A thousand years ago, when I was in college, I invited about 15 people over to my apartment on a cold Winter’s day in downtown Albany, NY for a Samosas party.
I was looking forward to a cozy night of dear friends and crappy cheap wine, made cheery with my spectacular treats. Can I tell you that they were a lot of work! My friend Anthony and I cooked and fried dozens of beautiful curry laced samosas in preparation for the get together. The kitchen was tiny with hardly any ventilation, due to the fact that it was located in the center of the apartment, with only a teeny tiny window opening to an airshaft. I was a young cook, so everything took quite a long time- not made any easier by my insistence on making the dough wrappers by hand. Kneading, rolling, wrapping, pinching and then frying. I am pretty sure we worked on those babies for at least 4 hours.
When they were finally finished we had a gorgeous, toasty pile of golden samosas. We were proud as much as we were exhausted. We finished up with just enough time to clean up and spruce up before the guests arrived. Then we carried our treasure into the living room and there we sat and waited.
And we sat.
And waited.
Unfortunately for us, due to our diligent focus and the insulated kitchen, we had no idea that a snow storm was carrying on outside. The wind was howling, the snow was piling up and it was absolutely not fit for man or beast. This was long before cell phones, but perhaps because it was so obviously too nasty a night, no one had called us to let us know that they would not be attending, so we had no idea!
All I can remember after that was the two of us collapsed on my couches, with that platter on a table between us, too tired to move. After awhile we simply gave up and went to bed- and the samosas were left uneaten.
Making Life Easier
It has been a long time since I have made samosas again. It’s not just the time involved, but also I really don’t do much frying in hot oil anymore. Not too long ago I purchased an Air Fryer (my daughter laughs that I am a COVID victim), which I am beyond in love with. I purchased THIS beauty, and though it takes up a bit of room, it gets used on a consistently regular basis and very much worth it.
Rather than making my own wrappers I have turned to Spring Roll Wrappers. Not the rice paper ones that you dip in water, but a thin flour based one. They are not easy to find, so egg roll wrappers will do as well.