Saturday 12 January 2013

Weekend samosa, nectarine marmalade, raitia and slice

Last weekend was the first weekend for at least a couple of months that we weren't planning, travelling or sick.  I packed a picnic for Sylvia and sent her off with E while I sorted things out in the house.  Then Sylvia and I went for a swim in the afternoon.  Later that day I finally had the energy to finally try Joanne's pan fried samosas with tomato marmalade and raita.

I had read Joanne's post the day before a heatwave when I was looking for ways to use some roast pumpkin and not turn on the oven.  After my first day of the year back at work in 40 C heat, I was wilting and we had what Lucy calls a nibbly tea of crackers, vegies and hummus.  Just as well I didn't attempt it that night because when I made it after a lazy Saturday, it was quite a bit of work, given that I made pastry, filling, nectarine and tomato marmalade and raita, as well as assembling and frying.

I had intended to serve it with a side salad but ran out of energy.  Not to worry.  The samosa with two sauces were delicious.  Amazing!  I was very pleased to find a great samosa recipe.  E loves them but I have always been shy of deep frying.  It amused me to use the vegetables - potato, pumpkin and peas - that I ate often as a child. 

I think it took me the whole time that E and Sylvia watched the Aristocats to make these.  No regrets.  It was time well worth spending on dinner.  It was all so good.  I was low on turmeric and only had a pinch or two left for the filling.  Yet I was glad I had enough for the marvellous spciy yellow pastry.  The filling was so good that I ate the small amount of leftovers cold from the saucepan.  The sweet and spicy marmalade was fascinating with a hint of vanilla and the raita was fantastic.

For future tweaking, I am sure the vegetables could be changed and I wonder if some chickpea flour would work in the dough.

On Sunday it was warm but not sizzling.  We went to my brother's place for my sister-in-law's birthday.  They have just got the pool in the backyard cleaned up and the family had a great time splashing about.  Even the little kids who couldn't stand up in its depth loved sitting in the round floating seats.  Now I want a pool in my backyard too.

I took along this chocolate rice bubble slice.  The recipe appealed because it sounded like the sort of old fashioned slice that I love.  I am not sure that I got the ingredients quite right.  It tasted far more of golden syrup than cocoa and fell to bits if it wasn't kept in the fridge.  Maybe a recipe to revisit another time.  Sylvia loved it but the good old Aussie sponge cake, pavlova and chocolate ripple cake were more popular.  And the kids loved Erica's frozen jelly cups.

I also took along some of this potato, bean and corn salad, using mint rather than smoked paprika for the dominant flavour.  I was glad to have some  for dinner at the end of the day with some leftover samosas.

There was even more marmalade and raita leftover.  In fact there is still some in my fridge.  I have made some burgers that fell to bits (a riff on these burgers) but were still rather good with the marmalade and raita with a salad or in a salad sandwich.  I am not sure the vanilla in the marmalade worked with these but the raita was every bit as good.  If I had the energy I would whip up more samosas.  In fact without the sauces, it isn't so hard.  Must make more soon.

I am sending these samosas and nectarine and tomato marmalade to Ricki for her Wellness Weekends.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: What vegetarian is that?
Two years ago:  Chocolate cake - the way mum made it
Three years ago: Baby Food, Cookies and a Day at the Zoo
Four years ago: Curry traditions – of sausages and potatoes
Five years ago: PPN#45 Creamy Vodka Pasta Sauce

Pumpkin samosa
Dough adapted from Cooking Light via Eats Well with Others and filling adapted from taste.com.au
makes 12 samosas

Dough:
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cups plain flour (I used 1/2 cup wholemeal)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 cup hot water
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for frying
Filling:
  • 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1 tbsp butter (or ghee or margarine)
  • 1 fresh green chilli, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp brown mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp coriander seeds, roughly crushed
  • 1 heaped cup of diced roasted pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup frozen peas
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Firstly, boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes or until soft. Drain and set aside.

To make the dough, place all dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.  Mix wet ingredients and pour into dry ingredients.  Mix together (with a spoon and then your hand) to make a smoothish dough.  (This wasn't as smooth as other doughs I have made.  Cooking Light instructed to roast the spices and to bring everything together in the food processor but I wasn't reading the recipe too closely.)  Wrap dough in clingfilm and chill in fridge for 15 minutes.

To make filling, melt butter in large frypan.  Stir in chilli, spices, potatoes, pumpkin and peas.  Fry for about 3-5 minutes.  Add lemon juice and fry another 1-2 minutes.  Transfer to a small bowl and set aside to cool slightly.

To assemble, cut dough into 12 pieces.  Roll each piece out into a circle of about 4 inches diameter.  I followed Joanne's instructions and didn't use any flour but flipped over the dough every time I rolled it.  Place 1-2 tablespoonfuls of mixture into the centre and fold over the dough to come together.  (I didn't use water to stick the dough together but a few of my samosas came apart at the seams and I wonder if I should have used some water to seal them.  Don't worry if there are any tiny rips as they were fine when I fried samosas with small rips.)  Use a fork to press around the edge to help seal the samosas.

To fry samosas, heat the same frypan that was used for the filling (mine is non-stick so it didn't need cleaning) and add some oil - about 2 tsp.  Fry about 6 samosas at a time for 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crispy on both sides.

Serve with the marmalade and raita recipes below or just use a bought chutney and tzatziki dip if you don't have the time or energy.

Nectarine and Tomato Marmalade
Adapted from Cooking Light via Eats Well with Others
  • good slurp of olive oil
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 cups chopped nectarines (I used 5)
  • 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp chilli paste
  • 1 thyme sprig
  • 1 x 2-inch piece vanilla bean
  • 1/4 tsp French lavender salt
Heat oil and butter in a medium saucepan.  Gently simmer nectarines, onion, tomatoes and garlic for about 30 minutes.  Add sugar, chilli paste, thyme sprig and vanilla bean.  Simmer for another 20 minutes or until thickened.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool for 30 minutes.  Stir in salt.  Serve room temperature.

Raita
From All Recipes
  • 200g plain yoghurt
  • 1/3 continental cucumber, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic clove, crushed (I used 1)
  • 1 tablespoon mint leaves, finely chopped
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • mint for garnish
Mix all ingredients together.

On the Stereo:
It - Pulp

19 comments:

  1. I've never actually had samosas but boy, these sound delicious. And that marmalade! I'm thinking it would even be good on pancakes--maybe savory ones for brunch. . .hmmm, you've got me thinking! Love the pool shot. I've always wanted one in my backyard, too, but our yard here is probably smaller than that pool! ;)

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    1. Thanks Ricki - the samosas that I have had are a lot more crunchy (ie deep fried) on the outside and usually have spicy potato and pea filling, though I did find a good samosa pie recipe. Am sure the marmalade would work well with pancakes or on potatoes - maybe a good sauce for fries? I don't think we would fit a pool in our backyard either but the idea has always appealed

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  2. I can see why the samosas took so long to prepare but they sure look worth it! I'm particularly taken with the marmalade, I imagine it's a great balance of sweet, sour and hot.

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    1. Thanks Cindy - it was definitely worth trying this to have a different but delicious dinner - the marmalade was quite sweet - it didn't have much sugar or I would have reduced it - maybe I would reduce it more next time - and perhaps less vanilla (I am not a big fan of vanilla)

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  3. I love the look of the smosas and the chocolate bubble slice. I think I would like the marmalade by itself - sounds fabulous.

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    1. Thanks Cakelaw - the marmalade was delicious but a bit too much vanilla for me and could be less sweet - but I am not used to savoury marmalades so wasn't quite sure about how sweet they usually are

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  4. I am so impressed with the samosas! You always make the most beautiful and ambitious recipes!

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    1. Thanks Astra - definitely ambitious, maybe beautiful :-)

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  5. Love the idea of a raita burger! And am very glad you're not all still buuuuurning down there!

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    1. Thanks Hannah - yes raita in a burger was good but the burger just would not hold together - I haven't found the weather too bad - probably because I stocked up on the cold weather in Edinburgh :-)

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  6. It sounds like you have been having some summer fun around the heat - and I'm glad it has cooled down a bit for you now. All of the recipes you mention here appeal to me, and like Hannah, I am drawn to the sound of a raita burger! The nectarine marmalade sounds lovely too. It does look like time well spent on your tea!

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    1. Thanks Kari - I think I would have preferred to be working on an interesting dinner than watch the aristocats again - I think if we get more hot weather I will be drawn to making more burgers so maybe should experiment with raita on them

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  7. These looks so delicious and that nectarine marmalade sounds amazing! A jazzier version of mango chutney

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    1. Thanks Katie - I am not a fan of mango chutney (mangos just don't interest me) so perhaps I could use them instead of it - now where did I see a recipe with mango chutney recently :-)

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  8. When it gets over about 30C we cook exclusively outside. You would be AMAZED at what you can cook on a covered bbq. We have made cakes and cooked an entire Christmas dinner with goose fat potatoes one year. Sorry it's so hot there but we Tasmanian's have to send a bit of heat back up to the mainland, we are not used to it here! Cheers for a great recipe. Might whip some up for the barbie tonight :)

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    1. thanks fran - I've always fancied an outdoor barbie in hot hot days but never had enough urge for one at other times - but never thought to make cakes on the barbie! Am happy to take a bit of your heat - you have had had a tough enough time of it in tassie - hope all is well down there

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  9. I adore samosas and am intrigued by your pan fried version, I've never seen them cooked this way before. Anything that involves rolling out dough always seems to be so time consuming, it's great to be able to make these things when you have the time and inclination. The marmalade sounds delicious too!

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    1. Thanks Mel - the fried version was more like dumplings than the samosas that I have had at indian restaurants - but the filling tasted great and I loved the spices in the pastry which made it quite different to other dumplings - maybe this should convince me to try making dumpling skins for other fillings!

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  10. Samosas, empanadas...love them all. These sound very flavorful!

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