This is mostly taken from Julie Sahni's book _Classic Indian Cooking_. The
curried shrimp filling is my own invention.

Samosas are the most traditional snack in India. Often, Indians will make an
entire meal out of different samosas. They're either stuffed with ground
meat or potatoes; the potato samosa is more popular.

The unique feature of samosas is their crisp and flaky crust. The special
texture is obtained by incorporating fat into the flour before adding the
water, by a special technique which translates as "rubbing it in." Rather
than the American method for making pastry in which fat is CUT into the
flour, this method RUBS fat into the flour until all the particles of flour
are evenly coated with it.

To rub it in: Place the flour into a bowl. Make a well in the center of the
flour and add fat or oil. Pick up some flour and fat (or oil-coated flour)
in one hand. Place the other hand over the flour-and-fat mixture. Now slide
your two hands back and forth from heel to fingertips, rubbing the fat and
flour between your palms. This entire motion should be carried out directly
over the bowl containing the flour and fat, so that the fat-coated flour may
fall back into the bowl as the rubbing continues. When the whole handful of
flour has fallen back into the bowl, pick up more flour and fat, and
continue until the entire batch of flour in the bowl is evenly coated with
the fat or oil, and no more lumps of fat can be seen.

Samosas take some time to make, since both the filling and the dough have to
be prepared before rolling, filling, shaping, and frying.

Samosas
Makes 32 pastries

PASTRY DOUGH
1 1/2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
6-7 tablespoons cold water

POTATO FILLING
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger root
7 medium-sized potatoes, boiled till soft, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch
cubes
1/2 cup cooked green peas
2-3 green chiles, seeded and chopped, or 1/4 teaspoon red pepper
1 1/4 teaspoon garam masala (recipe sent separately)
2 teaspoons pomegranate seeds, or 1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons kosher salt

CURRIED SHRIMP FILLING
1 lb small cooked shell-off shrimp
1/2 cup grated coconut
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon curry powder (I used Penzey's Maharajah Curry Powder)
1 tablespoon tomato paste


1/3 cup all-purpose flour for dusting
Peanut oil or corn oil, enough for deep-frying with an oil depth of 3 inches

1. Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Rub shortening in as described
above. Pour 6 tablespoons water over the flour and mix. Add the remaining
tablespoon in droplets, until all the flour adheres together in a mass that
can be kneaded.

2. Place the dough on a marble or wooden board. Coat your fingers with a
little oil to prevent the dough from sticking, and knead the dough for 10
minutes. This will result in a dough that is firm but pliable, and not at
all sticky. Cover with a towel or plastic sheet, and let the dough rest for
half an hour. (The dough may be made a day in advance and kept refrigerated,
tightly sealed in aluminum foil. Remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes
before you are ready to roll it out.)

3. To make the potato filling, heat the shortening or oil over medium-high
heat in a frying pan for two minutes. Add coriander seeds and fry until
they turn dark brown, about 15 seconds. Add onions and ginger root, and
continue frying until the onions turn light brown (about 4-5 minutes). Add
potatoes and peas, stir rapidly, and fry until the potatoes begin to dry out
and look fried (about 10 minutes). Turn off heat.

4. Add the remaining potato filling ingredients, mix well, and set aside.
(This filling can be made up to 2 days in advance and kept refrigerated
until you are ready to assemble the pastries.)

5. To make the shrimp filling, melt the butter in a small pan over medium
heat. Add the curry powder and cook until you the spices start to separate
from the fat. Add the tomato paste, stir, and remove from the heat. Put
the coconut, curry butter, and HALF the shrimp into a food processor and
process to make a kind of rough mousse. Stir in the remaining shrimp.

6. Knead the dough again for a minute, then divide into 2 equal portions.
Using your hands, roll each into a 1/2-inch-thick rope, and cut into 8 equal
parts. Roll the small pieces into smooth balls.

7. Working with one at a time, place a ball on your workboard, dust it
lightly with flour, and roll it into a six-inch circle. Cut the circle in
half. Now you have two semicircles. Each semicircle will make one samosa.

8. Place a small bowl of water next to the workboard. Form a cone: Moisten
half of the semicircle's straight edge with water, and bring the other half
of the straight edge over it, so that the dry side overlaps the moistened
portion by 1/8 - 1/4 inch. Press the overlapped edges securely together to
seal.

9. Put a scant tablespoonful of filling into the cone. Moisten the open
edge of the cone, then press the top of the cone together to seal. DO NOT
OVERFILL, or the samosa will burst when cooking and make a mess of your
frying oil. It's also important to note that if you don't moisten the edges
adequately, oil will seep into both the pastry and the filling, making it
taste greasy and heavy.

10. Continue with the rest of the fillings and dough semicircles. The
samosas can be rolled and shaped a few hours ahead of time and kept loosely
covered with a piece of paper. Don't worry if they dry out slightly:
They're even BETTER if they're left out to dry for half an hour. It makes
the crust more crunchy and flaky.

11. When ready to fry the pastries, heat the oil in a large pan. When the
oil is hot (350F), drop in about 8-10 pastries. The temperature of the oil
will drop automatically to around 300F. Maintain the temperature at this low
point by regulating the heat between medium-high and medium-low. This
low-temperature cooking is essential for samosa, because it enables the
pastry dough to brown evenly and become flaky. Fry, stirring and turning
the pastries until they are light brown, about 12 minutes. Take them out of
the oil with a slotted spoon (or a spider) and drain on paper towels.
Continue until all the pastries are cooked. Serve hot or warm.


Bob

i like it,thanks!

Everyone!
If you like to make Samosa, might as check out the URL below.. It has a
few things about Samosa, you might find interesting, specially abou how
u can fold an alternate to cones..
Its my website.. So if you have any critique, I will answer it in this
news group.

http://www.indiacurry.com/appetizers...appetizers.htm

Yogi

Bob Terwilliger wrote:

> The unique feature of samosas is their crisp and flaky crust. The special
> texture is obtained by incorporating fat into the flour before adding the
> water, by a special technique which translates as "rubbing it in."



Wow, I've heard of rubbing one out, but this is the first I;ve heard of
anyone rubbing it in!!

Sorry, couldn't resist =) sounds delicious! but the Indian place on the
corner makes rokcing samosas (potato and pea) so i'll save myself the
work.

"Jude" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Bob Terwilliger wrote:
>
>> The unique feature of samosas is their crisp and flaky crust. The
>> special
>> texture is obtained by incorporating fat into the flour before adding the
>> water, by a special technique which translates as "rubbing it in."
>
>
>
> Wow, I've heard of rubbing one out, but this is the first I;ve heard of
> anyone rubbing it in!!
>
> Sorry, couldn't resist =) sounds delicious! but the Indian place on the
> corner makes rokcing samosas (potato and pea) so i'll save myself the
> work.

In UK we say we are 'rubbing in' when we mix fat with flour. We use our
fingertips and hold the flour high to allow plenty of air to get into the
pastry

O
>

Bob Terwilliger wrote:
> This is mostly taken from Julie Sahni's book _Classic Indian Cooking_. The
> curried shrimp filling is my own invention.
>
> Samosas are the most traditional snack in India. Often, Indians will make an
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> entire meal out of different samosas. They're either stuffed with ground
> meat or potatoes; the potato samosa is more popular.
>


I don't know about most traditional, I certainly did not eat a samosa
until I was 15 years old on a high school trip to Delhi and I grew up in
an extremely traditional, conservative South Indian family :-) :-). That
said, your recipe sounds delicious. I normally use yogurt to replace
some/all of the water while mixing up the dough and bake in a hot oven
for about 20 minutes., turning it once after about 12 minutes.

- Kamala.

Kamala wrote:

> Bob Terwilliger wrote:
>> This is mostly taken from Julie Sahni's book _Classic Indian Cooking_.
>> The curried shrimp filling is my own invention.
>>
>> Samosas are the most traditional snack in India. Often, Indians will make
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> an entire meal out of different samosas. They're either stuffed with
>> ground meat or potatoes; the potato samosa is more popular.
>
> I don't know about most traditional, I certainly did not eat a samosa
> until I was 15 years old on a high school trip to Delhi and I grew up in
> an extremely traditional, conservative South Indian family :-) :-). That
> said, your recipe sounds delicious. I normally use yogurt to replace
> some/all of the water while mixing up the dough and bake in a hot oven for
> about 20 minutes., turning it once after about 12 minutes.


Those are Julie Sahni's words, not mine.

Bob