Fabulous Fakes - Samosas

Shamosas - Fabulous Fake Samosas

"You know what I want for my next birthday?" says my daughter.
"what?", I say, only half listening.

"I want a Diamond necklace" she says
"uh huh", I say, engrossed in surfing the 'net.

"You know that Diamonds are my favorite gems, right?"
"ummm", I say, still googling.

"and because I love Pearls , I think I want a Pearl necklace too. Can I get both? or maybe one necklace with both Diamonds and Pearls?"
"huh? what? did you say diamonds and pearls"?, I say, finally snapping to attention.

Whatever happened to "I want cake and balloons" or "I want a Barbie doll for my birthday" ? Never mind the fact that she had her 6th birthday about 3 weeks ago, and never mind that she already has a jewelry box full of jewelery (all fake of course!), she is already planning her 7th birthday! Looks like she is becoming quite the little woman.

There used to be a store in the Mall that was called "Fabulous Fakes". They sold all kinds of pretty trinkets and jewelery - good eye candy. I didn't buy anything there, but used to go there to browse for good jewelery patterns. Unfortunately they went out of business. Looks like there wasn't a huge market for fake jewelry!! Surprising huh?

What's the point of this story you say? Well, the point is that "Fabulous Fake" is an excellent description for this appetizer I came up with yesterday :)

It is a take on the Indian "Samosa" - a turnover filled with a spicy mixture of potatoes and peas. Read Wikipedia's description here. Instead of the traditional filled triangle, I opted for a puff pastry "cup" filled with a mixture of potato and spices. Since my daughter hates, yes, hates peas, I omitted it.

Unlike the samosa, where the filling in completely ensconced in the pastry shell, this version has the filling sitting in a little pastry cup, so the yummy filling is visible and tempting.

I came up with "Shamosa" as the name for this treat - "sham" as in fake - get it? I thought it was rather clever and was giggling all day over it!!

This is my second entry to VKN's MyDhaba blog event - VCC # 4.

Made in little mini-muffin pans, these Shamosas, are just perfect as finger food and can be elegantly and delicately popped into your mouth. Perfect for an afternoon tea - "Pinkies Up!"


Ingredients:
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry (Pepperidge Farms)
2 small potatoes
2 red chillies
2 tsp corriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
1 small pod of garlic
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp oil
1 tsp cilantro leaves
salt to taste

spices - coriander, cumin and red chillies

potato filling

Shamosas in mini muffin pans, ready to bake

Method:

1. Thaw the puff pastry sheets for 40 mins. The instructions may differ for other brands.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
3. Boil the potatoes and dice into small cubes. (I just microwaved them in a bowl of water)
4. Coarsely crush the spices in a mortar and pestle. I happen to love the taste and texture of freshly ground spices. You can use garam masala or finely powder the spices.
5. Heat 1 tsp oil in a frying pan.
6. Add the asafoetida powder
7. Add the spices and fry till fragrant.
8. Add crushed ginger and garlic.
9. Add the potatoes, turmeric and salt.
10. When they are well mixed, add the cilantro leaves and allow to cool in a bowl.
11. Roll out the pastry sheet till it gets slightly flattened.
12. Cut into 3 inch squares.
13. Put each square into an ungreased muffin pan.
14. Add 1 or 1.5 tsp of filling in each cup
15. Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.
16. Serve wth condiments of your choice (tomato sauce, chilli sauce, coriander chutney, or tamarind chutney)
17. One sheet of pastry dough makes about 25 shamosas.

ps. When I was taking the picture of the stacked samosas, there were 4 kids playing hide and go seek in the room. One was hiding behind the plant that you see in the background and one was under the table where the samosas are. I had strict instructions to not reveal their hiding place, but now that the game is over ....:) :)

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