Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Hot Crispy Spicy Samosas (Just the thing for a rainy day)

Spicy and Crispy Samosas

Just the thing to eat on a rainy day. That's what came to my mind when I made these. Crispy and spicy they are the kind of food that everyone fantasizes about on a wet rainy day, don't we? . So for a perfect ,almost Utopian afternoon indulge yourself with these samosas , make yourself a hot cup of alyacha chahaa (ginger tea) to go with them , settle down near a window where you can see the rain pouring outside with a book by your favourite author and sink into complete bliss. Wow!! Wouldn't we all just love that!
Well to bring this into reality you have to first start making the samosas at least. Right? Well here goes then.

I made these with Filo Pastry and that made my task oh so easy. I used Filo for the first time and was not sure how exactly to go about it but the instructions on the pack were so clear with such good illustrations that it was a breeze.

For the Filling I used:
3 cups frozen green peas (I thawed them in the microwave before cooking them)
1 onion chopped finely
1 cup dessicated coconut
Paste of 5 to 6 green chillies,
1 tblspn minced garlic
1/2 tblspn minced ginger
1 tblspn garam masala
1 tspn red chiily powder
1 tspn coriander powder
1 tspn cumin powder
1 tblspn whole cumin
1/2 tspn hing (asafoetida)
1 tblspn sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
Oil for cooking
salt to taste

Method:
Before starting the actual cooking I put half the peas in a dry grinder and coarsely ground them while leaving the other half of the peas whole. This lends a nice texture to the filling.

1. In a heavy bottom pan heat 2 tblspns of oil and add the whole cumin first. After a few seconds add the hing followed by the chopped onion. Fry the onion lightly . Doesn't have to be browned.
2. Next add all the spice powders and the green chilly paste and fry further for about half a minute.
3. Now add the green peas (crushed and whole), coconut ,salt ,sugar and lemon juice. Give it all a good stir. Add a little water to the mixture and cover and cook until the peas are completely cooked. Keep adding small amounts of water intermittently if the mixture becomes too dry.
4. Give it a taste and adjust all the seasoning as necessary. Let the filing cool completely before assembling the samosas.

Assembling the samosas:
Now the Filo pastry that I bought was the frozen kind and came in a pack of 6 sheets placed one on top of the other. I left the pastry in the fridge overnight to defrost and then at room temp for 1/2 an hour before using it. I cut all 6 sheets at once into 4 long strips each measuring about 2 inches in width. So I made 24 samosas from one pack.

Place a tablespoonful of the filling at one end of a strip and pull the left corner of the sheet diagonally to the right so that it forms the first triangle . Keep rolling the samosa further in the same way maintaining the triangle shape.
Apply a few drops of water to the last bit of the sheet to seal the samosa tightly. Assemble all the samosas in the same way while keeping the ones already done covered so that the pastry does not dry out.

Fry the samosas in hot oil at moderate to high heat and serve with a combo of mint chutney and hot and sweet tomato sauce. These go very well together.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anu,

Your picture perfect recipe is a must try recipes for me.

V

Finla said...

Wow they looks so crispy.
When ever i make samosa i end up beeing in the kitchen whole afternoon and it still never gets the real effect i want.
Yors just look superb

Vaidehi Bhave said...

Samosa pic is so perfect !!Color of Green chutney and tomato sauce complement the dish :)

anudivya said...

Cool. I am gonna try baking it. Yours looks impeccable.

Cilantro said...

I love samosas. Perfect crisp ones.

Ramya's Mane Adige said...

perfect shape!!! they look amazing! Using pastry sheets is a cool idea

Sangeeth said...

liked the way u have arraged the samosas...like a train..beautiful:) perfecto!

Anonymous said...

Yummy, Yummy! Samosas are my favorite, but I prefer my samosa to be kheema and peas or aloo. Delioso!

Anonymous said...

Yummy, Yummy! Samosas are my favorite, but I prefer my samosa to be kheema and peas or aloo. Delioso!

Tee said...

Thats a wonderful way to spice up a dull rainy afternoon! :)

Vanamala Hebbar said...

hey looks super..same pinch..i too made samosa's but i used wonton wraps will try it using pasty sheets.

mitr_bayarea said...

What a crispy display of samosas! I make do with the frozen ones.

Dori said...

Mmmmm, These are just the thing for ANY day... Looks awesome!

karuna said...

wowow, yummmy. ure right nothing like hot crispy samosas on a rainy day.

Anonymous said...

wooo... what a lovely and crispy samosas!!

Mrs.Kannan said...

Samosa looks lovely,Crispy,Great in color..

notyet100 said...

perfect way to spend rainy evenin,..hot samosas and chai...

Anupama said...

Thanks V: Do try them out

Believe me Happy Cook I never tried samosas before this and never would have had it not been for the pastry sheets.

Thanks Vaidehi, Mint and tomato are a lethal combo

You know what Divya, I baked the first few, but after I tasted them I found frying them a better option. But you might like them baked so it's worth a try.

Welcome to F-n-M Cilantro

Thanks Ramya

Thanks so much Sangeeth.

Oh yes Mona the kheema ones do taste awesome. I love all kinds.

Yes Tee and you can make these way ahead of time and freeze them for later

Yes Vanamala, I have seen chinese cooks use wanton wraps for spring rolls so samosas must come out well too

Hi Mitr: Believe me I make do with the frozen ones very often too. I love the Shana brand.

Thanks Meeso

You love the idea too huh Karuna?

Thanks Hima

Welcome to F-n-M Mrs.Kannan and thankyou

With so much rain in Britain there is certainly no shortage of those kind of days here notyet100

Anonymous said...

Looks really yummy.

Anonymous said...

Hi Anupama,
This reminded me of vegetable samosas we used to get. I will try out your recipe using samosa patti that I have in my fridge. Is it ok to use fresh coconut or is it better with dessicated coconut.
The samosas look perfect!! Thanks for the lovely recipe.
Michelle

Anonymous said...

Your samosas look like a tasty and perfectly crispy snack! I would love to feature your recipe on our Demy, the first and only digital recipe reader. Please email sophiekiblogger@gmail.com if you're interested :). Thanks!

Anonymous said...

what makes them spicy
thanks ^___^