Not all Samosas are the same

One of the best somosas I ate was from an Indian Take Away. Happening to walk past the shop on one of those lets-have-a-walk days, I popped in and ordered a portion. The interesting thing was they also provided a piece of lemon and a small tub of sauce. The lamb somosas had just been cooked in oil so there was a little leakage but they were lovely and spicy. I also noticed the Take Away had a high star rating sticker in the window. This was about 30 years ago. I've not had a samosa as good as that one since. Even going back to the shop some years later to try and capture that same moment, only to be disappointed. The shop had changed, it's standards dropped and now the samosa was cooked in a microwave, there was no crispyness to it and it was even a little soggy. As is always the case with pastry like foods which have been zapped with radiation to cook them. Perhaps I slightly lie, because I have eaten very good somosas from Indian restaurants. However the thing with samosas are these are foods which you shouldn't get wrong. Everyone knows what they are and what they should taste like. So the reality is the standard should be high, exceptionally high. But it's not.

Yesterday the samosa inkling grabbed me by the throat and compelled me to order samosa from a food stall at my local market. The mobile food unit is ran by Nepalese people and is called Nameste, you'll find a few local nepalise men hanging around it at each lunch time. They are I assume ex-ghurkas because their old military base is up the road. Ever since the Ghurkas have been allowed to settle in the UK a great many of them have accepted the invite and come over. They barely speak a word of English and then stay in multiple occupied properties supporting each other as small communal units. Nepal is next to India and the share similar cultures. Spicy food and somosas being one of them. Unlike the samosas I'm used to which are kind of flat looking these were more small bulky pyramids. The did not have lamb in and it seemed the vegetable samosa was the only one they did. These to were microwaved so  again the instant disappointment radar comes on. Unfortunately the radar was right, they were packed with slightly spicy potato and peas but for some reason had a dry taste to them. Not even the small tub of lemon come spicy juicy stuff was able to take away the dry yukky-can't-eat-anymore reflex. The last two of the five parcels ended up in the bin. At this point I made a mental memo to myself, I'd eaten from this stall before and thought exactly the same thing. These samosas were not up to scratch and must be very mindful not to purchase them from this stall again. It's detestable throwing away food, I know I love it.

The quest for the perfect samosa will continue and the perfect one has to be one you get from a take-away experience. Samosas are finger food, they are to be eaten as a quick snack just to tide you over while going from one place to another and there isn't time to have a full meal or the need for a full meal. But of course, not all samosas are the same.