Woman Connected to Recipe: Rita Chokshi
Submitted by Kajal Chokshi (Rita’s daughter)
About Rita:
Rita is my wonderful mom! My mom is one of the most giving, selfless, and radiating women I have ever known. She is so special to me because she serves as my mentor, supporter, best friend, and sunshine every single day. She is the epitome of what a strong, successful, and kind woman should be. She carries her history and culture proudly and navigates new situations with grace. She is the type of woman who brightens any room she walks into and makes you feel fuller after any conversation.
About Rita’s Samosas:
My mom grew up in Gujarat, India. After she married my dad in December 1989, they moved to American in the 90s. My family is very proudly Indian and enjoys sharing our culture at every opportunity given.
Growing up, my mom would make samosas for every holiday party we had- to celebrate both Indian and American festivities. Samosas in my home meant a time for togetherness and joy.
We recently shared this recipe at our first Thanksgiving. My partner's sister invited us to her home. There, our two seemingly different but inherently very similar families feasted together under a warm roof, proving in fact, everyone will smile with warm samosas in their belly.
INGREDIENTS
Dough:
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
5 tbsp cooking oil or clarified butter (ghee)
1/2 tbsp ground cumin seeds
1/2 cup water
salt according to taste
Filling:
4 potatoes
1 medium sized yellow onion
1/4 cup of peas
1 small finely chopped jalepeno
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground garlic
5-7 curry leaves
1 tsp red chili flakes
1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp tumeric
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tbsp garam masala
4 tbsp oil
1/2 lemon
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
For Frying:
2 cups cooking oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Directions:
1. Mix all dough ingredients as listed above, adding the water slowly until all ingredients are combined and the dough soft and springy. Put the dough covered in a bowl on the side.
2. Chop onion. Boil or steam potatoes and dice the potatoes.
3. Put the oil in a pan and once its hot add the cumin seeds, curry leaves, turmeric, and onion. Cook until the onions are translucent. Add the peas and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add in the ground ginger and ground garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add in the garam masala, red chili powder, salt, red chili flakes, diced jalepeno and lemon according to your taste. Once the oil is separating, add in the potatoes. Add salt and lemon according to taste and sprinkle with the cilantro. Take all the filling and put it in a separate bowl and let it cool.
4. To assemble to samosas, take a golf ball sized piece of dough and roll it into a circle. Cut the circle i half so you're left with a semi-circle. Bring the edges together and use your fingers to make a cone shaped mold out of the dough. Make sure to firmly press the dough so that there are no holes. Leave the top of the cone open to place the filling in.
5. Add 2-3 tbsp of the filling into the cone structure. Seal the cones at the top. Repeat until the dough and filling is used up!
6. Heat oil until it is warm enough for frying. Turn the heat to medium and place the filled samosas into the oil. Flip the samosa after 1-2 minutes. The dough should be golden brown before removing from the heat. Put all samosas on a plate with some paper towels to soak up excess oil.
7. Serve samosas with your favorite cilantro chutney and tamarind chutney!