Okay, so I decided to roll up my sleeves and try my hand at some Pakistani appetizers the other day. Been meaning to explore different snacks, and these always looked tempting.
Getting Started
First thing I did was just look around for ideas. Didn’t want anything too crazy complicated for the first attempt. I settled on trying out Samosas – those classic triangle pastries – and some Pakoras, which are basically fried vegetable fritters. Seemed like a good starting point.
Next step, had to figure out the ingredients. Made a list and went to the shop. Needed the basics like potatoes, onions, peas. Then the more specific stuff:
- Gram flour (they call it besan) for the pakoras.
- Some spices I didn’t have, like chaat masala and maybe some extra cumin.
- Ready-made spring roll wrappers for the samosas. Yeah, I know, maybe cheating, but making dough from scratch felt like too much for round one.
Got everything back home and laid it all out on the counter. Always helps to see what you’re working with.
Making the Samosas
Started with the samosa filling. Boiled up some potatoes until they were soft, then roughly mashed them. Didn’t want baby food, kept some texture in there. While they cooled, I got some oil hot in a pan, tossed in chopped onions, let them soften up. Added some ginger-garlic paste – love that stuff – and fried it for a minute until it smelled good.
Then went in the green peas, and all the spices: cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, a bit of chili powder, and that chaat masala for tanginess. Stirred it all together, cooked for a few minutes. Finally, mixed this spiced veggie mix into the mashed potatoes. Tasted it, adjusted the salt. Had to let this filling cool completely, otherwise, it would make the wrappers soggy.
Okay, the folding part. Took those wrappers. Cut them in half. Tried to make a cone shape, spooned the filling in – not too much! Then used a simple paste made of flour and water to seal the edges. My first few looked a bit wonky, not gonna lie. But I got the hang of it after a bit. Lined them all up on a tray, ready for frying.
Trying Pakoras
These were much quicker to prep. Thinly sliced some onions, a potato, and chopped some spinach. Threw it all in a bowl. Added the gram flour (besan), salt, chili powder, a pinch of turmeric, and some cumin seeds. Slowly added water, mixing it all up until I got a thick batter that coated the vegetables well. Didn’t want it too runny.
The Frying Part
This is where the kitchen starts smelling really good. Got my big pot, filled it with enough oil for deep frying. Heated it up – dropped a tiny bit of batter in to check, it sizzled and floated right up, so it was ready.
Carefully, I lowered the samosas into the hot oil, maybe 3 or 4 at a time. Didn’t want to overcrowd the pot. Fried them, turning occasionally, until they were a nice golden brown and crispy all over. Took them out with a slotted spoon and let them drain on paper towels.
Next up, the pakoras. Just dropped spoonfuls of the batter mixture into the same hot oil. Fried these in batches too, until they were brown and crisp. They cook faster than the samosas. Drained these on paper towels as well.
How They Turned Out
Served everything up while it was still warm. Made a quick dip with yogurt, mint, and a little salt. Honestly, they looked pretty decent!
The taste? The samosas were great – crunchy shell, flavorful potato and pea filling inside. The ready-made wrappers worked fine, saved a lot of hassle. The pakoras were good too, nice savoury bites, especially with the dip. They weren’t perfectly uniform, but who cares? They tasted homemade.
It was a bit of work, especially the frying, which always makes a bit of a mess. But totally worth the effort to have fresh, hot appetizers straight from the kitchen. Felt good making something new. Might even try making the samosa pastry myself next time, now that I know the basics.
