1,000 Indian Recipes (85 page)

1 recipe any
Samosa Filling
of your choice

1
¹
⁄
₂
cups self-rising flour

1
¹
⁄
₂
teaspoons fennel seeds, coarsely ground

¹
⁄
₄
teaspoon salt, or to taste

About
³
⁄
₄
cup water

1 cup all-purpose flour in a medium bowl or a pie dish, for coating and dusting

2 to 3 cups peanut oil for deep-frying

1.
Prepare the filling. Then, in a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of the self-rising flour with about 2 tablespoons water to make a thick paste that will be used as a glue for sealing the pastries.

2.
Prepare the dough: Place the remaining self-rising flour, fennel seeds, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix. With the motor running, pour the water in a slow stream and process until the flour gathers into a pliable ball that does not stick to the sides of the work bowl. (This dough does not need to rest.)

3.
To roll and assemble: Divide the dough into 8 balls. Flatten each one into a 3- to 4-inch disc. Working with 4 discs at a time, brush the top surface of each generously with oil then dust each one with about 2 teaspoons flour. Working with the remaining 4 discs one at a time, brush with oil and place on top of one of the floured discs, oil side down, like a sandwich. Then press each "sandwich" together to make 1 larger disc. You will now have four large discs.

4.
Working with each of the 4 discs one at a time, dust lightly with the flour and roll with a rolling pin to make 8- to 9-inch circles of uniform
¹
⁄
₈
-inch thickness. (If the dough sticks to the rolling surface, dust again with flour.)

5.
Heat a griddle or a skillet over medium heat and cook each rolled circle very lightly on both sides until it just starts to firm up but not brown, about 30 seconds per side. (You'll see the edges of the sandwiched circle starting to separate.) Remove it to a cutting board. Carefully pull the two sides apart to separate into two paper-thin circles, and stack them. Repeat with the other three discs. You should end up with a stack of 8 samosa skins. Cut the stack of skins into 3 equal parts, making a total of 24 long strips. Keep covered with foil.

6.
Working with each strip separately, lay it lengthwise in front of you on the work surface and place about 1 tablespoon of the filling on the strip near the lower right corner. Then fold the right corner over the filling to the left side to make a triangle. Repeatedly fold the stuffed triangle diagonally from one side to the other until you get to the end of the dough strip. Tuck in any extra dough to seal. In the end you should have a multi-folded triangle. Repeat with all the strips.

7.
Heat the oil in a wok or skillet over medium-high heat until it reaches 325°F to 350°F on a frying thermometer or when a small piece of dough dropped into the hot oil rises to the top after 15 to 20 seconds. Add as many samosas as the wok can hold at one time without crowding, and fry, turning them a few times with a slotted spatula, until crispy and golden on all sides, 4 to 5 minutes. (If the samosas brown too quickly, lower the heat.) Transfer to paper towels to drain, then serve.

Variation:
An electric tortilla maker does a wonderful job of making samosa skins. Instead of rolling the discs manually in Step 4, place each dough portion in the hot tortilla press and press down the lid. The dough will instantly spread and make a loud hissing sound as the water in the dough steams. Quickly, remove from the press and separate the two layers. Repeat with the remaining discs, then follow the recipe from Step 5.

Stuffed Tortilla Triangles

Tortilla Samosae

Makes 24 pieces

Flour tortillas, so popular in Mexican cuisine, are also a fall-back pantry essential in most Indian kitchens in the Unites States. With a taste and texture not too far removed from Indian pastry, Indians fry them to make crispy
mathri
crackers, and
papri-chaat
(a savory snack made with flour chips, potatoes, yogurt, and special sauces), fold and stuff them to make
samosa
pastries, or cook them lightly on a tava-griddle to serve as
chapatis
(whole-wheat griddle breads) or
paranthas
(griddle-fried breads) with Indian meals.

Choose thin flour tortillas, about 8-inches in diameter, found in the refrigerator section of supermarkets. The thicker ones render doughy
samosas
. You can also buy rolled-out but uncooked tortillas in some American markets. They are a much better choice.

1 recipe any
Samosa Filling
of your choice

1
¹
⁄
₂
to 2 cups peanut oil for deep-frying

12 (8- to 9-inch) flour tortillas

1.
Stack and cut the tortillas in half to make 24 semicircles. Working with each half separately, brush with water about
¹
⁄
₂
-inch in, along all the edges. Then place 1
¹
⁄
₂
to 2 tablespoons of the samosa filling on one side of the semi circle. Fold the other side over the filling to cover it. Press the edges well to seal in the filling. Repeat with the remaining halves.

2.
Deep-fry as per directions for
Traditional Stuffed Triangular Pastries
, starting from Step 5.

Variation:
A similar samosa can be made with little (4-inch) square or round wonton skins. Since the wonton skins are thin and small, do not cut them in half. Each takes only about 1 to 2 teaspoons of the filling and they fry very quickly, in just about 1 minute.

Stuffed Phyllo Triangles

Phyllo kae Samosae

Makes 24 pieces

Crispy and flaky, these Middle Eastern pastry look-alikes pack a hefty dose of Indian flavors.

Phyllo (also called filo) sheets, found in the freezer section of most American and Middle Eastern markets, are thin 17-by-12-inch pastry sheets. They dry out very fast, so you have to work quickly and keep the extra ones covered with a damp cloth at all times. When you brush them with butter or oil, start from the edges and work your way toward the center.

1 recipe any
Samosa Filling
of your choice

6 phyllo pastry sheets (about
¹
⁄
₄
pound)

1 to 2 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil

1.
Brush each phyllo sheet with melted butter and stack one on top of the other on a cutting board. With a sharp knife, cut them lengthwise into 4 equal strips, each about 3 inches wide. You should have 24 long strips. Stack again and cover with a damp (not wet) clean cotton kitchen towel.

2.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Working with each strip separately, place it lengthwise in front of you on the work surface and put about 1 tablespoon of the filling near the lower right corner. Fold the right corner over the filling to the left side to make a triangle. Repeatedly fold the stuffed triangle diagonally from one side to the other until you get to the end of the phyllo. Tuck in any extra to seal. In the end you should have a multifolded triangle. Repeat with all the strips.

3.
Brush the top of all the triangles with the butter, place them on the baking sheet, and bake, turning once midway through baking, until crispy and golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer to cooling racks. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Spicy 7-Layered Baked Pastries

Satpura Samosae

Makes 16 pieces

Satpura
here means "with 7 layers." The authentic version of these
samosas
are potato-filled, spicy, flaky, crispy stacks of phyllo-like dough, which are folded in half and deep-fried. These
samosas
, a specialty of a small eatery in Old Delhi in northern India, are what my mother often served at her special tea parties for my or my brother's birthdays. (When I was growing up, tea parties were all the rage; it's formal dinners these days.) People served all sorts of fun foods, sometimes homemade goodies, and other times foods made by special
halvais
(professional savory and sweet makers) who came to the house and set up shop there, like caterers.

1 large russet (or any) potato

1 tablespoon melted ghee or vegetable oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon garam masala

¹
⁄
₄
teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

¹
⁄
₈
teaspoon ground asafoetida

¹
⁄
₄
teaspoon salt, or to taste

7 phyllo pastry sheets (about
¹
⁄
₄
pound)

¹
⁄
₄
to
¹
⁄
₃
cup melted unsalted butter or vegetable oil

1.
Boil the potato in lightly salted water to cover until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, let cool, then peel and mash in a small bowl. Heat the oil in a small nonstick wok or saucepan over medium-high heat and add the cumin seeds; they should sizzle upon contact with the hot oil. Quickly add the mashed potato, garam masala, cayenne pepper, asafoetida, and salt, and stir until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Let cool.