Fish Samoosas from Durban

[SurfnSpear]

A Samoosa is a traditional snack brought to South Africa by the massive Indian community in Durban. They are triangles filled with meat/fish/vegetable curry. They are incredibly popular at all social events, corner shops or delived to offices in a basket. They are readily freezeable cooked or uncooked.

1 small onion finely chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp Durban Masala/'Mother-in-laws tongue' mix* (see comment below) or hot red curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (for extra hot hit)
600g firm skinned inexpensive fish (ie. Wrasse, Pollock, Mullet)
1 finely chopped clove garlic
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup fish stock (ideally made from previous speared left over fish bones/heads etc.)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp flour mixed with 1/4 cup cold water
2 puff pastry sheets

In a heavy based pan, heat the oil.
Combine the onion and garlic and fry until golden brown.
Add the masala or curry powder and stir.
Add and brown the fish.
Then throw in the frozen vegetables and fish stock and cook covered for 20 minutes. Mix the flour with the cold water and stir into the mix until it all returns to the boil.
Take off the heat and chill for thirty minutes for ease of handling.
Cut each pastry sheet into three equal sections up and down.
Gives you nine squares per sheet.
Spoon an amount of the fish curry into the middle of each square and fold over to make the samoosa triangle and pinch closed.
Bake at 180°C oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

*Durban Masala/'Mother-in-laws tongue' mix - makes more than you need for the samoosa's
2 tbsp/1 spice bottle ground coriander,
1 tbsp/half bottle ground cumin
rounded tsp of ground cinnamon,
1/2 tbsp ground fennel seed,
1 tbsp ground dried chillies,
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cardomoms
2 ground bay leaves (optional)
2 tsp cayenne pepper (extra fire)
Wizz it all in a small mixer or grind well together.

[scottwilson]

Ahh Good old Durbs hey,,, now all I need is a bunny chow and my taxi money to the bluff for a good old jol :-)

[bgill]

My wife calls me earlier today from S.A. & Tells me she is eating A Bunny and has drank about a gallon of Oro's & 2 Grenadilla sodas today...Then she skyped me later while Eating Biltong! (shes pregnant with twins!)

Now you guys throw the fish samoosa's on my imaginary plate!!! I can't handle it man..& I'm not even from South Africa!

I can't wait 'til my wife comes back home!!! I got a new samoosa recipe for her!!!!I mean ME!

[maytag]

BGill,

What's the difference between biltong and regular beef jerky? I've always wondered...

[bgill]

Biltong is cured with salt, vinegar and spices and dried. While beef jerky is cured too, it is cured differently and then smoked.

Biltong is RAW meat. Jerky is cooked.

Biltong is a million times better than jerky IMO.

I can't even eat jerky anymore.

The same goes with Boerwars? (farmer's sausage) - Try it and you'll never want for a bratwurst or a Polish sausage again!

[maytag]

Raw? That sounds great. Raw meat is great. I like all meat on the super rare side.

Do you like rusks?

[bgill]

Isn't Rusk that weird crumbly "tea" bread that Africaanse women make? If it is...I don't care for it too much.

Oumas Rusk I did'nt care for - Nor did I like my wife's Biskuit!!!!! But I looked at her with my Rooibos tea and a mouth full of Biskuit and said " Wow...Honey this is delishious!"

Never did I realize that I'd end up eating so much of that stuff! I had to hork down that dry crusty tasteless stuff almost everyday at breakfast with her before one day she said "I'm sick of this stuff!"!!! Oh how I was relieved!

I've eaten almost all of my wifes worst cooking mistakes with a smile!!!! She's a great cook....NOW!!! But always has been a great woman! Plus she's FROM Durban!!! So I'm hoping to get her to make me some of SurfnSpear's Samoosas when she gets home FROM SOUTH AFRICA!!! Maybe she'll be in the mood...Not FOR THAT!!!! We'll maybe...but she IS carrying TWINS! I meant to make samoosa's!

Man do I miss my wife & my baby boy...31 days to go and s l o w l y counting...(Before she comes home) not sure when exactly the TWINS are due yet!

P.S. - I've been living on frozen pizza, beer, and Taco Bell! Come to think of it... I'D LOVE SOME OF MY WIFE'S DRY OLD CRUSTY RUSK AN SOME ROOIBOS!

[deep thinker]

Ouma rusks are k@k bro, you must get someone to make you proper whole wheat or condense milk rusks and have it with coffee not rooibos, yesterday was national braai day so she probably had boerewors and chops for lunch and dinner.
Just to make sure you miss her and her customs more, with biltong for snacks

[maytag]

Originally Posted by bgill

Isn't Rusk that weird crumbly "tea" bread that Africaanse women make? If it is...I don't care for it too much.

Oumas Rusk I did'nt care for - Nor did I like my wife's Biskuit!!!!! But I looked at her with my Rooibos tea and a mouth full of Biskuit and said " Wow...Honey this is delishious!"

Never did I realize that I'd end up eating so much of that stuff! I had to hork down that dry crusty tasteless stuff almost everyday at breakfast with her before one day she said "I'm sick of this stuff!"!!! Oh how I was relieved!

I've eaten almost all of my wifes worst cooking mistakes with a smile!!!! She's a great cook....NOW!!! But always has been a great woman! Plus she's FROM Durban!!! So I'm hoping to get her to make me some of SurfnSpear's Samoosas when she gets home FROM SOUTH AFRICA!!! Maybe she'll be in the mood...Not FOR THAT!!!! We'll maybe...but she IS carrying TWINS! I meant to make samoosa's!

Man do I miss my wife & my baby boy...31 days to go and s l o w l y counting...(Before she comes home) not sure when exactly the TWINS are due yet!

P.S. - I've been living on frozen pizza, beer, and Taco Bell! Come to think of it... I'D LOVE SOME OF MY WIFE'S DRY OLD CRUSTY RUSK AN SOME ROOIBOS!

The first time I tried to bake rusks the "traditional" way, I baked a pan of bricks instead. I thought to myself, "no wonder all the SAffers I know are so skinny... you can't eat this stuff!" I've since developed a different recipe (whole wheat, oats, buttermilk, almond extract, and poppyseeds) - while not authentic probably, my friends will eat it.

Thanks to Bdurett, frozen pizza now always reminds me of his story about the Sachsenhausen Naked Man


Sorry you miss your wife and boy. I do know what it is like to miss those you love. Maybe you could bake a batch of those fish samosas and send her a pic of the delicious things you plan to cook her... perhaps she will come back sooner!

Safe and happy travels to your wife and three kids and you have fun thinking of names in the meantime! If they're two boys, you can name them Martin and Kirk. If they're two girls you could name them Island and Sands. Or go with an Italian theme: Umberto and Valentino. Or Tom and Herbert. ..

[scottwilson]

Deep thinker, ouma rusks are kak you right. give me a kook sister anyday. Every saturday round my old folks place is national braai day.

[SurfnSpear]

This is developing! Koeksusters!
My sister flew some in last week...all gone!

[bgill]

T'night I'm having Easter Farkies & Fet Koek (spelling is probably wrong)


Actually it's probably frozen PIZZA again.....But I can dream!!!!

My wife makes the above stuff alot. Also spicey chicken with mashed cabbage, carrots & potatoes - & my favorite vegetable - poontang...we'll something like that...Its an orange squash! Whats it called again? Oh ya PAMPOON!!! Poontang was close!

But I hope my Pampoon never taste like poontang!

On second thought...maybe!!!! Man..I must see my wife soon!

[maytag]

okay, now i gotta ask: what's the difference between vetkoek, koeksusters, and Dunkin' Donuts?
aren't they all just donuts?


Can you make bobotie with fish & seafood combo?

[deep thinker]

Vetkoek is a piece of dough deep freid and filled with curried mince, a koeksister is a braided piece of dough also deep fried and then dunked into a sugar syrup hhmmm, Bgill has she made you cinamon pumpkin cakes yet? Pampoen is pumpkin. Ystervarkies leke.
Surfnspear, thanx for the recipe bro I made em last nigh and the wife loved em, took the leftovers to work today , you get rep I get browning points .
Heres a pic of how they came out, the puff pastry is not proper samoosa pastry so they look a bit different to your regular samoosa but they are tasty. I went a bit milder on the curry and also added a wheel of feta cheese on the end just after the flour and water mix. Served with a crunchy salad and Jalapeno mayo dip sause, I also made them a bit bigger to be able to serve as dinner
SA400192.jpg

[SurfnSpear]

That looks flippin nice how you've done those! You've got the curried greek going there....