Background
Samoosas are a famous Eastern snack passed on from generation to generation in the Indian community. It consists of a pastry with a filling of your choice, generally spicy curries or vegetables. It is made usually and served during festive celebrations, during prayer observations and wedding ceremonies as a savoury or snack. It is commonly found as a treat exchanged in parcels during Diwali or Eid. Samoosas are available almost everywhere and in Durban these savoury snacks can be bought at famous local restaurants or made at home.
Samoosas are easy to make and they are affordable. It was a great source of energy for the Indian indentured labourers and because they were cheap to make, it was regularly taken as a snack for lunch. They are versatile and can be made with different fillings to suit different tastes. Whether you make meat or vegetable samoosas, you make your own pastry or buy a ready-made pastry from shops. It forms a great tea time snack. The most common fillings for samoosas are mince, tin fish, chicken and potato curry.
The chicken filling
Ingredients
500g minced chicken
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon of ground roasted cumin seeds
1 fresh chilli finely diced
1 teaspoon chopped mint or coriander
½ teaspoon fresh grated ginger_salt and ground pepper to taste
Juice of half a lemon
Method
Heat oil in a non greasy frying pan. Add onions and the garlic. Mix in the spices and seasoning. Fry until the mixture is soft. Add the mince, stirring until the mixture is cooked. Remove from the heat and stir in the mint and lemon juice for seasoning. Leave aside to cool.
Making pastry
Ingredients
25mg of cake flour
2 teaspoons fine salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
80ml warm water
Method
- Mix the cake flour and salt into a bowl.
- Make a well into the centre and add the oil and enough water to make a firm dough.
- Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth and roll into a ball.
- Cover in plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Divide the pastry into 12 equal pieces.
- Roll each piece into a ball and roll out into a circle of 15 cm.
- Divide this circle into two equal pieces with a knife.
- Brush each edge with a little water or a flour paste and form a cone shape around your fingers, sealing the dampened edge of the pastry.
- Fill the cases with a tablespoon of your chosen cooked mixture and press the two dampened edges together to seal the top of the cone.
- Deep fry the samoosas in hot oil until crisp and brown take out and drain on a paper towel.
You can store the samoosa uncooked in the freezer. Makes 24 samoosas.
IsiZulu Summary: Indlela yokwenza uSamoosa
USamoosa ukudla okudumile okuthandwa ngamaNdiya, izizukulwane ngezizukulwane. Uhlanganisa uflawa kanye nesishebo osithandayo. Senziwa ngezikhathi zemicimbi noma zemithandazo ethile noma emishadweni. Nangesikhathi sikaDiwali kuyenziwa lokudlula. Uyatholakala nasezindaweni zokudayisa ezahlukene zaMaNdiya. Lokudla kulula ukukwenza futhi kwakunika amandla aMaNdiya ayesebenza emasimini ngezikhathi zakudala. USamoosa owejwayelekile owenyama egayiwe yenkomo, owethini likafishi noma amazambane.
Owenkukhu
Izinto zokwenza
500g wenkukhu egayiwe
Anyanisi owodwa
Ogaliga ababili abagayiwe
Ithisipuni likakhariphawuda
Uhhafu wethisipuni sikapelepele oyimpuphu
Ithisipuni le ground turmeric
Uhhafu wethisipuni le ground roasted cumin seeds
Upelepele owodwa oqotshwe wamncane
Ithisipuni elilodwa le mint noma i coriander eqotshiwe
Uhhafu wethisipuni we gingersalt kanye ne ground pepper
Nejusi kalamula (uhhafu)
Indlela yokwenza
Shisisa amafutha epanini elinganamatheli. Faka u-anyanisi nogalikha. Hlanganisa nezipayisi nosawoti. Thosa kuze kuthambe. Faka inyama ugovuze kuze kuvuthwa. Kususe emlilweni bese ufaka iminti nejusi kalamula ugovuze. Beka eceleni kuphole.
Ukwenza inhlama
25mg ka cake flour
Amathisipuni amabili kasawoti ofayini
Izipuni ezimbili zamafutha
80ml wamanzi afudumele
Indlela yokwenza
- Hlanganisa uflawa nosawoti endishini.
- Vula imbobo phakathi nendawo ufake amafutha kanye namanzi enele ukwenza inhlama eqinile.
- Xova inhlama endaweni eqondile phezu kukaflawa ize ithambe bese uyenza ibhola.
- Yimboze ngepulasitiki uyibeke eceleni imizuzu engu 30.
- Hlukanisa inhlama izingcezu ezilinganayo ezingu 12.
- Ucezu ngalunye lwenze ibhola bese uyalwendlala libe ngu 15cm.
- Hlukanisa lokhu izingcezu ezimbili ezilinganayo ngombese.
- Gcoba emakhoneni ngamanzi bese wenza okusakhoni ngeminwe yakho uhlanganise amakhona amanzi.
- Faka isishebo sakho osiphekile ukale ngesipuni bese uyavala.
- Thosa usamoosa emafutheni ashisayo uze uvuthwe noma ubesansundu ngaphandle.
Ukhiphe. Ungawubeka usamoosa ungakaphekwa kwi freezer. Yenza usamoosa owu 24.
Yoveshnie Pillay