Spicy Chicken Samosas. My Take on Samosas

IMG_6162 (4) Oh JESUS, you have no idea how Nigerians love Samosas! With the way it is consumed in Nigeria, by Nigerians; you would not believe that these snacks originated  from the Middle East(where it is known as Samboosa), South Asia and Southeast Asia. Although some parts of Africa like the Central, North and East Africa do eat this delicacy as well. I did say I will never make Samosas as I just wanted to promote Nigerian finger foods, but the pressure was on to try some and with the success I had with mine, I knew I had to share it with you guys 🙂 Samosas are simply a fried pastry dough with any king of savory filling; ranging from lamb to chicken; even potatoes and vegetables. After frying or baking, it comes out very flakey. Although, I do like the fried version (covers face), this pastry can also be baked. In my opinion, the fried ones are much more crunchier and more flakey than the baked ones. And the good thing is that samosa dough can be made using a hand mixer. For the filling, any type of filling may go in these Samosas. The fillings may vary from meat to vegetables or even both together. For mine, I used chicken and some Ata din-din and I served it with some sweet chili sauce and it was deliciously spicy, flakey and savory 🙂 IMG_6246 (3) Before, I made these savory finger foods, I did a whole lot of research on the ingredients and I found a simple recipe on my friend and fellow food blogger’s website. Her name is Immaculate and she can cook! The recipe for her Samosas can be found here. At first when I saw Immaculate’s recipe, I asked myself “Please what is ghee butter?” Then followed a trip to the store where I could not find it *sigh. Although I knew the recipe called for oil or Ghee butter, I knew butter would be much better. Butter does make everything taste even much better 🙂 Anyway, I decided to go with some pastry butter, but my doubting Thomas behind was not so sure. While leaving the store, I saw an Indian lady who actually worked in the same store; then the proverbial stereotype hit. I walked straight to her and said to her “hello ma’am, please do you make Samosas?” She looked at me and smiled; then she replied “yes I do.”  Then I said, feeling really shy at this point “It calls for Ghee butter, but this store does not have it and I really need to make some. Is it okay to use melted butter?” And with smiles she replied “butter is even better.” And there I was Happy and jumping for joy and with excitement. I do not know her name, but Thank you. Samosas are made in a distinctively triangular shape, or with the shape of empanadas with scalloped edges. Although my pastry was right, I struggled with the folding. A Facebook friend Oluyinka sent me pictorials, but my brain and my hands were not connecting 🙂 I could not fold the triangle or the scalloped molds to save my life 🙂 It got so frustrating at some point where I wanted to just freeze the pastry dough and try again. I have said this before, pastry is not really my thing, but an absolutely necessary skill. At some point I took a break and kept asking myself what I could use and Eureka! The empanada mold came to mind. I had some little sized empanada molds, so I used them and it worked! Food is versatile after all 🙂 If using the empanada mold, please make sure to pay special attention to the pastry as it will be very soft and delicate. In fact here is a photo of the only triangle I was able to fold 🙂 IMG_6131 (2) I am quite surprised at how I was able to take any pictures as my ajebutters loved every single bite and kept grabbing one Samosa after the other. Even until the next day ajebutter2 was asking for the “little finger food” IMG_6240 (2) So here we go with my take on Samosas. I came, I saw and I conquered! 🙂 IMG_6127 (2) IMG_6130 (2) IMG_6135 (2) IMG_6136 (2)   IMG_6138 (2) IMG_6195 (2) IMG_6231 (3) IMG_6237 (2)

5.0 from 1 reviews
Spicy Chicken Samosas. My Take on Samosas
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 20
Ingredients
For dough
  • 3 cups of all purpose flour
  • 3tbsps of melted unsalted butter or ghee
  • 1 and ¼ cup of warm water
  • 1 and ½ tsp salt
  • 1 and ½- 2tbsps sugar
  • ⅛ inch freshly grated nutmeg
  • a few tbsps. water for sealing dough
  • Oil for frying
For filling
  • 1 large chicken breast (or ½ lb ground chicken)
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 2tbsps and ½ tsp. of coconut or peanut oil(any cooking oil works)
  • 1 large garlic clove(chopped or grated)
  • ½ of a medium onion(chopped)
  • ½ inch of ginger(grated)
  • 4 tbsps. ata din-din or any pepper sauce or hot sauce
  • ½ tsp of thyme
  • ½ tsp curry powder
Instructions
To cook chicken
  1. Season with salt, pepper and ½tsp. oil. let it marinate for about 30minutes. Cook in the oven at 350 until juices run clear(you may boil or chop and stir fry). When chicken is done. Let it cool for a few minutes then shred using a food processor, a hand mixer or a fork.
  2. Heat the remaining two table spoons of oil and add the onions. Sauté until translucent; then add the garlic and ginger and sauté until fragrant. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. After the chicken has been thoroughly mixed, set aside to cool and work on the dough
For the dough
  1. Melt butter and allow to cool a little
  2. In a deep bowl, mix the dry ingredients; then make a well in the middle of the flour and add the butter and water. The dough will be soft and sticky. Transfer on to a clean and heavily floured work top and gently knead for about 5 minutes(do not over knead).
  3. Pull apart the dough into small balls and let it rest for about 10 minutes.
  4. Using a floured rolling pin(use a clean bottle if you do not have one), roll each ball until flat(you do not want the dough to be heavy, but light and airy). Using the empanada mold, cut little circles out of the rolled out dough, place into the mold, scoop in some chicken and using your finger tips, rub on some water onto the edges of the dough; then press down to seal using the mold. If you do not own a mold, simply cut out little circles and seal like you would a Nigerian meat pie or calzon. Or simply seal using your thumb make little compressions on the edges.
  5. If you can make the triangle; then seal away 🙂
  6. Heat up some vegetable oil until 350 degrees and fry until golden brown and crunchy, but not burnt. You may also bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. Serve with some sweet chili sauce or Nigerian stew. Any sauce works 🙂
Notes
You may use any type of filling. From a chicken suya, corned beef(one of my favorites) to potatoes. Anything Savory works

For the dough: if the water seems a bit much, add a little flour and if the dough is too tough, add a little water

 

10 comments

  1. Dammy says:

    Looks good, will try the recipe. Ghee is clarified butter, you can make ghee at home using butter. Simply boil down butter till its entirely oil and no liquids and let it cool down. And you have your ghee.

    • Nma Okpara says:

      hahaha see me see and Samosa o. Yes I know it is clarified butter, but I could not find it for the life of me :). Ehn I always make Ghee then, because I do boil butter for some other things. Thank you Dammy 🙂

    • Nma Okpara says:

      Hi Ecama. I have not tried corn flour before. But the regular flour I used came out well and crunchy. You may do half corn flour and half regular flour. The kitchen is for experiments like these. I hope this helps

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