PUNJABI SAMOSAS

The earliest possible memories I have of these triangle goodies are from the Exhibitions in Kannur.  Peramma, Amma, Prinu,Ritchie and myself would go there, every year. We would shop for block printed bed spreads, fancy sandals, peanut chikkis, stand in the long queue waiting for our chance to go for a ride on Break Dance, Tora Tora and then stop by the only joint which sold samosas and chaats. I couldn't even bear the sight of those things then. I don't know why but I never ate chaats and samosas until much later!
I hardly have any regrets in my life so far, but if I wanted to, I could regret for not eating these delicious deep fried goodies back then. I mean, first of all anything made with potatoes tastes good and if they are wrapped in carb rich flour packets and deep fried,nothing can beat it!

Years flew by and I moved to Bangalore for my higher education. Those years were some of the best years of my life so far. That was the time when I explored a lot more about our Indian cuisine. Somehow that Samosa chaat stole my heart. From then on, I would eat Samosa's too as if it was the only food on earth.
Even now, in Minneapolis, I know of a place which sells the best Samosa Chaat that you could possibly find in the next 100 mile radius. When I was pregnant with Ian, I would ask Jobin to take me to that place and I would just gorge on those delicous brown puddle filled with chickpeas,tamarind sauce & Samosas.

Even though my love for these things grew by the year, I never attempted these at home. Just for one reason. What if I cannot make them the way they make it at that restaurant? What if the crust bubbles up? What if shell doesn't hold it's shape? After pondering on these for quite a few years, I decided to take that big step and make it. Trust me, I should have tried it earlier! It turned out very well and thanks to Dassana for that awesome recipe.

PUNJABI SAMOSA
Makes 12

Ingredients:
Pastry:
2 cups all purpose flour/ maida
4 tablespoon ghee
5-6 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon carom seeds / ajwain
3/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:
3 medium sized russet potatoes,boiled & cubed
1 cup frozen peas, thawed & boiled
1 green chili,chopped very fine
1 inch ginger, grated
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds / jeera
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
a pinch of asafoetida
Oil
Salt as needed

Masala powder:
1/4 inch cinnamon
2 black peppercorns
1 clove
1 green cardamom
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds / saunf
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
2 teaspoon dry pomegranate seeds/ anardana

Method:
Pastry :Mix together flour, salt & carom seeds. Add the ghee and rub it into the flour. It should hold together when pressed. Add water little by little and form a firm dough. Cover the dough with a wet paper towel and let it rest for 45 minutes.

Masala Powder: Dry roast all the spices and when cooled, grind them to a fine powder.Set aside.

Filling:Heat oil, crackle the cumin seeds.Add green chili & ginger. Saute for 30 seconds.Add peas, chili powder, asafoetida,masala powder and saute for 2-3 mins. Add the potatoes & peas and mix well to coat. Let the filling cool.Divide them into 12 portions.

Shaping: Divide the dough into 6 equal parts. Roll them out into thin discs and cut them into two.You will now have two semicircles of dough. Take one semi circle and apply water to the straight edge, fold them in such a way that they over lap and form a cone. Fill them and seal the remaining open edges with water, folding the seam a little bit while doing so, so that they stand better.

Frying:Heat the oil, till when a piece of dough is dropped, it comes up to the surface immediately. Slide in the samosas and immediately, turn down the heat to and fry till golden brown. The heat is reduced so that the pastry doesn't bubble up. It will take a good 6-8 minutes for them to get done. Increase the heat of the oil before starting with the next batch and continue with the process until you finish frying them all.

Phew! That must have been the lengthiest savory recipe I've written for the blog,so far! Never mind, it's actually an easy one to make. It's just that you need to read it properly before starting with it.We totally relished this one and I am looking forward to making the same again!
We are back from India and this time we both (Jobin & Myself) celebrated our birthdays alone, so yeah, that's why you didn't see any of our usual Birthday cakes here this time. On another note, there's a delicious Chicken Curry recipe that's coming up next. Watch out for it! It's super delicious and very very quick to make.