Samosas, a delightful vegetarian appetizer
April 26, 2007
Filed under Appetizers, Asia & beyond, Purely experimental
I am not one to shy away from strong spicy smells. I have long been intrigued by Indian cuisine but never had the chance to really explore it. A major factor is the availability of traditional Indian spices. While Malaysian and Thai spices are becoming more available in the country, it has always seemed that the only way to enjoy authentic Indian cuisine was to go to an Indian restaurant. And there are not many in the Philippines.
A couple of weeks ago, we ate at Penang Hill Restaurant in Greenhills. When I saw samosas in the menu, I immediately ordered some. If you’re wondering what an Indian dish was doing on the menu of a Malaysian restaurant, it’s probably time to brush up on Asian history.
To make a long story short, I enjoyed the samosas very much that I was encouraged to try to make some at home.
I knew, of course, that the traditional way of making samosas would require me to make my own dough. I debated whether to do it the traditional way or to take a short cut by using dumpling wrappers. They’re made of the same stuff anyway — flour, salt, water and a little oil to make them pliable. Laziness took over. It would have worked well had the dumpling wrappers been a little thicker and larger.
Although similar to empanadas, samosas are shaped like cones. A circle of dough is cut in half, the semi circle is rolled like a cone, stuffed with the filling, the edge sealed and fluted. The stuffed dough is then deep fried until golden.
With a dough a small as a dumpling wrapper, I could not cut it in half anymore. That’s why the samosas I made were shaped like half circles rather than cones.
I didn’t go wrong with the filling though.
There are a lot of recipes for samosas on the net. The filling is basically a mixture of mashed potatoes, a few other vegetables and a variety of spices. Some have ground meat. The ones I made were meatless, however. I also took some liberties with the vegetables added to the mashed potatoes. Green peas seem to be a traditional ingredient but my kids are not fans of peas so I substituted boiled chopped carrots which they would not be able to pick and remove. I also added chopped onions and garlic.
The filling I used, therefore, was a mixture of mashed potatoes, boiled chopped carrots, chopped (raw) onion, minced garlic, grated ginger, snipped dill, salt and finely chopped green chili. I also added ground coriander and cumin.
The proportions? Gee, I really don’t know. This batch of samosas was an experiment. I’m planning on making another batch soon using the traditional dough.
So, I just mixed the ingredients for the filling in a bowl, stuffed the dumpling wrappers with a teaspoonful of the filling, wet the edges of the dough, folded and sealed them. Then, I deep-fried them over medium heat in very hot vegetable oil.
What really egged me on to try making samomas at home was the dipping sauce at Penang Hill Restaurant. I don’t know what they put in it; mine was a mixture of mustard and honey and it tasted great with the hot samosas.
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I do love trying diiferent ethnic foods and we do have plenty of these here in Canada being one of the “melting pot” countries. Here the authentic Veg. Samosas can be bought for 4/$1.00 at most Indian grocery stores and it comes with the delicious, tangy and a bit spicy tamarind dipping sauce. Recipe avail by googling. Try it.
Hi Connie,
Mangoe chutney goes very well with samosas.
The dill is an interesting addition, I’ve never heard of that before. In the gulf (saudi, other countries) I’ve seen samosas made with lumpia wrappers and stuffed with shrimp…a triangular lumpia if you will.
Hi Connie!
I worked in Saudi Arabia before and have eaten Samosas too with grounded lamb in it.It was fatty though.I am baginning to try cooking some recipes with strong spices too .Foreigners find our food bland.Perhaps it is because we mostly use salt,fish sauce and soy sauce only in our food while other country uses a lot of spices.I’m beginning to try cooking now with different spices.
Thanks for sharing your recipes,I had already cooked a lot of your recipes.
Hi Connie, try to put a teaspoon of anise seed in your samosa filling. That’s the secret for samosa. And for the sauce, mix all this ingridients in the food processor:
Jalapeno Peppers
Dessicated Coconut
A bunch of Cilantro leaves
1/4 to 1/2 a Cup of water or vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Here in Canada when you buy a samosa they’ll give you this kind of sauce.
Hi Ms. Connie!
I suggest you try visiting The Taj Grocery located at Bagtikan St., San Antonio Village, Makati. Its a specialty grocery stocked up with almost anything Indian. They have a wide variety of spices, spice mixes (I love their Masala mix. I just forgot the brand :)), teas, papadams etc. They even have frozen samosas which I have yet to try.
I’m trying to decide which is easier — JYGVA’s mango chutney or Sarah’s suggestion hehehe. Me tamad minsan so the easier the better.
Carl, thanks! I’m dying for a jar of garam masala. Thanks, thanks!
If you want to try more Indian foods, there’s this newly opened Indian restaurant in Tagaytay called Andanita TAJ of Tagaytay. I’ts around 300 meters after Tagaytay Zoo/Residence Inn. They offer different Samosa’s like Vegetable, Beef and Chicken Samosa. For me, the best is their Indian-style Kebab, very flavor full and also the Mutton Biryani-it’s a rice meal.You may wanna try them, plus the view is very nice.
richard, ka-batch daw sa don bosco ng brother-in-law ko yung owner. nagyayaya nga brother-in-law ko.
Hello juz want to ask who is the Owner andanita TAJ of tagaytay?? Where is it located?
thanks
Gosh, Richard already gave the location in comment #8……!!!
TAJ of Tagaytay is owned by four individuals majority owned by Interior Architect Neph Bathan and Ana Mary Olog. The two are in their 20’s and early 30’s and were introduced to me when we visited their place.The other investors are Bangkok-based Nancy and Blair Lewis with an Indian consultant named Devan Kenchandani. The establishment has its own seven (7) indian mediterranean rooms and spa. Good food. The hotel and spa are semi-operational.
the don bosco guy was their operations manager
hi tita connie,san po my nabibiling ready made dumplings wrapper sa pinas,thanx
Hi Connie,
You can try plum sauce sold in Assad, the indian food store located in either UN Avenue or Jupiter Street, Makati.
I’m a big fan of indian food and I have some Indian friends so you can try the real samosas there in Assad too.
[...] bought it after my first attempt at making samosas and a reader said that the traditional dipping sauce was mango chutney. I haven’t attempted [...]