Somasa

What is Somasa ?

A samosa or samoosa is a fried or baked pastry with savory filling, such as spiced potatoes, onions, peas, lentils and also with ground meat (lamb, beef or chicken). They may or may not also contain pine nuts. The samosa originated in the Middle East (where it is known as sambosa) prior to the 10th century. They were introduced to South Asia (Nepal, India, Pakistan) during the Muslim Delhi Sultanate when cooks from Middle East and Central Asia migrated to work in the kitchens of the Sultan and the nobility. Its size and consistency may vary, but typically it is distinctly triangular or tetrahedral in shape. Indian samosas are usually vegetarian, and often accompanied by a mint sauce or chutney. Vegetarian samosas with its origins in Uttar Pradesh, they are a popular entree appetizer or snack in the local cuisines of South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean, the Horn of Africa and North Africa. Due to cultural diffusion and emigration from these areas, samosas are today also prepared in other global regions.



History

Preparation of wada for the Sultan Ghiyath al-Din, the Sultan of Mandu. Samosas being prepared. Small inscription 'sanbusa', samosa. Ghiyath Shahi seated on a stool in a garden is being offered a dish, possibly of samosas. A cook is frying them over a stove, while another is placing them on a round dish. The samosa originated in the Middle East (where it is known as sambosa) prior to the 10th century. Abolfazl Beyhaqi (995-1077), an Iranian historian mentioned it in his history, Tarikh-e Beyhaghi.It was introduced to the South Asia in the 13th or 14th century by traders from the Middle East. Amir Khusro (1253–1325), a scholar and the royal poet of the Delhi Sultanate, wrote in around 1300 that the princes and nobles enjoyed the "samosa prepared from meat, ghee, onion and so on". Ibn Battuta, the 14th-century traveller and explorer, describes a meal at the court of Muhammad bin Tughluq, where the samushak or sambusak, a small pie stuffed with minced meat, almonds, pistachio, walnuts and spices, was served before the third course, of pulao. The Ain-i-Akbari, a 16th-century Mughal document, mentions the recipe for qutab, which it says, “the people of Hindustan call sanbúsah”.