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Proud!! Sandhya’s Kitchen turns 2…
My baby is growing to a toddler.. Passing thro the early rough stage , trying to get acquaintances and recognition and get stable while walking.. Many trips , hurting the tender knees… now confidently running around…
SK has given me so much of an identity , allowing my thoughts and scribbling's to have a reach. Feels  proud when I get to hear from near & far about the blog , about the recipes they tried , successful attempts and their thoughts.. Quite thoughtful of my friends & neighbours who remember to keep aside props thinking about my blog .. Isn't it very nice of them??? Hugs to Mom & H … specially for picking baking books for me ...  Never realised I have a lovely set of silent readers of this space.. A liner from them or a mail from them letting me know , has a heap of significance..
Happy Birthday bloggy baby !!!
Our family has got a lot of Bong Influence… I have spent 6 months in Kolkata when V was born.
For people who are not familiar with Indian Geography , West Bengal(WB) is a state in the eastern part of India. Regional language spoken is Bengali. Kolkata is the capital of WB.Rice & Fish are the favourite food. Common spices found in a Bengali kitchen are cumin, ajmoda (radhuni), bay leaf, mustard, ginger, green chillies, turmeric, etc. People of erstwhile East Bengal use a lot of ajmoda, coriander leaves, tamarind, coconut and mustard in their cooking; while those aboriginally from West Bengal use a lot of sugar, garam masala and red chilli powder. Vegetarian dishes are mostly without onion and garlic. (Source : Wiki)

            The tender coriander leaves are homegrown.. My first ever attempt !!
I m such a sucker for shopping… … Loved everything about the place.. and its markets …. Secondly the street food.. Luchi Aloo , Katti Rolls, Putchka’s - they are like Golgappa’s but water has got a different take…  , Rasgulla’s   - who wudnt love them fresh.. I used to gobble 3-4 every day  , Singara’s  - they are the typical bengali samosa’s and we just love them…..
It cant get any better to celebrate this joyous occasion with Singara’s ..  I have done my research on this with Bengali friends & H off course .. You must b wondering what has H to do with Bong cuisine ??He has spent his schooling out there….  The taste still lingers around when it comes to authenticity.
With this discussion I boiled down to my Ingredients
Vegggies -Potato & Peas .
Spices – Panchphoran ?? Nops We use them only for curries . So what is it ?? SOS call to a new bengali friend and got the spice powder recipe..
Outer covering / shell – Just Plain flour . We have a reason for indulgence .For healthier version , I would definitely go for half wheat flour – half plain flour.

INGREDIENTS:
For the outer covering / samosa shell:

Plain Flour	1 Cup + 2 Tblspn
Water	Approx 1/4th Cup
Carom Seeds ( Ajwain)	1 Tsp
Cumin Seeds  ( Jeera)	1/2 Tsp
Salt	To Taste
Butter	2 Tsp
Oil	2 Tsp
Oil	For frying

Singara Filling :

Potatoes	3 Nos medium sized
Garden Peas	1/2 Cup
Oil	1 Tsp
Cumin Seeds	1 Tblspn
Coriander Seeds	1 Tblspn
Red Chilli	2-3
Freshly grated Ginger	1/2 Tsp
Salt	To Taste
Sugar	1/2 Tsp

DIRECTIONS:

• Combine Plain Flour , Carom , Cumin Seeds, Salt and the melted butter. Give it a good mix and obtain a partial sandy texture. Now incorporate the water & the oil and kneed them well. Let the consistency be harder than the chapatti dough. Cover the dough and allow it to rest for 20 minutes .
• Pressure cook the potatoes to half its capacity so that we can roughly mash them with bits of pieces  around. I have used frozen peas here..Just added them into luke warm water for 5 min , drained them and kept aside.  You can also add small chunks of cauliflower if you like. Its predominantly a winter vegetable .
• Dry roast Cumin, Coriander Seeds & Dry  Red Chilli for 3-4 min until a lovely aroma is up in  the air . Cool it for 5 min and powder it in the blender.
• Heat oil in the pan.Drop in grated ginger . Once slightly brown , add in Turmeric and fry for 30 sec . I have used Sunflower oil for the whole process. But if you like Mustard oil , go ahead and try them out for making the potato filling.
• Add the mashed potatoes , green peas , salt ,sugar and  saute  them  for 2-3 min.….Sprinkle all the powdered spices , give it good stir. 5 More min , turn off the flame , transfer the filling to a ceramic bowl and let it cool down. This takes roughly 10 min altogether..
• Heat oil in a deep pan for frying. In the meanwhile lets get started with the Samosa covering. Sprinkle some flour on ur work top or ur wooden board where you intend creating roundels of the flour balls.
• Pinch the dough into equal number of balls . I got 4 of them and now roll them into roundels one by one ,very thin and cut them with a pizza cutter/ cutlery knife into 2 pieces. Shape them like a cone , applying oil on the inner side , fill in the potato filling and seal the edges by pressing the ends together using some water. For a video tutorial check here. Repeat the process with the rest of them and we get 8 singara’s ready for frying..
• Drop in any small remaining piece of the dough in the oil , to check if its ready for frying. Deep fry them in hot oil and fry them until they turn brown and crispy.Drain them onto a kitchen towel . Repeat the process with the rest of them.
• Serve warm with Green Coriander Chutney & Ketchup .

This is how  my plate was post limelight photography.. Cudnt resist setting the table.. Just gobbled then & there….. 

Sending this recipe to Flavour of Bengal hosted by Priya at Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes, brain child of Nayna from Simply Food