Yesterday, for the kayak splash and dash meeting at Cascade Lake, Michael and I made samosas. They are little snack foods in India that are filled with any number of different fillings, from ground lamb to vegetables, and fried. Here is the recipe along with a recipe for tomato and dried apricot chutney to serve with them.
Samosas
From the cookbook "World of the East Vegetarian Cooking" by Madhur Jaffrey
For the Pastry:
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour (you can use whole wheat flour if
you prefer)
¼ tsp. Salt
4 TBSP butter
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the butter to the flour and rub it with
your fingers until the flour resembles fine bread crumbs (you can use a pastry
cutter, if you like). Add warm water
(must be warm!) a tablespoon at a time and begin to gather the flour into a
ball. It will take at least ¼ cup of
water to start and then add more water as needed to form a soft ball of dough. Knead the dough until smooth and
combined. It should be a soft pliable
dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap
and refrigerate for an hour. The dough
can be made a day ahead and stay in the fridge.
For the Stuffing:
4 medium sized potatoes, boiled, then cooled, unpeeled and
cut into ¼ inch dice
4 TBSP. Vegetable oil
1 medium onion, peeled and minced
1 cup shelled fresh peas or 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 TBSP peeled ginger, minced
1 fresh hot green chili (I used a jalapeno, but Serrano
peppers work too)
3 TBSP finely minced cilantro
1 ½ tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Ground coriander
1 tsp. Ground cumin
¼ tsp. Cayenne
1 tsp. Garam masala
2 TBSP lemon juice or 1 TBSP lemon juice and 1 TBSP amchoor
powder (another option is to use tamarind paste in place of the amchoor or the
lemon juice)
Oil for deep frying
Extra flour for rolling out the dough
Heat the oil in a large frying pan with a lid (at least a 12
inch skillet) over a medium flame. Put
in the onion, stirring and frying until the onion is a light brown color. Add the peas, the ginger, green chili,
cilantro and 3 TBSP of water. Cover,
lower heat and simmer very gently until the peas are cooked. Stir every now and then and add additional
water if needed. Now put in the
potatoes along with the cumin, salt, coriander, garam masala, lemon juice and
amchoor. Keep the heat on low and mix
the spices with the potatoes. Cook
gently for 4 minutes stirring frequently.
Taste the mixture and add salt or lemon juice to your taste. Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to
cool.
Take the dough out of the fridge and knead again to soften
it. Divide it into 12 equal sized
balls. Keep the balls covered with
plastic wrap.
Place a small bowl of water on your work table. Lightly flour a pastry board. Flatten a
dough ball on the pastry board.
Then roll the flatten disk to a 6 inch circle. Cut the round in half with a sharp knife. Pick up one half of the round and form into
a cone by moistening one half of the cut edge, overlapping ½ of the cut edge
over the other by ¼ inch. press together to ensure a good seal. Hold the cone open like an ice cream cone in
your left (or non-dominant) hand. Place
1 TBSP. of filling in the cone. Moisten
the top edges of the cone and bring them together, pressing to seal them. Fold the top edge over about ¼ inch and seal
shut, again using a small bit of water to moisten the dough and seal the edge.
Place the samosa on a cookie sheet, that has been lined with a well floured tea
towel to prevent sticking. Continue in
this fashion to shape all the samosas.
Heat oil for deep frying in a wok (about 2 ½ inches deep)
over a medium low flame. Fry the
samosas slowly (4 or 5 at a time) until they are a golden brown. As they are done, place them on a rack or
dish that has been lined with a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
Samosas may be served at room temperature or they may be
served warm. They can be made a day
ahead, refrigerated in a flat plastic container and then reheated on a cookie
sheet in a 350F oven. Serve with a chutney
of your choice. Traditionally they are
served with a spicy chutney like a tamarind mint chutney.
Mrs. Rama Chakravarty’s Tomato Chutney (Timator Chutney)
From the cookbook "A Taste of India" by Madhur Jaffrey
Serves 6 (makes about 2 cups)
1 inch cube of fresh ginger, peeled
2 TBSP vegetable oil
½ tsp Panchphoran (a mix of fenugreek, fennel, nigella, black
mustard and whole cumin seeds- available at an Indian grocery market)
2 whole hot, dried red chilies or 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne
6 good sized cloves of garlic, mashed to a pulp
1 lb. tomatoes, chopped
½ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
4-5 dried apricots, cut into ½ dice
2 fresh hot green chilies (serranos work well, jalapenos
will be milder), chopped
Cut the ginger crosswise, into very fine slices. Stacking several slices, cut them into very
fine slivers.
Heat oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium flame. When hot, put in the panchphoran. Let the spices sizzle and pop for a few
seconds. Now put in the red
chilies. Stir once and put in the
ginger and garlic. Stir for about 5
seconds. Now put in the tomatoes, salt
and sugar. Simmer on a medium to
medium-low flame until the chutney begins to thicken, about 15-20 minutes. Add the apricots and green chilies. Simmer and cook on a low heat for another
10-15 minutes or until the chutney is thick and has a glazed look. Remove the whole red chilies before serving.
Serve at room temperature.
