The origin of the samosa: Where does India's most-popular snack come from?
The Snack Of Snacks
No evening snack in the country can be complete without tea and the quintessential samosa - the triangular tetrahedral golden-fried patty, filled with spicy mashed potatoes and vegetables, or minced meat, is the ultimate temptation.
But have you ever wondered where the tightly packed savoury goodness that is the samosa, originates from? It's travelled far and wide but here's unraveling where the most-popular snack of India comes from.
Fried Savoury Goodness
On April 21, 1526, the great Mughals came to India with an array of culinary techniques. But the samosa remained popular. The 16th century Mughal document Ain-i-Akbari confirms the presence of these timeless pastries in their time.
The Ultimate Temptation
The first ever mention of what we now know as samosa is found in the writings of Iranian historian Abolfazl Beyhaqi (995-1077): it was called Sambusak or Sambusaj.
With the arrival of Muslim traders, the crispy pastries too reached the Indian subcontinent in the 13th or 14th century and found patronage under many Muslim dynasties.
The Central Asian snack was quick to conquer the hearts of South Asian people. Today, sambusak exists in different names and avatars across Asia.
An Appetiser Like No Other
Ibn Battuta, the 14th century Moroccan explorer, came to India through the high mountains of Afghanistan, and enjoyed a meal at the court of the infamous and erratic Muhammad bin Tughluq.
Battuta gives a vivid description of the food: The much revered sambusaks in Delhi Sultanate were spicy, small pies stuffed with minced meat, almonds, pistachios and walnuts Used to be served before the third course — of pulao.
The famous Sufi poet Amir Khusro (inventor of tabla as a modified pakhawaj) observed the love the kings of Delhi Sultanate had for this delightful dish.
A Royal Beginning
Meanwhile, in other parts of India, our good old Portuguese friends introduced a type of tuber which brought about nothing less than a revolution in the Indian palate.
It used to be the core of Inca empire’s food pyramid and the Portuguese called it batata. In the next couple of hundred years, the batata, better known as potato, became the hero of almost all Indian cuisines. It transformed our breakfast, lunch and dinner and fiercely took on meat dishes in every possible way.
The batata managed to change our favourite sambusak too. Today’s samosa is no longer a meat-filled savoury to go with pulao.
The modern samosa is a delightful snack reborn with a mixture of mashed potato, green peas, onion, green chilli and assorted spices... and to be enjoyed with chutney .
No One Can Eat Just One
In eastern India, the cooking technique of samosa (or singara) is different in the use of hing in the dough and in the way potatoes are prepared.
In Bengal, the potato is not mashed but chopped into small cubes before it goes inside the dough parcel.
In northern India, potato is mashed and cooked with spices before it goes inside the dough.
In the South, samosas are made with local spices and the filling has onion, carrots, cabbage and curry leaves. They are usually eaten without chutney.
Don't Get Carried Away
Over consuming samosas can result in heartburn, acidity, obesity, bad karma, gastronomic disorder, diarrhoea and a state of utopian bliss in a moment of great distress.