Noodles and Rice

Samosas

by Stef on April 5th, 2006

This is one of my favorite snacks — the compact little parcels are just fun to hold and bite into. For samosas, of course, you can pick any out of the multitude of filling possibilities — you can even make one up yourself; this particular filling comes from Singapore, and you see the touch of the Chinese with the bit of oyster sauce. You may want to dip it in some sweet-and-sour sauce, but I also enjoy it with the heat kicked up a notch, as I serve it with some wicked chili-garlic sauce.

For the filling:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons (more or less) minced jalapeño or serrano pepper (take a teeny bite to determine how hot it is, before you decide how much to put in)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 cups diced potatoes
1/4 cup fresh or frozen green peas
1/4 cup diced carrots
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons curry powder

For wrapping:
about 20 spring roll wrappers, cut into thirds lengthwise
a slurry made from 2 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons water
Oil for deep-frying

Dipping sauce of your choice: chili sauce, or sweet and sour, or plum sauce — you pick!

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, pepper, and onion and stir-fry until onion is translucent and mixture is fragrant. Add potatoes, peas and carrots and cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until potatoes are just cooked through. Season with oyster sauce and curry powder. Mix well. Let cool slightly before wrapping.

To wrap: Take one end of a spring roll strip, and “glue” it to another end with the slurry, making one long rectangular wrapper. Put about 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling at one end of the strip. Fold corner of strip up to meet the side of the wrapper, so that the folded part is a triangle. Fold triangle over to enclose filling. Keep folding up, as if to fold a flag, until you reach the end of the strip. Brush with more of the flour-water paste/slurry to seal the edges. Repeat until all filling is used up.

Deep-fry about 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Drain on paper towels. This is lovely served very warm, though I like taking it on picnics as well. If making for a party, you can deep-fry for 1 minute on each side, drain, and store in air-tight containers in the refrigerator or freezer. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Heat on a rack in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, or until filling is heated through.

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POSTED IN: Appetizers/Snacks/Nibbles, Singapore, Vegetarian / Vegan Dishes : Asian