Samosa

Samosa

Our first guest post from a fellow foodie and friend from a lifetime ago, Senjuti. She is a wonderful cook (surprise! surprise!) and a fantastic photographer. This is her take on the delicious potato and pea filled deep fried pastry called Samosa. 

Preparation Time: 30 mins

Cooking Time: 15 mins

Serves: 6-8 (depends on how well your guests eat)

Ingredients:

Garam Masala

2 large or 3 medium sized potatoes (roughly 450 - 500 gm or 1 lb)

2 cups all purpose flour (Maida)

1 cup whole wheat flour (Atta)
1 – 2 cups of water to knead the dough  

1 cup of peas (Frozen works great. This is however an optional ingredient)

1 teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain)

1 teaspoon asafoetida (I use it a little heavy handedly because I love the smell – feel free to add only half teaspoon)

1 teaspoon ginger powder or ½ teaspoon minced fresh ginger

Garam-masala of your choice – you can purchase it at any store that sells Indian groceries (I use a special blend that I get from my grandmother’s house in semi-rural central India which I think adds to the earthy flavors of the samosa)

Salt to taste

Ajwain seeds

Vegetable or Canola Oil – 3 to 4 tablespoons full (use more if you want a yummier and unhealthier version)

More oil for deep frying (this is not the healthiest snack that was invented :P )

Method:

• Boil the potatoes, peel them and mash them half way through in a big bowl and set aside.
• In a pan heat 2-3 tablespoons of the oil and temper the carom (ajwain) seeds over medium high heat and immediately add the asafoetida and ginger one after the other and lightly temper them together.  Add the peas once the heat rises slightly (keep a careful watch so that you don’t end up with burnt seasoning).
• Add the lightly mashed boiled potatoes and then add the garam masala and cook for a while till the rawness of the spices are cooked out.
• Add salt, mix well and take off the heat. Set this aside.



Potato filling

• Take both kinds of flours in a big bowl and add a few pinches of salt and 1 tablespoon of oil and knead it into a ‘tight’ dough.  Don’t ask me what it means, that’s how my Ma always described the dough for ‘loochi’ or ‘nimki’ and that’s how I figured it means the dough shouldn’t be gooey and should yield nicely to the touch, do the best you can.  It is just like when you used to play with play-dough in kindergarten – the dough should be pliable and should kind of bounce back to a poke/nudge.

• On a rolling board, pinch out small balls of the dough (roughly the breadth of your index and pointer laid side by side when the dough is an inch thick) and make rough circular shapes with a rolling pin (making circular shapes roughly the size of your palm).  Place a tablespoon of the potato mixture which you had kept side in the center and then fold the circular shape in half – kind of like a semi circle.

• Once you fold over, press the bottom with the top of a finger and then take one side and fold it over to the middle. It helps if you have eaten a samosa – kind of make it into a conical pocket – the pictures show how I did them.  Please let me know if you find a more efficient way to fold them.   

Samosas in the making

• Once you have successfully made all the potato - pouches, deep-fry them in medium high heat, taking care to not burn.  Once the whole exterior is golden brown, it is done.  There is very less chance of under cooking these because the insides have already been cooked once.   
• Lay out on a plate and have super fun devouring them with any ketchup or tamarind or coriander chutney that you can lay your hands on.  I skipped the tamarind chutney recipe because I made mine in two steps in the last minute.
• Lastly, have fun making them :)

Crispy samosas ready to eat!

It’s the easiest fancy sounding snack I have ever served my guests. The folding sounds tedious in writing, only if you saw me do it, I promise you it is so much easier than it sounds. My guests always appreciate the thought and taste – I know my samosas look imperfect and that’s what I like about them – they look homemade and taste sinful – the perfect combination on a rainy/snowy day!  

Bon Appetit!

Senjuti from Ithaca

Puchka - Kolkata style

Kolkata is known for its sweets and its hard-to-miss sandesh shops at almost every corner. The rest are practically taken over by street food vendors a.k.a the neighborhood Puchka wallas and 4th generation Jhal-muri wallas. Of all the street food Kolkata is famous for - Jhal-muri, Radha-Vallabhi, Kulfi, Pyaji, Beguni and even Kati Rolls, Puchka wins hands down. A trio of textures unite to result in a mouth watering delight called the Puchka. It comprises of a crunchy semolina puri with soft potato filling dipped in tangy sweet mint water.

Almost every part of India has its variation of this street food, made with its slight twist and known by a different name. Its called 'Gol-gappey' in Delhi, 'Pani puri' or 'Gup-chup' in Gujarat-Maharashtra and ofcourse, 'Puchka' in Kolkata. I've had long, almost heated debates in my hostel room with friends from Delhi and Mumbai who claimed that the Delhi Gol-gappey or the Mumbai Pani puri tasted better than Kolkata Puchkas. Having tried all the variations - I think the Kolkata Puchkas are the best! My mom even made the puchka puris at home. She always made a Jain version for Baa using raw bananas instead of potatoes for the filling - Strangely, the Jain version was always more appealing to me. I tried to make a slightly healthier version of her recipe by replacing part of the potato filling with green bananas/ plantains. Here it goes -

Potatoes and plantain for the filling

Serves: 4 persons
Preparation time: 30 minutes


Ingredients
30-40 puchka puris (mine were store bought)
Filling
2 large potatoes, boiled
1 plantain, boiled
1/2 cup black chick peas/ lal chana, boiled
Salt
1/4 tsp rock salt
1 tsp roasted cumin powder
1 tsp red chilli powder

Mint leaves

1/4 cup coriander leaves, chopped
Spicy water
4-5 cups water
1-2 tsp tamarind pulp
1 cup mint leaves, chopped
1/2 cup coriander leaves, chopped
2 green chillies
2 tsp cumin powder
1-2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp rock salt
2 tbsp date-tamarind chutney (optional)

Method
1. Filling

• Mash the potatoes and plantains together in a medium sized bowl. Ensure that there are no lumps of potato or plantain. Sometimes, I grate the potatoes for a more even texture. 
• Add the remaining spices and salt to taste and mix well. 
• Add the black chick peas and coriander leaves and mix again. Set aside.

2. Spicy water

Soaking tamarind pulp in water

• Soak tamarind in a large bowl with 4-5 cups of water for 15-20 minutes. 
• In a blender, add mint, coriander and green chillies with salt and blend into a paste. 
• Add some of the tamarind water, cumin powder, red chilli powder, rock salt and blend. Taste before you add salt, because the rock salt and tamarind add saltiness to the mixture. 
• Now, add this mint-coriander paste to the remaining tamarind water and mix well. Refrigerate till ready to serve. If you want a sweet-tangy taste, add the date-tamarind chutney. I usually leave it out, and add it while eating.

Spicy mint water

3.  Serving (or eating!)

• Make a 1/2 inch hole on one of the sides of the puchka puri. Fill a teaspoon of the potato filling.
• Add a drop or two of the date-tamarind chutney. 
• Dip the potato filled puri in a bowl of spiced water and serve or eat immediately!! 

Puchka- Kolkata style

Bon Apetit!
Hetal from Houston

Palak Idlis

Spinach is one of my favourite leafy vegetable- nutritious and versatile. There are a gazillion recipes in various Indian cuisines. Here's my take on idlis with spinach.

 Ingredients

• 11/2 cup rice flour
• 2 tbsp Urad daal
• 2 tbsp Chana daal
• 2 tbsp Mung daal
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup frozen Palak /spinach (thawed). You can also use fresh spinach. Blanch it in hot water for five minutes and squeeze the excess water.
• 1 green chilli (optional)
• a pinch salt(optional)
• 1 tsp Eno/ fruit salt

Special equipment

Idli mould (available in any Indian grocery store)

Pressure cooker/ steamer.


Method

Rice-daal soaked in yogurt

• Grind the urad, chana and mung daal in a grinder into fine powder. I find a coffee grinder works best, but a regular grinder should also work. 
• Mix the ground daal into rice flour in a medium sized bowl, and soak it in yogurt. The consistency would be very dense. Add a little water if you feel the batter is still not moist. Let it soak for 4-5 hours.

Palak paste

• Grind the palak /spinach and green chilli with a pinch of salt to a smooth paste.

• Add palak paste to the Idli batter and mix gently.  

Rice-Daal batter and palak paste - before mixing

• Fill pressure cooker/ steamer with 1-2 inch water, and set on medium high heat.
• Add Eno into the batter, and mix gently. Tiny bubbles should form in the batter.

• Grease idli mould and pour 3/4th in each cavity of the mould.

Palak Idli batter in the idli mould

• Place the mould carefully in the steamer and cover. If using pressure cooker, do not use the whistle/ pressure. Steam for 10-12 minutes.
• Palak Idli is ready. Serve with coconut chutney. It is great as an appetizer or even a nice healthy lunch.

Bon Apetit!

Hetal from Houston

Palak Idlis