A samosa is a vegetarian or mince meat filled savoury starter in our curry houses. But, it’s also becoming ever popular as a snack in the households of Britain. Samosas are also a popular snack all around the world, particularly in Indian subcontinent and the middle east.
Takeaways and restaurants serve samosas as starters. It is a common practice now in the UK to offer samosas as birthday treats for colleagues at work places – replacing the sweets. Saomos are a popular choice and a smart option that does not cost too much.
A triangular shaped pastry filled with either spicy potato mash or cooked mince meat or cheese and deep fried or sometimes baked. Served with tamarind or mint chutneys, samosas are fingerlicking starters in many curry houses.
The word ‘samosa’ has its roots in Persian language. Although samosa originated in the Middle East, it was introduced to the Indian subcontinent by the traders.
Since then Indian spices transformed samosas into a favourite scrumptious snack around the world.
Mainly there are two types, vegetarian and meat samosas. It’s not uncommon that samosa is not always a savoury snack! Sweet samosas are also popular in some regions – filled with grated coconut with sugar or milk products and then dipped in sugar syrup.
Cooking a samosa from scratch is a tedious task, but preparing your choice of filling and frying or baking it at home using ready made pastry is easier.
If you prefer to taste them without any hard work Many supermarkets also now sell samosas as snack items in their fresh food aisles. You can buy samosas in dozens in the freezer section for frying at home at a much better price.
Aloo samosas (potato filled) are probably the most sold samosas in India. Potato mash with greenpeace and selected spices is a tasty vegan/vegetarian option. Shredded paneer (cottage cheese) cooked in spices is also a mouth watering samosa filling for vegetarians.
If you are a meat lover then mince meat (usually chicken or lamb mince) cooked with greenpeace and spices is the top choice filling for samosas.
If you have time and are ready to make the effort to prepare samosas at home by yourself, then deep frying is the way to get an authentic taste.
But, if you are a health conscious folk, then buy ready to roll pastry and prepare your choice of fillings for samosas to bake at home. Delicious homemade fillings make the baked samosas equally irresistible.
