My husband and I LOVE ethnic food, and Indian is always one of our favorites. When ever we spend a few days in a city, we always look for a good Indian place (along with Thai and sushi). Among our favorites is a good curry, and samosas! Curry has long been a staple around our house, as our grocery store used to carry a good starter product that we liked the taste of. But considering we were cooped up inside and had plenty of time, I decided to branch out and try something different.
The samosa recipe is a variation on one I found online, but unfortunately the link no longer works, so I have posted it below.
For the curry, I picked up a jar of Jalfrezi curry starter ($3.89). Check next to the Asian foods in your grocery store. My store used to have one that was more like a block of chocolate and melted in the pot, but they don't carry that one anymore. The jar was nice -- we got a medium and found it quite tame, will probably go for a hotter version next time, though this was a perfectly acceptable choice for the baby, who chowed down on every last bite!
Just follow the directions on the jar, it's very easy. I added a pound of cut up pork, some chopped onion, and a bag of chopped frozen broccoli. Very simple and tasty. Usually I add a lot more vegetables, like red and green peppers, carrots, etc., but we were snowed in, so I used what ever I had handy!
Simple Samosa
1 Tbs olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups cooked diced potatoes
1 cup cooked diced carrot
½ cup frozen sweet peas, thawed
5 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. curry powder
½ tsp. cumin
¼ tsp. dried cilantro
¼ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. turmeric
¼ tsp. salt
1 dash red pepper flakes
1 Tbs. water
3 (8 oz.) packages crescent rolls
(I highly recommend using the Pillsbury crescent rolls. For one, they are much easier to pinch together to form a flat piece of dough. Besides, there always seems to be a great coupon or two floating around to make them cheaper than the store brand ones, anyway.)
To prepare:
Saute onion and garlic in oil for about five minutes until the onion is soft. While cooking, combine remaining ingredients (except crescent rolls) in a bowl. Add contents of bowl to onion and garlic mixture, stir gently over medium heat for several minutes until well incorporated. Set aside.
Heat oven to 375 F. Unroll the crescent rolls and separate each package into four rectangles, pinching the triangular perforations to seal. Cut each rectangle in half crosswise to make two squares. You will have a total of 24 squares. (It may take a little coaxing with your hands to get the dough to cooperate, but make sure you take the time to seal up the perforations before moving on.)
Place a heaping spoonful of filling into the center of each square and fold up to make a little package. (It seems to work best if you fold the opposite corners in, pinch them together, and then do the other two corners.)
Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden. Cool slightly, serve warm with Honey Dipping Sauce.
Honey Dipping Sauce
1/3 cup honey
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. water
2 garlic cloves
1 pinch red pepper flakes
Combine ingredients in small bowl. Stir well, then microwave for 30 seconds or until just warm. Serve.
I had to replenish my spice cupboard a little bit in order to pull this one off, but I was lucky enough to find all the herbs I needed for $1.37 each. I was pretty excited about that! The crescent rolls were on sale for $1.57 a can, then I had two coupons for $1/2, so I ended up paying $1.07 each for four cans. I will use the spare to make pinwheels for a quick lunch for the kids. I used canned carrots to save some time ($.97). The potatoes came from the produce section ($1.27), I boiled them until the peels started to fall off, then chopped them up. All in all this was a simple meal, made up mostly of things I had on hand. And the family was happy!
((photo of Bria loving her curry))
