Double Sesame Tuna with Homemade Samosas

I have to put in the plug… make sure that with this recipe, as with all recipes, that you are purchasing sustainable fish. Many varieties of tuna are vastly overfished and near extinction if we do not act extremely quickly. Because, however, many of those varieties are considered delicacies, there is almost no protection offered. Countries continue to overfish to keep us happy and many species are about to die because of it. The good news? They’re not quite gone yet, and we can help. Keep your sustainable fish guide from the Monterey Bay Aquarium handy and make sure that when you head out to purchase a nice piece of tuna for this meal, that it’s sustainable. Ask the server questions to make sure it’s one of the green options on your guide. It takes so little of your time, and it saves a beautiful species of fish from dying out forever.

The heaviness aside, let’s delve into this recipe itself. I made a double sesame tuna. The double comes from using both sesame oil and sesame seeds, providing more of this delicious (yet fatty) seed. Don’t worry though, I keep the sesame count in check, and while these seeds might be quite fatty, it’s natural fat and they come with a lot of other benefits as well. Sesame seeds are chock full of manganese and copper, and also are excellent sources of calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorous, vitamin B1, zinc, and dietary fiber. Pretty good, huh?

To go with the tuna, I also whipped up some samosas. You’ll see below that these actually were made from some filling I had made a while back and written up then, but the dough was made fresh in a new fashion. Read below for details.

Difficulty: medium
Time: 1 hr 15 min
Cost: $9.99 (note: this does not include the samosa filling since it was made previously)



Double Sesame Tuna
Several months ago, I whipped up a massive batch of samosa filling. As noted then, I made way too much! So I used about a third of the filling and split the remaining two thirds into two bags which I sealed and froze. This recipe takes one of those bags and makes it into samosas, but instead of phyllo dough this time I make my own genuine samosa dough. It’s not fried, of course, so it won’t taste the same as when you go to a restaurant, but hopefully it simulates the test and is also healthier!

Time: 1 hr 15 min

Ingredients:
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp ginger, grated
½ tsp cinnamon
1.5 c flour
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
6 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp peanut oil

Heat a pan over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add the turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon. Stir constantly and cook for 30-45 seconds. You just want to warm the spices. They should become quite fragrant during that time. After 30-45 seconds, transfer to a plate and let the spices cool for a few minutes.

Put the flour, salt, and baking soda in a food processor with the dough blade on it. Add the toasted spices and pulse for a few seconds to mix evenly. In a separate bowl, heat up ¼ c of water until it’s hot. Mix the lemon juice and 1 tbsp peanut oil.

Set up your food processor so it has a food chute. Start the processor going, with the dough hook, and slowly pour in the hot water as the process is mixing. Let it continue until the dough forms a very soft, sticky ball. Spray a bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in it, flipping to coat. Let it rest for 15 minutes.

Split dough into 12 portions. Keep the other portions lightly covered with saran wrap to keep them from drying out. Working with a single dough at a time, roll it into a 4 inch circle. Put about 2 tbsp of filling into the middle (estimation is fine here.) Wet your finger and use it to lightly we the outer edge of the dough. Fold the dough in half to form a moon-shaped ravioli and press the edges to seal. Crimp with a form to seal even more and set onto a piece of greased wax paper. Continue until all of the samosa have been created.

Heat your oven to 375. In the meantime, also heat a pan over medium high heat. Add half of the remaining peanut oil (2 tsp) and let that heat. Add six of the samosa and cook for 4 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for another 4 minutes.

Remove the cooked samosa and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Add the rest of the peanut oil (2 tsp) and repeat the process with the remaining 6 samosa.

When all of your samosa are on the baking sheet, put them in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. The dough isn’t yet crispy on the inside, so this helps to solve that problem.

After 10 minutes, turn your oven to broil and broil the samosa for just 1-2 minutes, depending on how crispy you like them.

Remove from the oven and enjoy with homemade tamarind sauce.

Double Sesame Tuna
Time: 30 min

Ingredients:
¼ c soy sauce (low sodium)
2 tbsp green onions, diced
2 tsp sesame seeds
2 tsp dark sesame oil
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
½ tsp garam masala
1 lb tuna
1 tsp peanut oil

Put the soy sauce, green onions, sesame seeds, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and garam masala in a large plastic bag. Add the tuna. Seal and marinate for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Heat a grill pan over medium high heat. When it’s hot, add the peanut oil, swirling to coat. Let it heat, and then add the tuna, reserving the marinade. Cook for 5 minutes on each side, or until cooked to your taste.

Meanwhile, on a separate burner, heat a small pot over medium high heat. Add the discarded marinade. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes or until reduced roughly in half.

Brush the reduced marinade over the hot fish before serving.