Walrus and Carpenter: Day After Samosa

Last night I made a delightful roast pork loin, rice and tuber dish. I made extra with the hopes of making Samosas tonight. Lo and Behold, I have enough tubers and rice to make some most excellent Indian pocket food.

I first had a good samosa at the Blue Hill Farmers Market when my fiance (now The Mrs.), her mother and I were on wedding reconnaissance. We had gone to the Farmers Market in search of yarn, but seeing no yarn we looked around at all the stalls and marveled at all the things on sale. As we were about to leave (to go yarn shopping) The Mrs. reminded me that I should have something to eat. The nearest thing that looked good was what looked like a pyramid of dough. Triangular bottom, sides rising to a point, good brown sheen to the dough; in short an interesting and intriguing mid morning snack. The purveyor of this morsel told me it was a Samosa and had no meat; upon further questioning I was informed that NONE of his food had any meat. Since I had a spot in my stomach for food, and a joy of geometry in my heart I payed for the snack. It was awesome, it had potato, cauliflower, other veggies and a wonderful mellow curry and cumin flavor. Since then I have been trying to re-create (with meat this time) the experience. I have come close, and my recipe is below.

The dough, an un-leavened affair, is a modified recipe from an old internet search. I would give full credit where it is due, but I cant for the life of me remember where I found the recipe.

It starts with two cups of flour(I use one of whole wheat and a sprinkle of corn meal),
1/2 a teaspoon of salt,
4 tablespoons of oil
enough water to bring it all together.

I sift the flour and salt together and add the oil. I use my fingertips to whisk it all together until I get a sort of small pea crumb texture. Then I pour in the water, bit by bit while working the dough; when the dough is wet enough to stay together and not split, but dry enough not to stick to everything you have enough water. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, roll into a nice disk and set aside for 45 minutes to an hour. When you come back to it, cut it into 6 even pieces and roll them out on a floured surface until they make disks. Fill them, and pinch them into triangles. Bake at 375 until crispy and brown, about 30 minutes.

For the filling I use what I have lying around (tonight it will be carrot, potato, rice and maybe a smidge of pork with all manner of spices, cumin and fennel being two of my favorite for this application). If I ever remember to bring my camera home, I will have pictures of these edible labors of love.