Recipe: Canape samosas

Pomegranate, cottage cheese & green chilli samosas.

These healthy samosas are a far cry from the deep fried little parcels of flavour we bought back in our schooldays from the road-side vendor.

I have brushed these canape samosas with butter and baked them. There is a fusion of Iranian and Pakistani flavours — the tart sweetness of fresh pomegranate, the simplicity of cottage cheese and the distinctive depth of saffron. Great served at parties or savoured with your afternoon chai, these are busting with flavour, even without any dip or sauce!

Ingredients

Soft cottage cheese, salted 1 cup

Pomegranate 1/2 cup

Green chillis, chopped 2-4

Dry roasted whole cumin seeds 1 tsp

Chopped coriander 1 tbsp

Saffron pinch

Sea salt flakes

Samosa pastry leaves cut  into half, 12

Black poppy seeds 1 tbsp

Butter, softened 1 tbsp

Oil 1/4 cup

Method

1. Heat oven to 200^o C.

2. Prepare the mixture by combining all the filling ingredients in a bowl.

3. Melt the butter. Place a sheet of samosa pastry and using a basting brush, brush the pastry with a small amount of melted butter on both sides. Place 1 tsp of the filling on one side of the pastry and fold to the opposite to make a triangle. Continue by folding to opposite sides until the end. Seal end to close the samosas. Place on a baking try covered with a baking paper sheet. Repeat with all samosas.

4. Sprinkle poppy seeds and salt on top of samosas and bake for 10-12 minutes until light brown. If you wish to deep dry you can sprinkle the topping after frying.

5. Enjoy hot!

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Total time: 35

Makes about 12 samosas

Sumayya Jamil is a lawyer-turned-food writer and cookery teacher in London, who is on a mission to promote the love of Pakistani food in the UK. She blogs at pukkapaki.com

Published in The Express Tribune, Ms T, September 9^th, 2012.

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