Topic: Curryhell's Samosa recipe

[loveitspicy]

Marvelous - how do these bear traps work - samosa gadgets

best, Rich

[Secret Santa]

The shops on Coventry Road in Birmingham sell them Santa...Their website looks to be suspended though...

Right, I'll have to stock up next time I visit then. And yes, it looks like their website is suspended - how odd! 

[natterjak]

Well that was an altogether much more successful samosa making exercise... Experience really counts in this samosa making lark as you need a feel for how to roll the pastry and how to wrangle those little semi circles into samosa shaped cases.

Some adjustments / things I learned:

- made my pastry just that bit dryer this time without adding the extra tsp of water after the dough came together. Think this helped but it sure is a fine line between it being too dry to roll out easily (springing back) and too wet so it sticks to the rolling pin too often.
- I didn't use the plastic bag, just laid them out on a plate. I think this helped me maintain the semi circle shape without them sticking together. 
- I didn't use the "toasting on a hot frying pan" trick and they were still ok to put together by hand. I might yet go back to the hot sear method but I was trying to keep handling of the pastry to a minimum
- I knocked the salt back to half a tsp in the pastry and that was spot on for me. Also reduced the Kalonji to a third of tsp which was about right. Enough seeds for flavour without the samosas being too spotty.

I used a 7 inch diameter bowl as my template to cut around and this is possibly the limit of size which you can readily handle when putting the samosas together (unless you're using that tawa trick to sear them a bit)

But... I still have a third of the filling mix left over! This is after making two batches so I can't help feeling the ratio of pastry to filling qty might be off. I would halve the filling amount next time (I used the suggested 750g of potato).  Overall this was a massive improvement on before and I was able to make 12 respectable looking samosas, 4 of which I have frozen raw (along with a cooked one). Next weekend I'll try frying them from frozen and will try defrosting the cooked one in the microwave to see how they fare.

Having again sampled the freshly fried ones versus the cold-from-the-fridge versions this morning I think I do prefer them cold. Just seems to bring the flavours out more.

Thank you very very much to CH for the recipe post which has inspired me to try these and contrary to my previous frustrated pronouncement I will be making these again as I feel that with experience they will only become easier and even though they take time, I guess we are all here because we actually enjoy time spent in the kitchen (as long as the result is a good one). The results from this recipe are certainly very good.

EDIT: my final top tip - always orient the pastry cases the same way, so you're picking them up in the same way. That way you develop your method so you can wrangle them consistently. Starting with one upside down all of a sudden doesn't half confuse your little fingers!

[chewytikka]

Great thread CH and well done NJ for sharing your 'real cooking experience'

I'll definitely get round to this one day, not sure I'd spice the dough, but hey!
Nigella goes with Naan, Ajwain goes with Besan flour.IMO.

I also just thought Samosa was an Indian snack, but I was surprised to learn its quite universal.

Not to detract from the theme.
I like trawling food/foodie blogs, always interesting to see others cook and share.

This Somali couple living in Canada have a good blog site http://xawaash.com/#sthash.dUsoZWuU.dpbs
The cooking videos and tips are Pro and inspiring

Making Samosa pastry, good tips here.
http://youtu.be/6P5228IG5R8

Using spring roll sheets, a bit more of a fiddle
http://youtu.be/EfGKrAJQkRI

Bobs supermarket Samosas are probably made by machine.
Clever Designers/Engineers to come up with a machine like this ;D

Chinese Samosa Machine
http://youtu.be/jl5YFeg2Tqk


cheers Chewy

[natterjak]

The kalonji works well in the pastry chewy, don't write it off. Not too much though, definately adds something appealing to the samosas.

Will have a look at your links ta.

Only two members tried this so far? Come on folks..!

[curryhell]

What's with the antipodean pics then Chris?  Did the filling, cases and uncooked ones  look better upside down  ;D
Thanks for persevering.  The finished article in the pics looks the same as those from one of the local Kent general stores - very tasty.  Samosa making in the early stages can seem a little bit like a labour of love which can be unrequited sometimes  :  But as you've discovered, once you develop your method it all starts falling into place as your second experience has confirmed.  Give it one or two more sessions and you'll be an expert, turning out full recipes of the little triangles  ;D 
Unfortunately, i don't think my post is going to do a lot for encouraging individuals to try making samosas.  But it may serve as a reference point for those who are determined and really want to crack it.
I'm looking forward to the feedback on you freeezing experiment.
Many thanks to you and Mickdabass for giving it a go and providing hands on reports.

[natterjak]

Oh... Didn't realise they were upside down. They're right way up when I view the page on ipad. I think this is an apple thing, has come up before.

[curryhell]

@ Natterjak
You are just trying to disguise your efforts, weren't you  Chris 

@CT
Enjoyed the vids.  I think i've watched virtually all vids out there on samosa making over the last year, including these.  There was a real good one of a samosa making machine in India.  That must have been the rolls royce bit of kit though and churned out samosas a lot quicker than the Chinese version 

I suppose i'll have to make some more this week, just because i can  :  ;D ;D

[George]

Great thread, and amazing recipe presentation in post #1.

My main interest re. samosas is to get the filling to taste 'right' (for me). I know the type of flavour I've been impressed by elsewhere.

Do you think the taste of the filling would be almost the same, if cooked in a basin in the oven without pastry? I fear it's time and effort on the pastry shells which is the deterrent here. Or perhaps not, so I could make any shape shell, just to trial the filling. Once I get a filling I like - even curryhell lists some options - I'll proceed to make proper pastry shells.

[curryhell]

Cheers for correcting my errors George.
I don't think the pastry shape is that important and if you were to use any shape to encase your samosa it would be fine.  There are many examples of samosas being different shapes from the traditional  triangular shape we are familar with.  Nor do i think the pastry makes any difference to the taste of the filling, other than the two go well together, kind of complimenting one another adding to the overall pleasurable experience of eating the snack.
Regarding filling, i've looked at many many recipes for the spicing of the filling and in the main they comprise of basically the same ingredients but with varying proportions.  I think it's really a case of starting with a base mix and then tweaking where you think necessary until you end up somewhere close to where you want to be. Basically trial and error i'm afraid.
The basic spices seem to be:
coriander, cumin, chilli powder, garam masala.  More traditional recipes tend to also add amchoor (dry green mango) powder.  Chilli powder is sometimes replaced by crushed chilli flakes. Some include dried meethi leaves as well.  Turmeric seems to be added in only  a few recipes though.
A small amount of fried onion seems to be popular, having spiced the oil with cumin seeds, as does adding ginger rather than garlic / ginger.  Fresh green chilli seems to be the norm with the red chilli powder being adjusted to compensate for the overall heat effect.  The addition of chopped fresh coriander is also not unusual and in one or two recipes dried pomegranite seeds are also added (the dark variety which are quite tart rather than the red ones).
Not sure whether any of this helps very much.  I think the only real way to make progress is by spending some time in the kitchen experimenting.  I can think of worse things to be doing though.  Just think of all those samosas you get to eat into the bargain