4 Levels of Samosas: Amateur to Food Scientist

[upbeat music]

Hi, I'm Emily and I'm a level one chef.

I'm Rinku. I'm a level two chef.

I'm Dalia and I've been a professional chef

for eight years.

They're so filling and like, cozy.

You get like that soft fluffy potato

with the outside crunch.

I love shaping, folding, working with samosas.

It's not for the lazy cook.

Growing up in a South Indian household,

it was something that my family often made

and it was one of those really fun things to eat

that we knew just came from our culture in general.

But traditionally, it is a North Indian savory snack.

[bells chiming]

So I'm making a potato samosa with a cilantro chutney.

So I'm making a Bengali samosa

with a little bit of cauliflower.

I'm making lamb keema samosas

with three different chutneys.

It's ground meat with a bunch of different spices.

A little North Indian, a little bit South Indian,

and somewhere in the middle of the fact

that I also live in America.

So my plan to cook this filling

is to start by heating up the oil.

Then I'm gonna add my cumin seeds

and just sort of bloom them for a second.

Then I'm gonna add my serrano chilies.

Garam masala is like a mix of spices.

It brings sort of those warm and earthy notes.

And now I'm just gonna put in my ground ginger also.

Yeah, start by toasting some spices.

The balance together, the cumin's smokey,

the fennel's a little bit sweet,

the chili peppers bring them together

but just a little bit of heat.

The spices will tell me when they are ready.

They darken, they get smokey,

and they are smelling quite amazing.

The specific spice blend that I'm using

is a pani puri spice blend.

Pani puri is a north Indian street food.

My pani puri spice blend is going to have nine spices.

Black salt, also known as kala namak,

tangy, but almost umami taste to it.

Fleur de sel, ginger powder, amchur,

which is a dried mango powder,

it gives it a really nice sour tang,

cumin, asafetida, it's got this oniony, garlicy,

and almost sour quality to it.

Some black lime that adds a darker sourness,

kashmiri chili, it's actually pretty mellow,

Some stitch acid to add a little bit more

sourness to this dish.

Smells good. Smells really good.

Making your own spice blend is great

but garam masala is a great sort of shortcut.

So now that my spices are roasted,

I'm grinding them to get them into a nice powder.

Now I'm going to add my spice blend into my ground lamb..

It's super complex in flavor,

so I'm gonna keep the rest of the things

that go into the lamb keema very simple.

This is a blend of five whole spices,

fennel, cumin, whole mustard seeds,

fenugreek seeds, and nigella seeds.

This is coming together so beautifully.

The juices are coming out of the lamb,

so this is the perfect time to add in the peas.

I use frozen peas just 'cause

I always have them in the freezer.

With frozen peas, it gives it a little more time

to to get acquainted with the ground lamb.

You can use fresh peas. It cooks faster.

I'm cooking the onions.

The ginger adds a nice touch of brightness.

It is smelling quite nice.

At this point, I'm adding in

my peeled and diced yukon gold potatoes.

So, I'm using Yukon gold potatoes.

They work, and they taste good.

I like using russet potatoes

because I think they just hold their shape better.

So it's just a sturdier potato.

Turmeric is getting added in.

My potatoes are beginning to get soft.

At this point, I'm adding in my cauliflower

Not against it.

I know a lot of people enjoy cauliflower.

Yeah, these are my daughters' favorite.

Now I'm adding in salt, roasted spice blend, peas.

At this point, I can mash this

with the back of my wooden spoon.

I want the filling to be mushy enough

so that it helps me stuff the samosas comfortably.

Adding in my chopped peanuts.

This gives the filling texture.

I love that Rinku is adding peanuts.

I feel like peanuts would add a nice crunch to it.

I think this filling is ready to go.

I'm gonna add my lemon juice in first

and then I'll move it all into my bowl.

I'm also gonna add a little bit of sugar

to add just a touch of sweetness

because it's wonderfully savory right now.

And while it's coming to room temperature,

I'm going to make the dough.

So to make my samosa dough,

I'll start with the all purpose flour.

I'm gonna use the pre-made empanada dough

but I'm gonna zhuzh it up a little bit.

So I'm gonna roll caraway seeds into my dough.

It's an easy hack. It makes your premade dough look fancy.

You're welcome.

What I have here is maida,

which is finely milled wheat flour.

I'm adding nigella seeds to my dough

because they make them look pretty.

They are mild, but they add a light onion flavor.

So I'm mixing in the salt.

Now I'm working in the shortening with my fingertips.

The vegetable shortening acts as the fat in the dough.

If I wasn't using vegetable shortening,

I'd probably use ghee,

in fact, that's probably more traditional.

Ghee is clarified butter.

Using ghee with maida and frying it,

yields a very crispy crust, versus using oil.

I'm being very precise with the amount of water.

Having it be a little thinner

also works well for the samosas.

I'm just putting the caraway seeds on one side.

I don't want it to be too caraway-y.

Caraway seeds are a great idea.

I'm adding fleur de sel into the maida mixture

and I'm slowly forming it into a ball.

There's so much joy in cooking.

Just like playing with dough, forgetting everything,

and just focusing on the task at hand.

What a workout.

My dough, it's pliable. It does not feel wet.

Now, I'm going to set this aside to rest.

I'm gonna let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

I wanna seal it so no moisture gets in.

I'm sure you could use saran wrap,

but you know, growing up in India,

we just used a piece of cloth and a plate to cover things.

I'm ready to shape my samosas.

So what I will be doing is breaking up

about lemon sized bowls of the dough.

Each ball of dough will be enough for two samosas.

First thing I'm gonna do

is roll my dough out into a loaf shape,

and then I'm gonna cut it into five equal pieces.

I'm rolling my dough into one big circle.

And I'm just gonna cut this down the middle,

and I am ready to move on to stuffing my samosas.

[Rinku] I am shaping my samosa to form a cone.

[Emily] And use water to seal it.

Water's gonna act as a glue.

I'm pinching the dough, this is important.

The reason why, is if they're not tightly close together,

when you fry them, they're gonna open up.

And I do not want an oily samosa.

I'm probably putting two tablespoons of filling in here.

I just don't wanna overstep it.

So to me, I feel like this is

kind of a classic samosa shape.

I know that there are other ways to do it.

So I pleat the middle,

then tuck it into the edge right here right in the middle,

and then I push the one side edges together,

and then I push the other side edges together,

and then have a standing samosa.

It's therapeutic to make samosas.

So then you get this little rounded triangle situation.

Ta da! Samosa.

Now that my samosas are all formed,

I'm going to let them rest for 15 minutes

in the refrigerator before I fry them.

I'm going to be air frying my samosas.

It's way easier and way less messy.

I'm frying my samosas

because that's the traditional method.

Frying rocks, love frying. Don't always wanna do it.

It's scary.

Air fryers just didn't exist a thousand years ago, guys.

It's just that's the way we did it.

So I'm gonna air fry my samosas

at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

I like to use a wok.

I feel it circulates the heat more uniformly.

[Dalia] My technique is to start out with low heat.

You want your samosas to cook gradually.

Then I get a crispy outer texture

and once I notice the outer side is crispy,

then I turn the heat to medium.

I'm looking for a nice peel golden color on the outside.

Then I let it brown

and then I turn it to lower and let it finish off.

All right, my samosas are probably ready,

so I'm gonna pull 'em out of this air fry.

Let's see. Oh, come on, baby.

Don't- okay. Ah, beautiful.

[Dalia] My samosas are fried

and now I'm ready to make my chutneys.

Chutney is a condiment, usually served with snacks.

Like a dipping sauce

that many people use with their dishes.

I'm gonna make like a pretty simple cilantro chutney.

The first chutney I'm gonna make

is a minty green chili yogurt chutney.

That sounds great.

I'm going to be making a cilantro mint chutney

and a tomato bell pepper chutney.

And so I'm starting out here with the Greek yogurt.

[Emily] Cilantro

[Dalia] And then I'm going to throw in the

[Emily and Dalia] Serrano chilies.

I think I'm the kind of Indian

that can't handle a lot of spice.

So like, serrano is like perfect for me.

I'm going to add in some

[Dalia] mint. Mint leaves.

I'll add in the rest later.

Then I'm gonna throw in my fleur de sel.

I really love fleur de sel for it's little bit of crunch.

Coriander for some floral, no?

It's a very good compliment to the smokiness of

[Emily And Rinku] Cumin seeds.

The black salt does add saltiness with a depth of flavor.

I like to use lime for tanginess.

[Emily] Lemon juice, salt and pepper, water.

And then I'm going to blend.

Now my minty green chili yogurt chutney is done.

And next, I'm gonna work on my garlic red chili chutney.

That sounds so good. [chuckling] Bring that here.

I've picked out the brightest reddest

kashmiri chilies that you can find.

So that the color is really potent.

Next thing I'm going to add is the fleur de sel.

I like to use whole big clothes of garlic

because I wanna max out on the garlicy flavor

that I'm gonna get.

Add a little bit of water and give it a quick blend.

My garlic red chili chutney is done.

And now I'm going to work on my

tomato bell pepper chutney.

Well, I'm going to start with heating

a little bit of the mustard oil.

Next, I'm gonna work on my tamarind chutney.

Tamarind is a pod-like fruit that you crack open

and you use the pulp from.

The pulp itself is very sour and tangy.

A lot of people love sour patch Kids, I like tamarind.

It's like that.

So now I'm adding in the mustard seeds and ginger.

Tomatoes go in and the bell peppers.

Lemon juice to accent accentuate the tartness.

But I want the chutney to have a somewhat soft consistency.

So I'm going to add my sunflower oil in.

And then while that's heating up,

I'm gonna get my cumin seeds ready

and I'm going to throw that in as well.

So my tomatoes and bell pepper is in.

I'm adding in brown sugar,

And here, I'm adding in tarragon

for a nice anise-like flavor.

Now I'm going to blend my chutney

to a somewhat smooth consistency.

So I'll be popping the Bengali five spices

in the mustard oil,

and that is the final pop of flavor

that this chutney gets.

It's really amazing how the cumin seeds

sort of tell you it's ready,

because once you wear it pop,

you're ready to move on to the next step.

It started popping.

Next I'm gonna add the ginger powder.

Then I'm gonna add the kashmiri chili powder.

And then a pinch of asafetida.

I'm going to add the tamarind pulp puree.

Really smells good.

And then I'm going to throw in the jaggery.

Jaggery is raw unrefined sugar cane that's grounded up here.

This is gonna be sweet, sour, tangy,

a bit pungent because of the asafetida,

and a little bit earthy because of the cumin,

and a bit of spice because of the kashmiri chili.

I'm adding in a little bit of tarragon

over the top for color.

And a mixing in my tempered five spices.

And we are done.

My three chutneys will work really well together.

My garlic red chili chutney

is a little spicy, a little garlicy.

My minty green chili chutney is minty

and just a little bit spicy and super herbaceous.

And the tamarind chutney is sweet, it's sour, it's tangy.

That sulfuric acid has a little bit

of umami and funkiness to it.

Pour that in the bowl.

Now that my chutneys done, I'm ready to plate.

First, I am going to plate with my tamarind chutney,

minty green chili chutney, and the last is

a garlic red chili chutney right up on top.

So, first thing, move my chutney.

Tomato chutney, my mint and cilantro chutney.

Done.

[Dalia] And then I'm going to take my samosas

and I'm just gonna plate it in a line.

[Rinku] I just put them on the plate next to the chutneys.

Eh?

Some pomegranate seeds as a nice little garnish.

A little bit of cilantro right up on top.

And now I'm gonna add some mint leaves.

And these are my samosas.

[camera clicking]

These are my Bengali samosas

with my mint and cilantro chutney

and tomato bell pepper chutney.

[camera clicking]

And these are my lamb keema samosas

with minty green chili chutney,

garlic red chili chutney and tamarind chutney.

[camera clicking]

I like the way it looks.

Plating is rustic, but a little modern.

I love the angles and I love how they look with the sauces.

I would like to dig in.

[samosas crunching]

[Everyone] Mmm.

Nice and crunchy outside. It's pretty good.

The filling is balanced. It's not too spicy.

The chutneys work very well together.

This is the kind of samosa that if you ate,

you'd be so satisfied you wouldn't need another meal.

I think my daughter would be proud of me.

Samosas are pouches of savory filling,

made famous in India, but enjoyed all over the world.

They're so versatile and delicious.

Let's see how each of our three chefs made theirs.

Emily made a filling based on potatoes and peas.

She seasoned her samosas with aromatic ginger,

serrano chilies for spiciness, cumin, and garam masala.

Sauteed cumin undergoes browning reactions

between the natural sugars and amino acids

and form purizines and add new flavors.

By sauteing the aromatics together,

human aldehyde is expressed in the oil,

so flavor becomes integrated throughout the filling.

Like Emily and Rinku,

Dalia made her filling based on potatoes and peas,

but elevated it with ground lamb,

seasoned with her pani puri masala,

which she made with nine ingredients, including asafetida,

a quintessential Indian spice that is complex and intense

from the mixture of dye, dry and tetrasulfides it contains.

Rinku made her own dough out of all purpose flour,

shortening water and nigella seeds.

Nigella are small, black, irregularly shaped seeds,

that are herbal and slightly earthy with a hint of caraway.

She was sure to rest her dough,

which allows maximum hydration

of gluten proteins and starches,

and makes for a pliable and supple dough.

Like Emily, Rinku also made cone shaped samosas

and sealed the bottom, turning the cone

into a pyramid tetrahedral shape with softer edges.

Dalia made her dough out of the traditional maida flour,

which is refined and bleached and made from wheat

grown in the Indian subcontinent.

It has a naturally high gluten protein content.

However, the proteins are partially denatured

due to the heat from the friction of the milling process,

which reduces functionality.

It's very similar to cake flour.

Dalia made three chutneys,

one of which was a tamarind chutney.

Tamarind is intensely sour, from 20% tartaric acid.

It has a complex savory, sour and tangy quality,

from enzymatic browning reactions

that take place on the tree as the pulp of the pod

becomes more concentrated,

as water is evaporated in the very hot environment.

She added jaggery, which is crystalline sugar,

still covered in cane juice from which it was formed.

She also made green chili yogurt chutney

from whole fat thick yogurt

that is seasoned with mint and serrano chilies.

Yogurt has a cooling effect

and mitigates some of the spiciness from the serrano chilies

by dissolving the capsaicin that sends signals to the brain

that there's lots of heat.

There are so many ways you can make samosas your own.

From dough to fillings and chutneys.

Next time you are in the mood for this savory stuffed treat,

we hope you'll take some of these tips

from our three talented chefs.