Challenge #2 of Project Food Blog 2010 asked us bloggers to tackle a classic foreign dish that takes us out of our comfort zones. I certainly went out of my comfort zone to attempt a classic Indian snack that I eat ALL the time. Vegetable Samosas. I am obsessed. However, I’ve never been courageous enough to make them. I’ve had all the store bought, convenience store, and restaurant kinds. I’ve even had a friends grandmothers veggie samosa’s. The best I’ve ever had… which is obvious considering she is from India. So who am I kidding! Me, make veggie samosa’s?! Pfffff, and not just veggie samosas… vegan samosas! I’m sure this goes against all tradition, but it’s not THAT big of a deal. The only real veganizng is in the homemade pastry. No butter and milk, but Earth Balance and soy milk instead!
So, I have to make the delicious and fragrant filling, the pastry, and on top of all this, I also decided I’d just whip up some homemade mango chutney for dipping. I am insane. Oh and btw, I do this with less than 24 hours before the deadline of this blog having to be posted and after having worked a double at the resto. ooooookay.
The scariest part of making Indian food is that you have to have the spices just right and there’s many different kinds involved. In fact, I couldn’t even find fenugreek (which I’ve never seen in my life) at 3 am last night at the 24 hr Metro! But I did have everything else. Cumin seeds, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, cayenne, coriander, tumeric, and I decided to throw in some garam marsala for extra mileage.
I followed what I thought looked like a pretty standard recipe. In searching through recipes online there was only minor differences in the spices used, and some included curry powder… which is kind of like cheating isn’t it?
Filling Ingredients:
2 cups diced peeled potatoes
1/2 cup diced carrots
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp each fennel and cumin seeds
1 tsp brown or black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp ground turmeric and coriander and fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp grated gingerroot
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup frozen peas
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
Dough Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup each cold Earth Balance and soy milk
I did the dough in a food processor which is SO easy. Just combine flour and salt; pulse in Earth Balance until in fine crumbs. Pulse in soy milk until ball begins to form. Press into disc; wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or make ahead and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
In large saucepan of boiling salted water, cover and cook potatoes and carrots until tender, about 10 minutes; drain.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat; fry fennel, cumin and mustard seeds, turmeric, coriander, garam marsala, fenugreek seeds and cayenne just until cumin seeds begin to pop, about 1 minute. I’ve never made anything where I heat or fry the spices to get them fragrant. It’s a good tactic though, and I think I will use it again.
Then add onion, garlic, ginger and salt; fry until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in potato mixture and peas. Stir in lemon juice and coriander; let cool.
The portioning, rolling of the dough and assembly of the samosas proved most difficult. This might be the most aggravated I have ever been in the kitchen. I hate dough. Always have. You know, things like pie crust, shortbread. I have no idea what the right consistency is supposed to be and no matter how closely you follow a recipe it never looks like the picture! I also have no idea why you have to refrigerate the dough, when it worked better once I had left it out after a while and it softened. Through trial and error I eventually calmed down and managed to work out 6 samosas. I gave up before I could get to a dozen.
The original plan was to fry them, because I figured that was probably the more traditional method and most recipes called for that. However, I’ve never deep fried ANYTHING at home for fear of becoming a burn victim. It’s scary stuff. I debated this for a while… I should fry because it’s trying something I’ve never done before and this is a god damn challenge for Project Food Blog! But third degree burns all over ones body is not worth $10,000 and with so much fear in me already about frying, attempting to do it anyway could only end up in disaster! So I baked the samosas at 425 F for about 25 minutes. I think I like them better like this anyway. And it’s healthier, right!
The mango chutney was deeeeelicious and the perfect compliment to the veggie samosas.
Ingredients:
2 large firm, ripe mangoes, chopped into small chunks
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
10 whole cloves
1 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
a pinch of red pepper flakes (increase to increase spice level)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup vegan brown sugar
1 tablespoon raisins
In a medium saucepan, combine all of the ingredients. Bring the mixture to a slow boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally. The consistency should be thick and glossy and the mangoes should be extremely tender.
This definitely was not an easy dish to execute and I certainly wouldn’t make these very often. I would make them again if I had another reason to, other than a blog challenge. Maybe a party! During the process I thought I would be disappointed, since I’m always hard on myself, but I’m rather delighted with the end result. They taste pretty damn Indian to me.
Today marks the first day of voting for Round #2 of Project Food Blog 2010. My entry, The Classics: India, is below, but if you’re wondering how to cast your vote go to this link and click on the red heart. Thanks for loving hot for food blog! If I make it through this entire competition I will win $10,000 and a special feature on Foodbuzz.com for a year… then I’ll invite you all over for a fabulous vegan dinner. Eat, Vote, Love.
