Monday, August 10, 2009

samose....VT waale


what do you like in a samosa??
the outer pastry or the inner aaloo stuffing.....or both....

i remember the college days when i actually started having samosas.....we were not allowed any outside food in our childhood and samosas were a rare sight in our house........the college canteen served the yummiest samosas i had tasted till then.........and then when i joined the Department of Botany in BHU , i was introduced to the samosas made by the VT guys ( anybody from Banaras would know what i am talking about....VT is the Vishvanath temple inside the university campus and there are many snacks shops there....bihari ka samosa is phenomenal).....

whenever we got there for tea....samosas were a natural accompaniment....though sometimes we settled for the crispy patties, idlis or vadas or even dosas....but samosa was an all time favorite........while the guys ( n most gals too) were busy gossiping or may be preening themselves, i used to watch how the samosa wala guys rolled the samosa pastry, made the masala, stuffed it n fried it........they used to sprinkle black salt over the samosas as soon as the samosas were out of oil.......i am drooling right now.......i got my samosa lessons from there...day after day.......fo almost 7 yrs......yes i did my PG and research and learn samosas on the side....lolz.......

but.......i had never tried making samosas at home till i got married....( though i used to cook earlier)........i knew that Arvind is also brought up on those yummy samosas ( he is born n brought up in the same campus) and he'd like it....made it for the first time n it turned out perfect.........after that , whenever we wanted to have samosas i made them at home n we were never able to appreciate any other samosa..

as time passed ( now after 10 yrs)...we started avoiding fried food but i still make this samosa ....the pastry is a little less crispy cuz i use less ghee for shortening now.....but the taste remains the same.......as both of us like the inner aaloo stuffing more..........lolz..........so if you like the outer pastry more ...you know what you need to do...add more shortening to the pastry dough n you'll get crispy shell which breaks as you hold it to your mouth.....aaah....


so the ingredients...as i watched all those years ..are.......

for the outer shell (pastry)
maida or all purpose flour 200 gm( i make thin shell of the samosa, if you like a thicker shell, you may need more maida)
salt to taste
ajwain seeds 1/2 tsp
ghee 1 tbsp or more if you like crisp shell
water to make a stiff dough

for the stuffing
potatoes boiled , peeled and cubed ..about 1 1/2 cup
mustard oil 1 tsp
asafoetida 1 pinch
methi seeds ( fenugreek seeds) 1 tsp...you can omit this if you don't like bitter
cumin seeds 1 tsp
red chilly powder 1 tsp or more
turmeric powder 1 tsp
coriander powder 1 tsp
black pepper powder 1/2 tsp
cumin powder 1 tsp
amchoor powder 1 tsp
salt to taste

oil to fry

procedure

heat oil in a pan and throw in asafoetida , methi n cumin seeds in that order...let them splutter and then throw in the powder masalas quickly n stir with a tbsp of water to prevent burning.....add the cubed potatoes and mix well ...cooking while mashing the potatoes....add salt and amchoor powder n it's ready within 2-3 minutes.

now take out lemon sized balls from the dough....i make smaller samosas so that they need less oil in the kadhai to be fried...( i avoid reused oil so it's better to use minimal oil while frying every time).......roll it into a circle...cut to make 2 semicircles.....make cone from each semicircle and fill the cooled aaloo filling in each cone and seal with a moist hand.........make all the samosas like this .......the filling may be more or little ..as you like it....i like more filling in each samosa.......


fry the samosas in medium hot oil for the first 3-4 minutes...turning them now n then............and finally on very low flame till they get crispy........it takes about 15 minutes on low flame n this is the secret of crisp samosas even if you use less shortening in the pastry dough........( tip of the day)..

drain.....and don't wait......

and don't forget to sprinkle kaala namak n a green chutny....or no chutny...doesn't matter.

enjoy with garam chai.........masale wali....

wanna have it now.......

12 comments:

  1. yummy I love samosa i agree an occasional treat is ok

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oohh your writeup was enough to make me drool! The samosas look great! I love both crispy cover and spicy filling of samosas. And with a cup of masala tea its simply irresistible!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yummy samosas,my son loves the outer pastry and leave the rest for me...perfect tea time snack

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great click and yummy recipe. Will have to keep it at the back of the recipe box for now though :) Maybe when I lose 6 lbs.
    Thank you for visiting my blog and the encouragement. I am in awe of you for losing wght in the winter months.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Samose looks terrible adorable.. so cute.. was just thinking of trying out samose and here I found it.. :)


    First time here.. and I am sure I would be following you from now on. Keep it going.

    Do take a peep into my blogs when you find time.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love samosas and your recipe looks pretty good.

    Incidentally, my husband and I are from Varanasi too...studied in BHU and loved the VT cold coffee with icecream and bihari's samosas!:) So thanks for sharing the recipe you acquired after so much research..:)will try it out soon...maybe for the labor day weekend...

    ReplyDelete
  7. oh thanka Preeti.........i am so delighted to have a comment from a BHU alumnus and a VT snacker...i loved the cold coffee with ice cream too and that too has an interesting story ...i'll share tha some other time.
    thanks for visiting my blog n keep in touch please.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Sangeeta,

    I tried your bihari ke samoses today (couldnt wait till labor day I'm afraid)...:) and they turned out just great!! Thanks so much for sharing such a good recipe!!

    My hubby told me that the samosas were the best I've ever made and he asked me to extend his thanks also to you..:) now he wants to open a bihari's in Atlanta...lol...

    ReplyDelete
  9. oh tanks preeti...and i am in splts.
    told this to Arvind and he is laughing too...
    i know you will repeat this samose many times.
    thanks for appreciating once again.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh yes.... I know what you are talking about.. :) I am a banarasi, and did my graduation/PG from Faculty of Science. Who can forget VT ke samosa, dosa and also Faculty of Science kee canteen, the one near Chemistry Dept, opposite Zoology Dept... :) Aapki bahut saari recipes hum try karne waale hain starting from banaras ki kachori to bihari ke samose.......

    ReplyDelete
  11. thanks so much Puja...
    i am delighted to have banarasi people here and i am so glad that so many of us have this samosa as an everlasting memory.....keep in touch..

    ReplyDelete