Mamta's Kitchen - A Family Cookbook





Keeping/reheating samosas

Return to the forum index.

On 25/11/2006 10:11pm, Ian Hoare wrote:

Hi,

We're having samosas as starters before 5 different indian dishes on Tuesday. We're going to try out the recipe here on this site - it looks delightful.

One question, though. Is it possible to make them fairly well in advance, and reheat them and still have them light and crispy as they should be? If so, what's the best way of reheating them? In the oven? Refry? Grill?

Obviously, with a whole string of dishes, it would really suit us to be able to do some of them well in advance.

Thanks in advance

Ian

On 25/11/2006 11:11pm, Kavey wrote:

Ian, mum's away for the weekend and not back till Monday evening... and I don't know the answer myself, sorry!

On 26/11/2006 02:11pm, AskCy wrote:

If you've cooked them I'd go for reheating in the oven... but if you are making them in advance maybe storing them in fridge uncooked and then cooking them on the day might be an option ?

On 26/11/2006 05:11pm, Ian Hoare wrote:

Well we did a run through today, with half quantities, and found them truly delightful, though the forming of the cone is a little tricky. I think we're going to cheat next time and use some "empanadita moulds" where you put a circle of dough into this folding mould, fill it, and just flip it over to get the seal.

We can certainly make the filling tomorrow, I guess, as well as the pastry, and then, depending upon what Mamta suggests, either cook them in advance or simply put them in the fridge as AskCy suggests. I'm a little uneasy about this, as I fear the filling may soften the pastry, though that could happen either way.

Thanks guys for your replies.

ATB

Ian

On 26/11/2006 05:11pm, Mamta wrote:

I amn still in Basel, will return tomorrow. It ias difficulkt to type with a French keyboard .

Samosa can be re-heated,

1 fry them lightly in the first instance and refry quickly before serving.

  1. make them, freeze them so thez don,t get soggy or limp and take them out an hour before you need them to fry.

  1. reheat them in oven, uncovered, as Steven AskCy suggested.

best are freshlz fried. i always have some in the freezer and fry them before serving.

mamta

On 26/11/2006 07:11pm, Kavey wrote:

Mum, do you freeze after part-frying/ cooking or do you freeze them uncooked?

On 27/11/2006 12:11pm, Mamta wrote:

I freeze them uncooked.

Love

ma

On 28/11/2006 02:11am, Ian Hoare wrote:

Hi Mamta,

Thanks very much for that answer from the land of the gnomes.

Hope your flight back turned out well. We've decided to fry them about an hour before we eat them, which will give them chance to cook to being lukewarn. We found we liked them best like that.

Will let you know how they turned out tomorrow evening!

ATB

Ian

On 28/11/2006 11:11pm, Ian Hoare wrote:

Hi,

Just to let you know that we made them tonight, using the patty formers, but Jacquie said she won't do it again like that. Even if the cone method is quite fiddly, she says the patties were worse!

However, the results were spectacularly good. Thanks very much, that's a keeper.

All the best

Ian

On 29/11/2006 06:11am, Mamta wrote:

Hi Ian

I am glad they came out well. Thank you for the feed back. Jacqui is right, the original pastry does taste best. People make them with rice pastry and I have made them with puff/short crust pastry, cooking them in the oven and they are reasonable. However, the proper way, with cones, is the best.

Mamta

On 01/12/2006 03:12am, Odette wrote:

Hi Mamta - Hi Ian!

Was wondering, Mamta, how thin do you roll out your samosa dough? I'm guessing that the diameter specified in your recipe make it the right thin-ness but I haven't tried your dough recipe, so was wondering ... is is supposed to be thin or should it be REALLY thin?

Thanks,

Odette

On 01/12/2006 07:12am, Mamta wrote:

Hello Odette

The samosa pastry should be just thin, but not paper thin. It is a bit like short crust pastry, gives it's own crunchy taste to the samosa. If you make it papery thin, firstly it may burst during frying and secondly it will not give the samosas the ?crunch? it is supposed to have. I would make the pastry about 2-3 mm. thick. I have added this to the recipe.

Mamta

On 01/12/2006 04:12pm, AskCy wrote:

Last time I was making chapaties and a dry lamb mince curry at the same time I used some left overs to make samosoa's.. worked out really well...(thats left over curry in freshly rolled out chapaties, then shallow fried)

On 02/12/2006 03:12am, Odette wrote:

Thanks Mamta. I was wondering, because I've never been able duplicate bought samosas, epecially those with a crispy yet thin yet somehow elastic pastry/dough - well, it doesn't flake or fall apart when you bite into it, is what I mean.

And what a good idea, Cy.

Odette

On 02/12/2006 08:12am, Mamta wrote:

Dear Odette

If you are talking about thin pastry, you probably mean Gujrati samosas which are made either with same pastry as spring flour/Filo pastry or with very thinly rolled and half cooked chapaties see; http://www.nutrition.org.uk/upload/samosa%20served.jpg

For their chapatti dough, Gujrati people generally add some oil to the flour, like you add buttter to the pastry dough and their chapatties are papery thin. However, North Indian samosas are not made with very thin, paper like pastry, it is more like a short crust pastry. They look like this ;http://manpasand.blogspot.com/2006/09/samosa.html. They are plumper than the Gujrati ones, with more filling and thicker pastry.

Both taste good, I obviously prefer the North Indian ones :-)!

This an interesting site to learn about samosas; http://www.samosa-connection.com/india.htm

Mamta

On 02/12/2006 03:12pm, Ian Hoare wrote:

Hi again,

Just came back to see how the conversation had developed :-).

Thanks very much for the explanation of the differences between gujerati and northern indian pastry as used in Samosas. When I read what you said to Jacquie, she said "aha!!!", as we were in fact expecting something more like the crispy thin type. However, we're very happy indeed with them the way you suggested, and as we find it quite hard to get that kind of pastry, we're appy enough to make yours - with the added bonus of knowing why they're different.

Also just wanted to say that the Safed Murgh Korma, which we got here, worked out at treat. But it's sure complicated.

ATB

Ian

On 02/12/2006 03:12pm, Mamta wrote:

Hello Ian

Glad to be of service :-)

Remind me, which one is Safed Murgh Korma? You are not talking about navratan, are you?

Mamta

On 03/12/2006 02:12am, Odette wrote:

Hi Mamta,

I have just learned something new! So thank you for the info and links! I know I have eaten the gujarati type many times, and I have the other type too, only I never knew they were regional variations. In hindsight, that makes a lot of sense - the potato/pea/veggie ones I've had with thick soft pastry must be the Punjabi ones and hot extra spicy crispy ones, Gujarati. I must say I do like them both very much!

Odette

On 09/06/2008 10:06pm, madhu wrote:

Hi Mamta,

Can you please let me know how do you freeze uncooked samosas? Actually i need to make around 50 samosas in the weekend. so i am planning to make now and freeze it. please let me know how to do that.

thanks,

madhu

On 10/06/2008 06:06am, Mamta wrote:

Hello Madhu

I put them in airtight plastic containers, like empty ice-cream tubs, and keep them in the freezer. When I need them, I take them out a couple of hours before, to defrost them fully and then deep fry them.

For freezing, it is best to use the chapatti method of making samosas, I have updated the recipes today, take another look.

Mamta

On 25/05/2009 11:05pm, KJ wrote:

Hey Madhu,

Amazing recipe. I was wondering if I could make traditional samosas by deep frying them, cool them and then freeze them. And then just take them out when I wanted and put them in a preheated oven to heat them and still maintain the crispiness and freshness.

Thank you for your help,

KJ

On 01/10/2013 04:10pm, Dave wrote:

I've been making my own somosas now for several years and eat them fast enough NOT to warrant freezing them. My problem is : How do you keep them crispy once cooked? Mine always go soft and limp within @ 1hr after frying. The ones I've bought locally - that is to say home made rather than commercially produced are crispy when bought I thought maybe it was to do with the filling still being hot so have used it cold with no improvement.

Any ideas ? or is it just refrying? ( Not applicable at work though I fear)

On 01/10/2013 06:10pm, Askcy wrote:

could it be how you are storing them compared to the ones you buy ?

Steve

On 01/10/2013 07:10pm, Mamta wrote:

Perhps you are frying them too fast, in very hot oil? Samosa and Matharies should be fried slowly, on medium heat, allowing the pastry to get crisp. Well made samosas will remain crisp even when completely cold.

On 12/10/2013 03:10pm, Dave wrote:

Thank you both - Definately not how I store them - have tried most methods to no avail. Will try slower rying though I thought they generally had to be fast fried in v hot oil (sure that's mentioned in a couple of my books0 Thanks again

On 12/10/2013 04:10pm, Mamta wrote:

I disagree Dave, samosa are not fried fast in HOT oil. Always fry slowly, on medium heat.

On 14/10/2013 06:10pm, AskCy wrote:

try overworking the dough when you are kneading it, apparently that makes a crisper end product ! It was mentioned passing on one of the Hairy Biker programes

Steve

On 11/06/2014 03:06am, baker wrote:

hi i made some samosa put them in the freezer but all stuck together could you tell me what went wroung

On 11/06/2014 05:06am, Mamta wrote:

Samosas, kebabs, cutlets and thing like this should be frozen spread out on a tray for a few hours first, before putting close together in a box/bag. Otherwise, they will stick.

Return to the forum index.