Pretty Dubs: Samosa

I love Indian food! If I could go somewhere and learn how to cook authentically, my top choices would be Indian (I need to perfect my naan making and garam masala use), Thai (I want to learn a mango chicken recipe), and Mediterranean food (I just don't make very good falafel). I'm going global everyone! See you in a year! ...I wish that were true. How fun would that be to take of on a cooking adventure. Comment me where you would go. :)

When I lived at my last apartment complex, I was a resident assistant for part of the time. This meant that I organized programs for residents, among other things.

One set of programs that I really enjoyed was cultural cooking. There were people from all over the world surrounding me. Asking them to cook, giving them all the ingredients they needed, helping them prepare, and then enjoying them in their own element teaching other residents - this is my favorite. I think it really gave me a picture of who they were as they told stories about their recipes and home country.

I asked a woman named Aruna to make something and she choose samosa. I will be forever grateful for Aruna's choice because I've probably made them at least 5 times. They are a special treat since they do take a good 2 hours to completion. BUT TOTALLY WORTH IT.

Do NOT get scared away!

Really, it's quite simple, just a little bit of time to get everything together. The 2 hours also includes the time to make our favorite tamarind sauce to go with it.

SAMOSA
from Aruna

32 fl oz vegetable oil
4-6 medium onions, diced
12-14 medium potatoes, diced
4-6 carrots, diced
1 small pack frozen peas
1/2 lb beans, diced (or small frozen pack)
2 packs of spring roll wraps, cut in half to create rectangle shape
Salt to taste
Garam Masala to taste

Add one tablespoon of oil in pan, when hot, add onions and saute until golden brown. Add potatoes, carrots, peas, and beans and flavor with salt and garam masala. Cook until tender and mixture is stuffing consistency. (This takes a while, you don't want any burned parts so stir often. Also, cooking in two pans is highly recommended). Allow mixture to cool slightly. Stuff the mixture into coned wraps, then fold over last wrap edge to make a package - sealing with water. The inside mixture should be completely encased. Fry in oil (and electric pan works well for this) until the samosa turns golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Let cool and eat with dipping sauce of choice.

*This serves a lot of people with leftovers. Probably at least 10 people. Store leftover potato mixture and make fresh the next day for lunch. Or fry and store and eat cold - also good! Do NOT store in the uncooked wraps or they will be a huge bunch of mush the next day.

TAMARIND SAUCE
from friends Chris and Teri

1/2 tomato
1 small sweet pepper
4-5 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp tamarind pulp
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 Tbsp paprika
1/2 Tbsp cumin
1/4 Tbsp salt
1/2 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 Tbsp fresh minced garlic
1 1/2 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp curry
1/2 Tbsp dried onion

Blend all together in a food processor until smooth.

*You can find tamarind pulp at an international food store.
*I would at least TRIPLE this recipe. Really, we eat the samosa to eat the sauce!

I hope you all enjoy these as much as I do. I would love to know if you make them. :)

And just in case you want some picture directions, I have some for you:

Saute Onions

Dice Potatoes, Carrots, and Beans and add to Onions

This is what the mixture should look like pre-cooked

These are the ingredients for the Tamarind Sauce

I know this looks gross, but it's tamarind pulp. There are seeds inside of it that you have to pull out because they are hard as rocks to bite onto. Include the pods of the seeds and pulp in the sauce.