In case you haven’t already read my blog post about childhood summers in Southern India, head over here and read it for some context. But, as always, recipe first! This one is for a rather straight-forward, no nonsense fried snack that was a childhood favorite.
Spicy Onion Samsa Recipe
Ingredients:
– Onions – 3 medium, red or yellow work fine
– Ready made flour tortillas (4 whole) or Phyllo Dough (1 pack)
– Cumin Powder – 1 tsp
– Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
– Garam Masala – 1 tsp
– Salt – To taste
Method:
2. When the oil is hot, add in the spices and fry for 1 minute.
3. Add in the finely chopped onions.
4. Add in the salt.
5. Sauté the onions until softened and lightly browned.
6. Turn off the stove and let the mixture cool.
7. Prep the dough:
– If using phyllo: Remove approximately 10 sheets (~1/8th thick) from the pack and stack them. Then, slice into 3 inch strips.
8. Heat up oil in a heavy bottomed, deep pan for frying.
9. Dissolve a teaspoon of flour in some water to make a paste. This will be used for sealing the samsa.
10. Mould the samsa:
* For tortilla base:
– Place a half on the cutting board.
– Holding the center of the flat edge with one finger, roll the dough tightly from one end of the half to the other on the curved edge. This should yield a cone with the center becoming the pointed base of the cone.
– Fill the cone with a tablespoon of filling.
– Use the flour paste to wet the edge of the excess dough at the opening of the cone.
– Fold over the excess dough at the opening of the cone over the side to close off the cone.
– Repeat above steps with remaining tortilla halves.
* For phyllo base:
– Place a strip of phyllo on a cutting board.
– Place a tablespoon of filling on one end of the phyllo strip.
– Starting at nearest top corner from the filling, fold the corner over until it is in line with the opposite edge of the strip. Now pick up the bottom edge and fold over the top edge carefully ensuring that the filling stays inside while folding the dough over.
– Keep repeating until you reach the end of the strip of phyllo. This should yield a snug triangle with the filling fully encased.
– Use the flour paste to wet the last edge remaining to seal off the triangle.
11. Once the oil is hot (should have a few ripples indicating that the oil is up to temp), add in one or two samsas at a time (depending on the size of the frying pot). Once lightly browned on one side, flip over to cook the other side. Once evenly browned and the bubbles in the oil have mostly died down, remove the samsas from the oil and drain onto a plate with some paper towels to catch the excess oil.
12. Serve immediately with tomato ketchup, maggi hot & sweet or mint chutney.
In case you’d like to try some of that maggi sauce, here’s an affiliate link to get it on Amazon!
Maggi Hot & Sweet Tomato Chili Sauce
