Samosa

Samosa

Samosas with chutney from Raipur, India
Alternative names	Samsa, somsa, sambosak, sambusa, samoosa, singada, samuza, somasi, somaas
Region or state	South Asia, Central Asia, Western Asia, Horn of Africa, North Africa, South Africa
Main ingredients	Maida, potato, onion, spices, green chili, cheese, meat
Variations	Chamuça
Cookbook: Samosa   Media: Samosa

A samosa or samoosa is a fried or baked pastry with a savory filling, such as spiced potatoes, onions, peas, lentils, ground lamb, ground beef or ground chicken. The size, shape and consistency may vary, but typically, they are distinctly triangular. Samosas are often accompanied by chutney. They are a popular appetizer or snack in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean, the Horn of Africa, North Africa and South Africa.

Name variation

Samosa (/səˈmoʊsə/; Hindi: समोसा, Urdu: سموسه) is generally used in the South Asian and South-east Asian countries. Other names are used in other areas: (Arabic: سمبوسك sambūsak), Bengali: সিঙাড়া, romanized: shingara, sing-ra in Assamese, [ષ્હિઙદ‌, shingada] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), [ਸਮੋਸਾ, smosa] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), Hebrew: סמבוסק sambusak, [સુમૉસ‌ sumosa] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), [ಸಮೋಸಾ samosa] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), Malayalam: സമോസ, Marathi: समोसा, Persian: سمبوسه, Tamil: சமோசா, Telugu: సమోసా, Urdu: سموسه, sambusak, samsa (pronounced [ˈsamsə]) or somsa in Turkic Central Asia (Kazakh: самса, [sɑmsɑ́], Kyrgyz: самса, [sɑ́msɑ];, [somsa] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), [sɒmsa], Uyghur: سامسا, [sɑmsɑ́]), as well as Turkey (Turkish: samsa böreği), sambusa among Arabs, Eritreans, Ethiopians, Somalis ([sambuusa] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) and Tajiks (Tajik: самбӯса), sanbusé among Iranians (Persian: سنبوسه), samuza (Burmese: စမူဆာ, IPA: [sʰəmùzà]) among Burmese, sambosa [sam͡bosḁ] among Malagasy or chamuça in the Lusophone world.

Etymology

The word "samosa" can be traced to the Persian سنبوساگ sanbosag. The pastry name in other countries also derives from this root, such as the crescent-shaped sanbusak or sanbusaj in Arab countries, sambosa in Afghanistan, samosa in India, samboosa in Tajikistan, samsa by Turkic-speaking nations, sambusa in parts of Iran, and chamuça in Goa, Mozambique and Portugal. While they are currently referred to as sambusak in the Arabic-speaking world, Medieval Arabic recipe books sometimes spell it sambusaj.

History

Preparation of wada for the Sultan Ghiyath al-Din, the Sultan of Mandu. Samosas being prepared. Small inscription 'sanbusa', samosa. Ghiyath Shahi seated on a stool in a garden is being offered a dish, possibly of samosas. A cook is frying them over a stove, while another is placing them on a round dish.

The samosa has been a popular snack in the South Asia for centuries. It is believed to have originated in Middle East (where it is known as sambosa) prior to the 10th century. Abolfazl Beyhaqi (995-1077), an Iranian historian has mentioned it in his history, Tarikh-e Beyhaghi. It was introduced to the Arabian subcontinent in the 13th or 14th century by traders from the region.

Amir Khusro (1253–1325), a scholar and the royal poet of the Delhi Sultanate, wrote in around 1300 that the princes and nobles enjoyed the "samosa prepared from meat, ghee, onion and so on".

Ibn Battuta, the 14th-century traveller and explorer, describes a meal at the court of Muhammad bin Tughluq where the samushak or sambusak, a small pie stuffed with minced meat, almonds, pistachio, walnuts and spices, was served before the third course, of pulao.

The Ain-i-Akbari, a 16th-century Mughal document, mentions the recipe for qutab, which it says, “the people of Hindustan call sanbúsah”.

Regional varieties

Regions where the dish serves as a staple of local cuisine have different ways of preparing it.

Asia

India

Samosas being fried at a road-side vendor in India

The samosa contains a maida flour shell stuffed with some filling, generally a mixture of mashed boiled potato, onion, green peas, spices and green chili; The entire pastry is then deep fried to a golden brown colour, in vegetable oil. It is served hot and is often eaten with fresh Indian chutney, such as mint, coriander or tamarind. It can also be prepared as a sweet form, rather than as a savory one. Samosas are often served in chaat, along with the traditional accompaniments of yogurt, chutney, chopped onions, coriander, and chaat masala.

In Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other Northern States of India, a bigger version of the samosa with spicy filling of 'masala potatoes' peas, crushed green chillies' and sometimes dry fruits, and other variation fillings is quite popular. The samosa is relatively bigger in size as compared to other Indian and foreign variants.

Burmese-style samusa are flat and triangular, and usually smaller than their Indian counterparts.

In West Bengal, Shingaras (Bengali version of samosas) are snacks. They are found almost everywhere. Shingaras are easy to make but the folding is little tricky and many people do not know how to fold or make shingaras. Bengali shingaras are a bit smaller in size compared to those made in other parts of India and the filling is mainly of small pieces of potato and not mashed boiled potato along with other ingredients. They are wrapped in a thin dough and fried. The coating is of white flour and not wheat flour and it's slightly sweet in taste. What distinguishes good shingaras are flaky textures, almost as if they’re made with savoury pie crust.

Usually, shingaras are fried deep to a golden brown colour, in vegetable oil. They are served hot and consumed with ketchup or chutney, such as mint, coriander or tamarind. Shingaras are often served in chaat, along with the traditional accompaniments of yogurt, chutney, chopped onions and coriander, and chaat masala. Usually shingaras are eaten during the tea time as tiffin. They can also be prepared as a sweet form, rather than as a savoury one. Bengali shingaras tend to be triangular, filled with potato, peas and diced almond or other vegetables, and are more heavily fried and crunchier than either shingara or their Indian samosa cousins. Fulkopir shingara (Shingara filled with cauliflower mixture. In Bengal, there are non-veg varieties of shingara called "mangsher shingara"(mutton singara) and "macher shingara"(Fish shingara). There are also sweeter versions like the narkel er shingara (Coconut shingara) and others filled with khoya and dipped in sugar syrup.

In Hyderabad, India, a smaller version of the samosa with a thicker pastry crust and mince-meat filling referred to as lukhmi is consumed, as is another variation with onion fillings.

In South India, samosas are slightly different, in that they are folded in a different way more like Portuguese chamuças, with a different style pastry. The filling also differs, typically featuring mashed potatoes with spices, fried onions, peas, carrots, cabbage, curry leaves, green chillies, etc.. It is mostly eaten without chutney. Samosas in South India come in different sizes, and fillings are greatly influenced by the local food habits. Samosas made with spiced mashed potato mixture are quite popular in the South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Burma

They are called samusa in Burmese, and are an extremely popular snack in Burma.

Bangladesh

The Bengali version of the samosa is called a Shingara and is normally much smaller than the standard Indian samosa.

Filled and cut samosa ready to be baked in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan.

Pakistan

Samosas of various types are available all over Pakistan. In general, most samosa varieties sold in the southern Sindh province and in the eastern Punjab, especially the city of Lahore are spicier and mostly contain vegetable or potato based fillings. On the other hand, the samosas sold in the west and north of the country mostly contain meat based fillings and are comparatively less spicy.

In Pakistan, samosas of Karachi are famous for their spicy flavour, whereas samosas from Fasilabad are noted for being unusually large. The samosas are eaten with various accompaniments such as mint chutney, tamarind, plum or tomato chutney, yogurt and a side portion of onion salad. Another distinct variety of samosa available in Karachi is called kaghazi samosa (or paper samosa in English) due to its thin and crispy covering which resembles a wonton or spring roll wrapper. The filling is usually made up of mixed vegetables or minced meat. Both versions are very popular. Another variant, popular in eastern Punjab, consists of samosas with side dishes of mashed, spiced chickpeas, onion and coriander salad, as well as various chutneys to top the samosas. The samosas are fried or baked pastry with a savory filling, such as spiced potatoes, onions, peas, lentils, ground lamb, ground beef or ground chicken. A sweet variety of samosa is also popular in the country. This sweet samosa is filled with a combination of sugar, dried fruits, nuts and sometimes anise seeds. These samosas were a traditional gift sent to people to congratulate them on births, weddings etc.

Central Asia

In Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, samosas are almost always baked and never fried. The dough can be a simple bread dough, or a layered pastry dough. The most common filling for traditional samosa is lamb and onions, but beef, chicken, and cheese varieties are also quite common from street vendors. Samosas with other fillings, such as potato or pumpkin (usually only when in season), can also be found.

In Central Asia, samosas are often sold on the street as a hot snack. They are sold at kiosks, where only samosas are made, or alternatively, at kiosks where other fast foods (such as hamburgers) are sold. Many grocery stores also buy samosas from suppliers and resell them.

Indonesia

The local equivalent of samosas in Indonesia are known as pastel, usually filled with eggs, ground beef or chicken.

Horn of Africa

Somali sambusas being deep fried

Samosas are a staple of local cuisine in the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti), where they are known as sambusa. While they can be eaten any time of the year, they are usually reserved for special occasions, such as Ramadan, Christmas or Meskel.

Israel

In Israel, a sambusak is a semicircular pocket of dough filled with mashed chickpeas, fried onions and spices. It is associated with Sephardic Jewish cuisine. An Israeli sambusak is not as spicy as the Indian version.According to Gil Marks, an Israeli food historian, sambusak has been a traditional part of the Sephardic Sabbath meal since the thirteenth century.

Portuguese-speaking countries

Goan chamuças

In Goa and Portugal, samosas are known as chamuças, usually filled with chicken, beef, pork, lamb or vegetables, and generally served quite hot. They are an integral part of Goan cuisine and are a common snack in Portugal.

Chamuças are also relatively common in Brazil, and several former Portuguese colonies in Africa, such as Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola, and Mozambique.

English-speaking countries

Samosas have become popular in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya, Canada, and the United States. They may be called samboosa or sambusac, and in South Africa they are often called samoosa. Frozen samosas are increasingly available in grocery stores in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

While samosas are traditionally fried, many Westerners prefer to bake them, as this is viewed as more convenient and healthier by some diners. Variations using phyllo, or flour tortillas are sometimes used.

See also

• Uchpuchmak
• Börek
  • Chiburekki
• Dumpling
• Fatayer
• Curry puff
• Aloo pie
• Lukhmi
• Bourekas
• Empanada
• Turnover
• Pastel (food)
• Pierogi
• List of pastries
• List of African dishes

External links

• North Indian Samosa - Step by Step Cooking.
• The Ismaili Nutrition Centre Chicken Samosa recipe includes health and nutritional information and a visual guide to folding samosas.