PRAWN SAMOSAS

Among the many things, that I miss about being in India, is the sheer abundance of street food. And more often than not, its an incident or a memory which will spark a cooking spree for something special. As I was speaking to my Mom a few days back, she mentioned how two of her sisters surprised her one morning, by dropping in with loads of her favorite Indian street food, for an impromptu Saturday brunch. What followed was an awesome 'Ladies Day In,' with loads of good food, for company. On the menu,among other things, were Samosas. I have been lusting since then for a plate full of hot samosas.

The choice,  was I drive up to a local Desi restaurant and order a plate full of Samosas or make them at home. But then that would not have this essentially Bengali flavor,  that my heart and mind were craving for. No,  I am not pregnant , but even a non pregnant lady can have her weekend cravings or even mid week cravings. The Samosas from Kolkata, are knows as SHINGARA and they are smaller in size than the usual SAMOSAS. They can be both savory and sweet. But my heart was stuck on the savory kind.

It took some time to convince myself that I should try and attempt at making them at home. But I have a thing for Indian breads and dough in general. Lets just say, its not my best friend.Many a times, there have been kitchen disasters  and alternate dinners plans needed to be made, when I attempted to make an Indian bread. Its surely a nemesis of mine.

Then I remembered something what Arka, a friend of ours, had mentioned some time back. He had made Samoas,  by using frozen parathas, as his dough. Not that sounded like a plan. I always have a stash of Kawan's frozen parathas at home. Thank you Arka. I have used your idea but tuned it to my comfort.

The next question was: What would be the filling? Should I settle for the plain spiced Potato and peas filling, with a handful of fried peanuts thrown in the mixture. Or should I get adventurous. I decided to get adventurous.

Prawns it was. And rather than deep frying, I baked them. Yes, I know, I will get frowned upon by many, but hey, thats what I felt like. I have an active two year old, and often have to think of time saving hacks to my cooking. Baking a large batch of samosas, is an easier option than painstakingly deep frying each one. It did not compromise on the taste at all. And my foodie soul was surely beaming.

If you want to use regular dough, or want to fry the samoas, you can do so by all means. This is just a general guide for someone, like me, who is far away from home, and wants to re-create some of the familiar flavors.

Wanna make it with me. Lets get started shall we !


PRAWN SAMOSAS: 

Ingredients: 
Kawan's Frozen Parathas : 1 paratha will yield 4 samosas
Egg: 1
Prawn: 1 cup
Frozen peas: 1/2 cup
Potato: 1 large : Chopped
Onion-Ginger-Garlic Paste: 2 tbsp
Canola Oil: 2 tbsp
Creole Seasoning: 1 1/2 tbsp ( feel free to use any spice mix you are comfortable with or might have at home)

Procedure: 
 Lets get started with the filling.  I used prawns, but feel free to use anything, you feel like. You could substitute it with any portion of your choice. Or just stick to potatoes and peas.

For the filling, add oil in a non stick pan, and then brown the onion-ginger-garlic paste in it. Add in chopped potatoes, chopped prawns and some creole seasoning next .

Once the prawns and potatoes are cooked, add in some frozen peas,and make sure all the  liquid has dried up. Take the filling off the stove and let it cool.

Meanwhile, remove the plastic covering of the frozen parathas. Spread some all purpose flour on a cutting board and lay the paratha on it. With the sharp knife, divide the paratha in to 4 equal pieces. You will land up with 4 equal shaped triangles.

Take one triangle, and spoon out some cooled filling in it.

Then dip your fingers in some water, and seal the edges with the water,which acts a glue.

 If you want to fry the samosas, then go ahead and depp fry them,  a few at a time.

If you are planning to bake them, then line a large baking tray with parchment paper and lay the samosas flat.

Beat an egg and use a brush to egg wash the tops of the samosas. This will help in getting them crisp when they bake.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350F for 15 minutes (or longer) till they are crisp and golden.

Bon Appetit !!!

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FOOD TRUCK FRENZY, LENEXA: EATING OUT

Who doesn't love fairs or food fests. I know I do. So when my friend Amanda had mentioned on social media that she would be attending a food fest, I went ahead to check what the event was all about. The social media page dedicated to the event was pretty descriptive and it clearly made it easier for me to decide that my weekend plans were made. I passed on the info to my Foodie friends all of whom said Yes. We were all set.

The Food Truck Frenzy - Spring 2015 was organized in conjunction with the ground breaking ceremony of the Lenexa City Center.  There was to be a follow up of the event in October. There were 12 Food Trucks which were parked on a long stretch : 

BEAUTY OF THE BISTRO

THE FUNNEL CAKE TRUCK

KC BBQ TRUCK

SAVANNA SWEETS

CAJUN CABIN

PLANTAIN DISTRICT

JAZZY B'S

MONK'S ROAST BEEF

INDIO'S CARBONSITOS

WILMA'S REAL GOOD FOOD

SWEET CAROLINE'S ICE BOX

STREET WINGS

The lines in front of every truck seemed like big serpents crawling across Lenexa. It was confusing even to understand at first which line was leading to which truck. I had made up my mind, that upon arrival the first thing I would do, was to pick up a fancy cocktail or at least a beer for me and the man, while we browsed over the menus. That didn't quite happen. There was only one alcohol vendor and the line was crazy. The crowd made it seem like a major huge chunk of KC Metro had descended over there. The Food Trucks were trying their best to cater to the huge lines of hungry people, but clearly they were outnumbered. The number of people versus the number of trucks at the event was clearly disproportionate. so the average wait time at every truck was around 1 hour. Pretty bad, as the event was only one from 5 to 9 pm. 

There were tents after every two trucks,which had been equipped with chairs and tables. I ventured around a bit,as the man stood in a line. Most of our friends divided themselves among lines for different trucks. I had the toddler with me, so my movements were pretty restricted. We settled down in the tent close to the truck selling Cuban sandwiches (so most of our pictures are centered round there). 

By the time, we had access to the food, we were all too hungry to wait for me to take decent pics of each. Midway during our meal ,I decided to have a go at taking some food pics. It was a food fest after all,and we had waited enough. 

Fries with Poutine,  Jambalaya from CAJUN CABIN, Cheese Burger from BEAUTY OF THE BISTRO(I had wanted a Banh Mii, but they were sold out), Strawberry Smoothie, Chicken Wings from STREET WINGS, Funnel Cake from THE FUNNEL CAKE TRUCK: We had an eclectic mix of food laid out in front of the make shift table of ours.

 But what blew my brains away and knocked my socks off, was surely the CUBAN SANDWICH from PLANTAIN DISTRICT. That is one Food truck I am surely gonna track in KC. It almost took me back to Little Havana in Miami. Perfection in very bite. I could eat that for breakfast,lunch and dinner. 

The CAJUN WINGS from STREET WINGS were my second favorite. They had the right amount of spice and had  great crispy crust. The meat inside was very juicy and it had me reaching out for more. 

Overall it was an enjoyable evening with friends. The kids had a great time, running around. And although the wait was pretty bad, it was a new experience for us. We learnt of the challenges of going  to fairs and fests with toddlers.The lines and the wait and then the street food, somehow reminded me of the Frenzy we experience in my hometown Kolkata(India) during our major festival, Durga Puja. During Durga Puja, there are pandals housing the images of the Goddess across the city. And near every Pandal, come up a bevy of street food joints.

There is supposed to be a second chapter of this Food Fest in Fall,which will be featuring some new Food Trucks. My two cents to the organizers is that, next time, make sure there are more trucks to the event,which would reduce the wait time for each truck. Maybe even extend the operational hours. We had friends who had to leave despite standing in line, and not getting any food. Please can we have more than one Alcohol Vendor ,so that we don't have to take a pick whether we want to grab a drink with our food, or just run for our food. 

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