Woohoo! I have forayed deeper into Indian food! Today's menu is full-throttle Indian, featuring a Mango Curry with Shrimp over Basmati, samosas, and tamarind sauce. That's right, I was lucky enough to receive a gift of Tamarind seeds just so I could make some fresh Tamarind sauce for use with my samosas.I must admit that the samosas themselves are not truly authentic. While the filling should taste quite familiar to Indian-food lovers, I used phyllo dough on the outside instead of making my own dough. This allowed me to bake the delicious appetizer and achieve a crispy effect without having to deep-fry fresh dough that is great at absorbing oil.
And a quick note on spice levels... For those of you who have read my posts before, I'm not a big fan of spicy foods. At all. So while my dishes will be very flavorful, they are not going to have a hot kick to them. If mild yet delicious works for you read ahead, but if you like spicy you might want to sneak in some chili powder when no one is looking...
Difficulty: medium (simply due to it being new to me)
Time: 1 hr 30 min
Cost: $33.64
Samosas and Tamarind Sauce
Time: 1 hr 20 min
Ingredients:
(Samosas)
1 1/4 c potato, chopped
3/4 c carrot, peeled and chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 c onion, diced
1.5 tbsp ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp turmeric
2/3 c peas
1/4 c cilantro, chopped
2 tsp lemon juice
1 roll of phyllo dough (usually two to a box, but just defrost 1)
(Tamarind Sauce)
2 tbsp tamarind seeds/pulp
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c raisins
1/4 c dates, chopped
1.5 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger, minced or ground
1 tsp garam masala
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp salt
We'll start with the sauce to get it out of the way and then come back and make the actual samosas. So, for the sauce, soak your Tamarind seeds in 1 cup of warm water for 15-20 minutes. Then mash them and squeeze out the pulp. Discard all fibers or seed husks.
Put the tamarind water in a food processor or blender and add the brown sugar, raisins, dates, cumin, ginger, garam masala, cayenne pepper, and salt. Blend until it's thick but mostly smooth. It's okay if a few little pieces remain. Set aside for later. (Note: Tamarind sauce will keep a very long time in the fridge as long as you keep it in an air-tight container.)
Next, we'll turn to the samosas! Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the potatoes and carrots. Cook them for about 8 minutes or until they are tender. Drain them and set them aside. (Note: as usual, I left the skin on the potatoes but you do not have to if you prefer..but it's healthy and delicious!)
In the meantime, heat a large pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and let it heat for a minute. Then add the onion and saute it for 8-10 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep it from burning but let it saute enough to be tender and lightly browned.
Add the ginger, garlic, and red pepper to the pan. Stir frequently and saute for 2 minutes.
Now add the cumin, coriander, cinnamon, salt, black pepper, and turmeric. Mix well but saute for just 30 seconds, stirring constantly until the spices are mixed in. Immediately add the cooked potatoes and carrots, peas, cilantro, and juice. Combine well and then remove from the heat and let the mixture cool for a few minutes.
When you can work with the mixture, put as much as fits into a blender. Blend just until it's coarsely chopped, not mashed. Place the chopped filling in a bowl and continue until all of your filling is coarsely blended and in a large bowl. Your filling is now ready!
Get your oven pre-heating to 350.
Prepare your work station by putting out wax paper or parchment paper on a clean, dry surface. Unroll your phyllo dough, cover with an additional piece of wax paper or parchment paper, and then place a slightly damp paper towel on top of that. You want to look the moisture in but do not get any wet towel or other pieces in contact with the phyllo dough. Wet phyllo sticks and falls apart! Finish your preparation by getting a large spoon for your potato filling and greasing two cookie sheets with cooking spray.
Carefully place one sheet of phyllo dough on your work station and make sure the rest is covered so it won't dry. Fold the phyllo dough in half width-wise (hotdog style,) so it's long and thin. Place a 2-3 tbsp of filling at the left end near the bottom. Now take that left bottom edge and fold it up so the end of your phyllo dough looks like a triangle. (Pretend you are making a paper football and you will get the idea.) Now take one point of your triangle, which should be the top left of your phyllo dough and fold it over again so your triangle continues. Continue folding triangles across the phyllo dough until you run out of your strip. Your filling should now be encased firmly in a triangle of phyllo dough. Carefully place the triangle on the cookie sheet.
Continue until you have run out of phyllo dough or filling. If you have extra filling, do not worry! Freeze it and you can simply let it defrost and use it later.
Spray the samosas lightly with cooking spray. Then bake for 25 minutes, rotating the trays on the oven racks midway through. Serve with the Tamarind sauce.
Mango Curry Shrimp
Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1/2 c grated coconut
1/4 tsp chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 mangos, peeled and diced
1 tbsp Jaggery (use brown sugar or unrefined sugar if you do not have Jaggery)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (and tails removed-optional)
Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and let that heat for a minute as well. Then add the onion and saute, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes until they are tender and lightly browned.
Mix together the coconut, chili powder, garlic, ginger, cumin, and coriander. Grind it with a pestle if you have one and if not use a blunt end of a wooden spoon.
When the onion mixture has sauteed for long enough, add the spice mixture to the onions. Stir fry for another 5 or so minutes or until most of the oil is gone. Add the turmeric, mango, and Jaggery. Mix them in so everything is well combined and then add 1 cup of water to the mixture.
Stir in the salt and pepper and let the mixture simmer for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The curry should thicken a bit while it is cooking.
Add the shrimp after it has simmer for just 5 minutes. Then continue to cook until the sauce has thickened slightly and the mangoes are tender. The shrimp will be pink and curl up when they are cooked. Serve over basmati rice.
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