Let's Go Indian

First off, thankyou to all who left comments, advice and general well-wishes on my last post. Your wise words and kind thoughts are very much appreciated. Grandma has arrived and I have handed over a veritable novel with regards to who needs to be where, when and with what, who will eat what and who won't, who needs an eye kept on them while drawing (hmm, that would be #2), who isn't allowed to take peanut butter sandwiches to school no matter how much he begs (yep, that would be #1) and who needs to be reminded that it's okay to slow down and not do everything at 100mph (and that would be Hubby!).

I'm off tomorrow and have come to a fatalistic kind of calmness - it's all going to happen anyway so I just need to chill and get on with it. I still have to pack in the morning but all the washing and ironing are done and I have been stockpiling bits and pieces in a corner of the bedroom for a couple of days so it shouldn't take too long - depending on who feels a need to help, of course ;-)

And, onto some food. Offspring #1 is learning about 'other countries' at school this term and has had lots of different parents in talking to the class about growing up in another country and, in some cases, cooking food from that country for the kids to try. Having two Australian-born parents of English/Scottish/Irish/Welsh descent, along with two sets of Australian-born grandparents is apparently very boring as we have nothing to add to the content and he thinks he is very hard done by LOL.

Earlier in the week the class tried Indian samosas and were given a copy of the recipe. #1 came out of class waving it at me and suggested (that's a nice way of saying DEMANDED) that I make samosas on the weekend and "then you can take a photo and put them on your blog, Mum. I'm pretty sure other people would like them too." So, in accordance with the wishes of my 5-year old, here are photos and a recipe for samosas. They were indeed delicious and everyone, from Grandma down to Offspring #2 thoroughly enjoyed them.

Vegetable Samosas

Ingredients for four very hungry people (although I think it would have served several more!)

60g ghee or butter (I used butter)

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon of coriander seeds (I only had leaves so used them)

1/2 teaspoon of turmeric

1/2 teaspoon of salt (I forgot it and didn't miss it)

1/4 teaspoon of chilli powder (I left this out and they were still great)

2 medium potatoes, finely shopped

1 cup fresh or frozen peas

2 heaped teaspoons of tomato paste

1 cup water

2 teaspoons of plain flour

1/4 cup of water

2 sheets of ready rolled short-crust pastry (see the note at the end*)

Heat ghee or butter in a frypan. Add onion, garlic, spices. Cook for 1 minute.

Stir in the potatoes, peas, cup of water and tomato paste. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cover.

Cook for 15 minutes.

Blend the flour with the 1/4 cup water. Pour this into the mix to thicken it. Allow mix to cool.

Cut each pastry sheet into four equal strips. When the mix is cool, ladle one teaspoon of mix onto the top of each strip.

Fold each strip of pastry in triangles, about four times, sealing the mix inside. Seal the last edge with water.

Deep fry the samosas, a few at a time until golden. Drain on absorbent towels. Alternatively, brush with oil and bake on a tray in a medium-hot oven (180C) for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve the samosas with yoghurt, sauce or chutney for dipping. (We had pots of yoghurt, tomato sauce and sweet chilli sauce to choose from and, as this was our dinner I also served a salad.)

*I ended up using 6 sheets of pastry. The recipe makes a huge amount of filling - I used two sheets of pastry as directed by the recipe and then made larger samosas with the other sheets, quartering the sheets. I ended up with 12 small samosas and 16 larger ones. Guess what my lot are having for tomorrow's dinner?