What is the "proper" texture for a samosa? Wheat or Gram flour? Baked or Fried? Sweet or Savory?

Question

I realize this may be a subjective question (gumbo is supposed to taste like mom made it), but it seems to me that I remember enjoying samosas the best when the pastry was soft, warm, not crumbly, not too thin, not too thick. I tried a well-rated Indian restaurant today for the first time, and to my chagrin the samosas were hard--I could pound my fork on them without even the membrane moving--and heavy (the filling had no discernable taste). My conclusion was that they

had suffered some terrible neglect in the kitchen (too long on the microwave will do that), and/or were frozen-bought, not home made.

The waiter opined that this samosa is genuine because it was made with chickpea flour and not wheat flour. Okee dokee, so I am a philistine. Still wouldn't try it again, no matter what you say about aquired tastes (wait...this samosa had no taste).

So, samosa lovers, is there a "par" samosa texture/flavor? Do you have a rating scale? What criteria do you use? Thanks!

Answer 1

Tsk, tsk, tsk....samosas are made using all purpose flour (maida) NOT chickpea flour (besan, used for pakora batter)!

Traditionally, samosas are crunchy on the outside but the inner layer of dough should be soft (but cooked).  The pastry itself should be flavored with the subtle taste of ajwain (Bishop's Weed) and the pastry should not be too thin nor too thick. The filling should be flavorful and spicy.

Sorry, I have real doubts about this Indian restaurant and its authenticity.

The taste and texture is usually subjective:  some people prefer it very crunchy, others prefer just a slight crunch, some prefer a very spicy filling, others like a non-veg filling.....