Samosas

Fried pastry stuffed with a fragrant, flavorful meat filling

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City/Region: Mughal Empire

Time Period: 16th Century

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The Mughal emperor Babur loved food. He traveled all over during his reign, but never loved the food as much as in his homeland, present day Uzbekistan. This remained true especially after he conquered what is now India and Pakistan, where he didn’t care for the food at all. This culinary mismatch resulted in Mughlai cuisine: the best of Persian cuisine overlaid with new Indian ingredients. Now, we just think of that cuisine as Indian cuisine, like these samosas.

The filling for these samosas is perfect. The flavor and smell is the one that you think of when you think of Indian food: warm, spicy, fragrant. The pastry tasted good, but was quite crumbly. Modern samosa dough has baking powder in it, which wouldn’t have been available at the time, but will make the samosas puff up and be nice and crispy. I certainly won’t judge you if you opt for a different dough or add some baking powder to this one.

“Qutab,
Which the people of Hindustan call sanbusah: This is made in several ways. 10 seer meat; 4 s. fine flour; 2 s. g’hi; 1 s. onions; 1/4 s. fresh ginger; 1/2 s. salt; 2 dams pepper and coriander seed; cardamum, cuminseed, cloves, 1 d. of each; 1/4 s. of summaq. This can be made in twenty different ways, and gives four full dishes.”

— Ain-i Akbari, 16th century

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Ingredients:

Filling

• 2 tablespoons (20 g) ghee
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 lb (450 g) lean ground meat, lamb, beef, venison, camel, and bustard would have been popular
• 1 tablespoon (12 g) sliced fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 2 teaspoons sumac*

Dough

• 1 1/2 cups (240 g) flour

• 1/4 cup (45 g) melted ghee

• Oil, for frying

*See notes below.

Instructions:

1. For the filling: Melt the 2 tablespoons of ghee over medium heat. Add the onion and sprinkle it with a bit of the salt, and cook until well browned.
2. Turn the heat up to high and add the ground meat and ginger. Let it cook for a couple of minutes. Add the rest of the salt, pepper coriander, cardamom, cumin, clove, and sumac. Let it cook, stirring occasionally. You want the filling to be as dry as possible. Once it’s cooked, take it off the heat and let it cool completely.
3. For the dough: In a large bowl, pour the melted ghee into the flour. Rub the flour and ghee together until it resembles crumbles. You may need to add a bit of water to get the dough to come together. If you do, add it in very small amounts because you don’t want this to be a wet dough.
4. Once it comes together, knead it for 10 minutes, or until you have a stiff but smooth dough. Set the dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
5. To assemble: After the dough has rested, knead it for 2 to 3 more minutes. Divide it into 6 or 12 equal pieces and put them back under the damp cloth. Each piece makes two samosas, so 6 pieces will make 12 good sized samosas and 12 will make 24 bite sized ones. The larger ones are easier to make.
6. Roll a piece of the dough into an oval, then cut in half across the width. Apply a little water around the edge of the dough and form it into a cone. This isn’t easy, but you’ll get the hang of it as you practice.
7. Fill the cone up almost all the way with the filling, being careful not to tear the dough. Put a little more water around the inside of the cone’s open end, and press the dough together to seal. Fold the sealed side down so it’s flat. Cover the samosas with a damp towel and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
8. While they rest, heat a few inches of oil in a pot to 350°F (175°C).
9. After the samosas have rested, take them out of the fridge and fry them immediately. You want to keep the temperature of the oil within 20 degrees of 350°F (a candy thermometer is helpful for this). After a couple of minutes, the samosas should float to the top. Move them around every so often so that they brown evenly. Once they’re lightly browned all over, take them out and put them on some paper towels to drain.
10. Let the samosas cool for a few minutes, then serve them forth.

Notes

• Sumac has a bright, sour, lemony flavor and is used in a lot of different cuisines including many Middle Eastern and Central Asian foods
• Link to sumac: https://amzn.to/3fsTejj

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