Last Friday evening, I made samosas for the first time. Samosas are savory Indian pastries with potato filling. They were good, and perhaps with some tweaks*, blog-worthy. The implications here are ostensibly minor, right? Except for the fact that Kentucky beat Louisville in the NCAA Sweet 16 game that same evening.
Fast forward two days to the Elite 8 game versus Michigan on Sunday. What did I do during the game? Munch on the leftover samosas, of course.
So yesterday evening, as I was anxiously wishing away the minutes until the Final 4 game against Wisconsin, I got cooking. It's an unlikely pairing, Kentucky basketball and Indian pastries, but it obviously works, so I'm not questioning the basketball gods.
Now I'm going to give you my recipe for samosas, and while I won't require you to make them Monday night, if Kentucky loses, I will blame you.
Samosas
I've had these at Indian restaurants before and really enjoyed them. I have no idea how they are traditionally made, but this is my version. I think it's pretty tasty.
Ingredients:
2 smallish Yukon gold potatoes
1 T butter
splash of milk
salt
handful of frozen peas
half a small onion, minced
1 carrot, minced
curry powder (maybe 1/2 teaspoon)
garam masala (little more than 1/2 teaspoon)
coriander (dash)
oil
puff pastry (I used about 3/4 of one sheet)
egg wash
Procedure:
1. Start by making mashed potatoes. (I peeled and chunked the potatoes, put them in salted water, and boiled them for about 15 minutes or until soft. Then I drained the water, added the butter, milk, and salt, and then mashed it all together.)
2. While the potatoes are boiling, saute the onion and carrot in the oil on medium heat. Add in the Indian seasonings, and let those cook as well. I apologize for the lack of exact measurements. I would season them way more than you think necessary though, as these seasonings are really for the entire dish.
3. When the potatoes are mashed and the onion/carrot mixture is soft and fragrant, combine them with the peas. Taste, and if you need to season more, go ahead and do it now. (The heat of the potatoes should defrost the peas pretty quickly.)
4. Roll out the pastry and cut into squares. (You can make them big or small. I made some of each.) Spoon some of the potato mixture on the square. Wet the edges of the pastry before you fold them over to get a good seal. Brush the tops with the egg wash, so they gleam when cooked. (This step is not really necessary, so don't go running out to the store if you're out of eggs.)
5. Bake at 400 for about 10-15 minutes, or until they are toasty brown.
6. Go Cats!
*See what I did there, BBN?
1 T butter
splash of milk
salt
handful of frozen peas
half a small onion, minced
1 carrot, minced
curry powder (maybe 1/2 teaspoon)
garam masala (little more than 1/2 teaspoon)
coriander (dash)
oil
puff pastry (I used about 3/4 of one sheet)
egg wash
Procedure:
1. Start by making mashed potatoes. (I peeled and chunked the potatoes, put them in salted water, and boiled them for about 15 minutes or until soft. Then I drained the water, added the butter, milk, and salt, and then mashed it all together.)
2. While the potatoes are boiling, saute the onion and carrot in the oil on medium heat. Add in the Indian seasonings, and let those cook as well. I apologize for the lack of exact measurements. I would season them way more than you think necessary though, as these seasonings are really for the entire dish.
3. When the potatoes are mashed and the onion/carrot mixture is soft and fragrant, combine them with the peas. Taste, and if you need to season more, go ahead and do it now. (The heat of the potatoes should defrost the peas pretty quickly.)
4. Roll out the pastry and cut into squares. (You can make them big or small. I made some of each.) Spoon some of the potato mixture on the square. Wet the edges of the pastry before you fold them over to get a good seal. Brush the tops with the egg wash, so they gleam when cooked. (This step is not really necessary, so don't go running out to the store if you're out of eggs.)
5. Bake at 400 for about 10-15 minutes, or until they are toasty brown.
6. Go Cats!
The BBN saw you tweaking, Patti Wagon. You and Aaron keep on cooking.
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