An Ode To The Samosa: Why This Humble Street Food Is So Beloved During Ramadan

Samosa, sambousek, kue kering, sambusa, shingara — so many ways to call it, so many ways to enjoy it. Come Ramadan, the Islamic holy month where Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, at iftar (the meal to break the fast) tables, the triangle shaped, golden pastry is a must have.

Ramadan started on March 10 and continues through April 9.

But how did this popular street food in some African, Arab, South Asian and Southeast Asian countries become a Ramadan staple?

One of the earliest mentions of samosas in literature is by Persian writer Abul-Fazl Beyhaqi in the 11th century.

Meanwhile, Nadia Hubbi, the creator of #AprilisforArabFood, said her research into sambousek led her to Ibn Battuta, the Maghrebi explorer, who mentions the pastry in some of his writings about his travels in the 14th century.

The humble samosa has become quintessential at Ramadan, she said, because you can have a variety of flavors through the fillings, plus it’s easy to eat.

Samosas filled with potatoes, peas and spices

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Steve Holtzman/LAist

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“I think a lot of times there's big iftar dinners and maybe not everybody can get to the main dish,” she said. “At least you have something that can be passed out and somebody can grab a couple to hold them over before they're able to sit down and properly eat.”

And since the filling typically has a meat and a vegetable, it can sustain a fasting person till the main meal is served, Hubbi said.

Quirky traditions

In the lead up to Ramadan, Hubbi says her mother has parties to make foods like kibbeh (a bulghur wheat and meat dish) and samosa beforehand.

“Everybody likes getting their freezer stocked up because people want to make sure that they don't want to do that much work and they can't really taste while they're cooking,” she said. “So anything that they can prep and freeze before is huge.”

Two months ahead of the holy month, on some days, Fareda Manjoo, a resident of Placentia, can be making up to 60 dozen samosas (yes, that's more than 700!). For as long as she can remember, samosas were part of the holy month. She recalls her grandmother making them, even turning samosa-making into a business to support her family when her grandfather passed away.

Fareda Manjoo

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Courtesy of Fareda Manjoo

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Then her mother took on the task of folding neat rectangle sheets of pastry into triangles, and now Manjoo makes the samosas while playfully bickering with her daughter, Najmia.

They do differ in folding style, however; Najmia says when she fills the samosa, she holds it in her hand as you would an ice cream cone, while her mother deftly moves down the dough, folding and filling as she goes.

“The end result is great," said Manjoo. "There's no holes. I will not accept a samosa that has a hole in it because when you fry it, you're going to end up getting a lot of oil into your samosa. The triangle must be really pretty and nice.”

Sweet or savory filling?

Manjoo’s samosa filling has braised ground beef, ginger, garlic, green chillies, salt, onion, cilantro, chives and red chillies for a hint of spice. She follows a standard dough recipe of salt, water, flour and sometimes adding vinegar, a nod to her ancestry. The Manjoos are South African of Indian ancestry so their recipe is “a little bit different,” she said.

Meanwhile, Nadia Hubbi is of Syrian descent, specifically from Damascus. Where she’s from, sambousek, as they call it, is sweet.

“In Syria, it's stuffed with walnuts and cinnamon sugar, and then it's dipped in a simple syrup,” she said.

Fillings vary in the Arab world, she said. Some enjoy the flaky dough stuffed with feta cheese, sometimes mixed with parsley. When Hubbi makes the meat version of sambousek, she adds potatoes, green peas and pomegranate molasses to give the meat “a sweet tang."

Make your own

Yusra’s Samosa Recipe

As I was writing this story, I began thinking about my own samosa recipe, although I must confess that it is .... a little quirky. That's what happens when you're a woman of Sri Lankan descent, born in Saudi Arabia, raised in the UAE with mostly Pakistani friends. The cumin and peas are a nod to Arabian flavors, while the Kashmiri chili powder, potato, ginger, garlic and cilantro are desi influenced. The lime is an ode to my Sri Lankan roots, but my ancestors will be crying somewhere because I left out green chillies due to my low spice tolerance.

I don’t know many people who add carrots to samosas, but my father found a way to sneak in vegetables and so I do the same. I have never attempted making samosa wrappers, instead relying on store-bought ones. As with some immigrants my mother and aunties live 12 hours ahead of me, so I turned to social media to learn how to wrap samosas. Enjoy!

1lb ground beef

2 medium sized potatoes, boiled, peeled and cubed

½ cup frozen green peas

2 medium carrots peeled and grated finely

1 medium white onion diced

6 cloves garlic minced

½ inch piece of ginger minced

1 tsp cumin (measure with the heart)

1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp avocado oil

3 tbsps cilantro minced finely

1 lime

Store bought samosa sheets (I buy the Kawan or KG brand available at most Indian or Middle Eastern grocery stores)

Method

Heat the avocado oil in a pan and add the onions. Fry onions till translucent and then add the ground beef. Cook until the beef is browned. Add the spices, salt, ginger, garlic and a splash of water. Cook for 2 minutes then add the frozen green peas and carrot with another splash of water. Cook on low heat until the peas and carrot are cooked through then add the potatoes. Mix well. Sprinkle coriander and juice of one lime.

How to fold:

Deep fry and enjoy.

This story was produced with support from the Round Earth Media program of the International Women’s Media Foundation.