My first - but definitely not my last - homemade samosas
I have made no secret of my fondness for food in little bundles. Truly, any bundle filled with (probably) any combination of ingredients is guaranteed to be a hit for me. Try me. I challenge you to name a food bundle that doesn't sing to me.
So, obviously, I love samosas. Years ago, I downloaded this recipe for baked samosas. And then, I got scared. And lazy. And distracted.
Then, this week, I decided to make this soupy rice that called for a cilantro garnish that I was sure I really wanted to include if I could make it worth it. So, I did a search for cilantro in my dropbox of recipes, and among the many recipes that popped up were these samosas.
I wanted them.
I fought it. We're in previews. These hours are long. I am tired. But it was like a recipe earworm that I couldn't shake, so I put my head down and went for it.
I emotionally prepared myself for them to be impossible. I made my peace with them being ugly.
Spoiler alert: the dough is a stretchy, transparent dream, and the whole experience was glorious.
Planning!
Knowing that I was already buying the cilantro for the soupy rice meant that it was a quick jump to realizing that rather than buy chicken breast and freezing all but the tiny portion I would need for the samosas to use at a later date, I could buy a little extra thigh meat when shopping for the soupy rice, and portion it out for the samosas. Other than that, I was determined to trust and follow this recipe to the letter.
Oh, and I looked for ajwain seeds when I shopped. There was a slim chance my local grocery store would have them, but I didn't have time to get to Kalustyan's (the happiest place on earth!). My local didn't have them; no adjwain seeds for me... this time!
Here's the nutritional breakdown from Fitbit...
Groceries I had on hand...
- salt
- bay leaves
- coriander seeds
- black peppercorns
- red chili flakes
- chicken thigh (from the soupy rice)
- cumin seeds
- cilantro (from the soupy rice)
- black pepper
- ginger
- mustard seeds (I used yellow, not brown)
- flour
- milk + vinegar (for buttermilk)
- vegetable oil
Groceries I had to buy...
- potato (.57lb @ $1.29/lb = $.74)
- mango (1 @ 5 for $5.00 = $1.00)
- lime (1 @ 5 for $2.00 = $.40)
- chipotle sauce (yes, this is sold by the can without the actual peppers in it - $1.19)
- mint ($1.29)
Total monies spent for the entire recipe: $4.46
Total monies spent for each of these 4 meals....
$1.12 per meal
Cooking!
Like I said, I was nervous about these - mostly about how much time they would take, and whether the dough would be any good/I would be any good with it.
So, I prepped them methodically as I prepped the rest of my meals. When I prepped the chicken for the soupy rice, I also made the chicken for this filling. As the chicken simmered, I boiled the potatoes, and prepped the rest of the filling and chutney, then let it all cool down to room temperature.
Then I made the dough, and it blew my mind. It's truly just milk (I faked my buttermilk as usual with Lactaid and vinegar), oil, and flour. How it is so fun and stretchy? How does it roll out to literally transparent but stay completely workable and never stick to the board? It's a miracle! These were a blast to shape!
Then, as the samosas baked, I finished and portioned the chutney. I also made breakfast burritos.
It's the end of the week and these are already long gone. I absolutely loved them every time I ate them and can't wait to experiment with different fillings.
It's always a great time to learn something new!
