Samosa, probably one of the most famous snacks in India. There are 15 different types of samosas available in India. Every type has its own great taste and features and is loved throughout the country. But what if I tell you that the famous snack Samosa is not actually Indian ? There was no samosa in India before the 13th or 14th century. In this article you will know about the Origins of Everyone’s favorite Samosa.
You think you are Indian Food maybe you are wrong
Is Samosa Indian ?
According to studies, the earliest mention of Samosa precursor “sanbusaj” was done by the Abbasid-era poet Ishaq al-Mawsili in which he was praising it. The names like sanbusak, sanbusaq, and sanbusaj which are all derived from the Persian word sanbosag are found in the 13th-14th Century Arab cooking Books.
Fact Samosa was not fried but baked in the original versions.
Samosa or the central asian samsa was introduced in India during 13th-14th century. The Chefs from the Middle East and Central Asia cooked it in the royal kitchens for the Delhi Sultanate.
Around 1300 BCE Amir Khusro, the royal poet of Delhi sultanate wrote that the princes and nobles enjoyed the “samosa prepared from meat, ghee, onion, and so on”.
Many scholars after Amir Khusro talked about Samosa in their writings like in the Ain-i-Akbari, a 16th-century Mughal document, mentions the recipe for qottab, which it says, “the people of Hindustan call sanbúsah”.
Regional Varieties in India
There are 15 varieties of samosas present in India, probably even more than them. They vary from vegetarian to non-vegetarian which is based on the filling. If we talk about a normal samosa which is found in all of north India is prepared with an all-purpose flour.
Its stuffing contains a mixture of diced and cooked or mashed boiled potato (preferably diced), onions, green peas, lentils, ginger, spices and green chili. The entire pastry is deep-fried in vegetable oil or rarely ghee to a golden brown. It is served hot, often with fresh green chutney, such as mint, coriander, or tamarind. It can also be prepared in a sweet form such as coconut singara, as well as others filled with khoya and dipped in sugar syrup.
In the city of Hyderabad, India, a smaller version of samosa with a thicker pastry crust and mince-meat filling, referred to as lukhmi, is consumed, as is another variation with an onion filling.
In the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, samosas are slightly different, being folded differently, more like Portuguese chamuças, with a different style of pastry.
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