself is excellent.)

I've tried other recipes and they are good, but not "real." It is TOTALLY worth doing the legwork to get the anardana (the dried pomegranate seeds) - IMO they are the secret ingredient that make these samosas taste like the real thing you'd buy from a street vendor. You can often order them from an online store - I just get them from the local Indian market. If you have trouble finding them, PM me and I could send you some.

Yum! Samosas!

[redrhodie]

It is TOTALLY worth doing the legwork to get the anardana (the dried pomegranate seeds) - IMO they are the secret ingredient that make these samosas taste like the real thing you'd buy from a street vendor. You can often order them from an online store - I just get them from the local Indian market. If you have trouble finding them, PM me and I could send you some.

Yum! Samosas!

You can get them here, at one of my all time favorite stores in the world:

http://kalustyans.com/

Look under spices.

[OakLeaf]

This is my favorite samosa recipe - from the great Madhur Jaffrey's "World of the East Vegetarian Cooking" book:

I love that book too!

I can't be bothered to make anything wrapped in pastry, so samosas are out for me. Single-crust pies for the fall and winter holidays are as ambitious as I get. :rolleyes:

We had some delicious samosas wrapped in puff pastry last night, from a local fusion restaurant. The chef grew up in India but studied culinary arts in the USA, so he uses a blend of flavors. I don't think that buttery puff pastry was any lower in saturated fat than traditional fried samosas though!

My favorite kala channa recipe has anardana in it as well. Unfortunately I don't have a copy of the recipe here. :(

[alpinerabbit]

I can't be bothered to make anything wrapped in pastry, so samosas are out for me.
Don't you have pre-rolled pastry? it's such a help!
And I can't deep fry because I don't have the equipment. I know the puff pastry is greasy as he!!.

[OakLeaf]

You don't need any special equipment to deep-fry. A saucepan or deep skillet and a slotted spoon are all that's needed. A fry/candy thermometer will help keep the oil at the right temperature (350-375F) so that your food doesn't get greasy, but a rough test is to drop a drop of water into the oil - if it sizzles and evaporates immediately, the oil is hot.

I just can't stand wasting the amount of oil it takes to fry, and I don't like to fry so often that oil doesn't get wasted. Still, we make falafel two or three times a year. We strain and refrigerate the used oil. I feel reasonably safe doing that as long as I use oils like canola that are primarily monounsaturated and have a high smoke point.

[tulip]

Can they be baked? Or skillet-browned and then baked?

Yum, samosas! I think I'll take myself out for Indian food tonight!

[bikerz]

I've mostly made samosas as a group activity, in an assembly-line kind of thing. It's fun, and very rewarding at the end :).

You don't need as much oil as you'd think. I use a wok, and if the oil temp is correct, not that much oil is absorbed. And then drain them well on kitchen paper.

I suppose they could be baked, but I don't think they would taste the same. People who regularly bake might have tips on how to set the temp and timing to get a similar effect.

[Blueberry]

Can they be baked? Or skillet-browned and then baked?

Yum, samosas! I think I'll take myself out for Indian food tonight!

Tulip - next time you're in NC, you should try this place: http://www.saffronnc.com/. I've had take out from there, and they are phenomenal.

Wah. No Indian food for me - I seem to have a stomach bug. And I've been craving some:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[tulip]

Looks delicious, thanks CA. I'll be there at the end of April and will be sure to have a meal there with the folks. I ended up with spaghetti at home again. But it's homemade sauce so it's really good.

[Aggie_Ama]

I absolutely love Indian food but do not have any willing co-horts here. It is the one food my spicy food loving mama won't do. DH has never had it so maybe one day.

The other thing I absolutely adore and could eat my weight in is chickpeas in the yummy curry sauce. I mostly miss my friends from India and their mama's home cooking. The things you realize as you get older just can't be replaced.

[shootingstar]

One can use phyllo sheets and bake samosas. Even the East Indians themselves recommend using phyllo as a shortcut.

http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2008/12/potato-samosa-phyllo-triangles

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fennel-Scented-Spinach-and-Potato-Samosas-13008

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/red-potato-and-green-pea-samosas

Working with phyllo is easy. Yesterday for dinner we made escargots with onions and garlic wrapped in phyllo strudel. He made the filling, cooled it down abit and we both wrapped it all up with abit of oil brushed per layer.