I found this recipe in a book that I borrowed from my mom's friend Becky (The art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi). I had mostly been cooking dishes containing meat so this was a nice change. I picked samosas because they have been a favorite of mine at the Afghani restaurant Ariana's (located on West Main Street). I was excited to try an Indian samosa for a change.
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| Cookbook |
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| Ingredients assembled |
I started out by setting up my ingredients which were rather basic other than some spices. (Luckily we already had them from previous indian cooking). I did not expect yogurt to be in the dough but it offers a nice addition.
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| Dough: step 1 |
The first step for the dough was to mix the butter, flour, and salt in a bowl and crumbling it by hand until it resembles bread crumbs.
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| Dough: step 2 |
After the dough resembled bread crumbs I added the yogurt and cold water, then kneaded by hand until it could be formed into a firm but pliable ball. After that I let it sit for about half an hour.
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| Spices and Seeds |
While the dough was resting I dry roasted the spices and seeds. They were as followed: cumin, coriander, and fennel (seeds), 4 whole cloves, and a ground cinnamon stick. They had a very pleasing and unexpected smell.
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| Filling |
The filling consisted of the spice mixture, steamed cauliflower (diced), green peas, turmeric, salt, and vegetable oil (for frying). The filling was very fragrant and in some ways resembled curry.
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| Crafting: step 1 |
I formed a twelve inch log out of the dough.
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| Crafting: step 2 |
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| Crafting: step 3 |
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| crafting: step 4 |
I rolled out one of the dough balls into a patty as thin as I could make it.
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| Crafting: step 5 |
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| Crafting: step 6 |
I folded the half moon shaped bit of dough by its edges, using water as an adhesive. This left me with an open cone shape.
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| Crafting: step 7 |
I then filled the cone with the filling, witch I then sealed using a fork. Once all of the samosas were filled and sealed all the way round, they were ready to fry.
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| Frying |
It did not take long to fry them, only until the outside brought on a golden brown color. The frying process was much faster than that of meat dishes, so they were much easier to deal with (although they had to be constantly watched).
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| Final Product |
The finished product was delicious, very light and fresh! Alone they had a very subtle yet affective flavor, but I served with my mom's homemade, canned peach chutney. The peach chutney worked with the samosa's subtle flavor wonderfully! The chutney was just what the samosas needed. The flavor was so much different than that of the recipes I have already done (mainly with meat). Before this I had not tried many vegetarian meals, but this has really broadened my taste buds to a whole new world of vegetarian cuisine! I would defiantly recommend this recipe to anyone in the mood for a delicious vegetarian meal (mind that it does take a lot of work).
