Onion Samosa

I sat there waiting for the patient to go through the diet chart so that I could go for the break. I was tired and my throat was parched.The break time tea was something I was looking forward to. We staffs would gather in the staff room for a short break at 11am everyday for a cup of tea and some biscuits. We would talk about everything other than those related to patients.

So that day when the patient left the counselling room, I rushed for my cup of tea. Our bubbly receptionist had forgotten to buy the customary biscuits and we were very disappointed. She promised to be back in 10 minutes with the biscuits from the shop around the corner. But she was back in just two minutes with a playful look on her face.

‘Who wants onion samosa’? , she asked.All our hands shot up and in a few minutes, the biscuits were forgotten and we were enjoying crispy onion samosa with piping hot tea. It took us sometime to ask her where the onion samosa materialized from.

We soon found out that there is a person on a two wheeler who sells tea and onion samosa,something like a mobile snack bar!.We had a new hospital building coming up and he was spotted there everyday supplying tea and snack to people who worked there.Though we had seen him several times,never once did it strike us to see what he was selling.

Forgotten was the fact that we had got the samosas from a road side seller. Not taken into the account was how the samosas were prepared.What mattered to us that day was how we enjoyed the samosas with tea that day…

After a while we learnt that he got the samosas from a wholesale shop which was situated somewhere in our area and that place was not so bad.So from then till the building was complete we used to enjoy these samosas once in a while.

I still crave for those samosas.I have never seen them in bakeries here. Though I wanted to prepare them at home, the perfect time never came until today when I made this for Blogging Marathon, to post under the theme – Cooking with onion…

I used:

For the outer covering :

Maida/All purpose flour -1 cup
Hot oil-1 tablespoon
Ajwain / Bishops weed-1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

For the filling

Onions-2, thinly sliced
Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Kasuri methi/ dried fenugreek leaves- 1/4 teaspoon
Bread crumbs- 1 tablespoon [ see note below]
Salt to taste
Oil- 1 tablespoon

For the paste to seal the samosas

All purpose flour -1 tablespoon
Water

For the outer covering

1. In a bowl put in maida/ all purpose flour,Ajwain and salt.Mix well
2. Make a well in the center and put in the oil.Carefully fold in the flour to cover the oil.After a few seconds mix well[use a spatula if needed]
3. Add water little by little to make a smooth dough.
4. Knead for a couple of minutes ,smear oil on the dough and let it rest covered for 15 minutes.

For the filling:

1. Heat oil in a pan and put in cumin seeds.
2. When it crackles, put in the onion.
3. Saute for a few minutes and add salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
4. Mix well and cook till onions are cooked but still have a light crunch.
5. Add kasuri methi and bread crumbs.
6. Mix well and remove from heat .Make sure the filling is really dry.
7. Use after it has cooled well.

For the paste to seal the samosa:

Mix the all purpose flour with a little water to make a paste and keep aside

• After the dough has rested,knead once again and pinch out golf sized balls and roll out as thinly as possible. 
• Cut rectangular strips and keep them covered with a wet cloth.Heat a griddle and lightly toast these strips.
• They should look like the ones below. If they are cooked longer, the samosas will break. The reason we pre-cook them is to get a crunchy covering.

Apply the paste length wise [up and down] and fold to a cone. Put a little of the filling and seal the open end.

• Keep the stuffed samosas covered with a wet cloth,else they will turn hard. 
• Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the samosas till golden brown. Drain ans serve.

I made a few triangular ones and for the remaining, sandwiched the filling between the strips….

The samosas were crunchy and we enjoyed it with a cup of coffee….

Note :

• The reason we add bread crumbs is to get a non-soggy filling.That is, if the onion filling ‘sweats’ the bread crumbs will soak up the moisture and keep the filling dry. If the filling has moisture, the samosas will be soggy.
• If there is some filling left, it can be used  as a filling for sandwich.
• Adding kasuri methi to the filling is optional.You can add coriander leaves / mint leaves / curry leaves to suit your taste.