PESHAWARI SAMOSA, COFFEE SHRIKHAND

BY VINEET BHATIA

Chocolate samosa or “Chocomosa” is my most copied signature dish and provided a new ‘avatar’ to the iconic samosa, catapulting it from a savoury to a sweet genre. Ever since, I have come across countless sweet variations of the samosa and have even been served the ‘ Chocomosa’ in a couple of restaurants with the server oblivious to who it is being served. Peshawari samosa is another of my variation of a sweet samosa and is inspired from the Peshawari Naan – a bread that is more English than Indian. I encountered this sweet naan once I arrived in London and now have exported my own version to my restaurants!

INGREDIENTS PESHAWARI SAMOSA

100g desiccated coconut /30g ground almonds 30g flaked almonds / 1 tsp ground cardamom / 4 tbsp granulated sugar / 80ml unsweetened condensed milk / 30g pistachio nuts, chopped / 30g raisins, chopped / 8 double-layered spring roll sheets, cut into squares plain flour glue for sealing / vegetable oil for deep frying

Coffee shrikhand

30g instant coffee powder / 1tsp green cardamom powder / 250g thick Greek yogurt / 100g caster sugar

Espresso sauce

30g instant coffee powder / 80g moscavado sugar

Garnish

Baby meringues / chocolate chips

Method Plain flour glue

Take 2 or 3 tablespoons of plain white flour and add a few tablespoons of warm water to the flour. Keep stirring the mixture and adding more water if necessary. The consistency of this mixture should resemble glue- slightly runny but sticky.

Peshawari samosa

In a bowl add all the ingredients and mix together to form the sweet filling. For samosa, divide the cut out spring roll squares into two to form a triangle. Fold to form a cone, sealing the pasted straight edge with the flour glue. Then lift the cone with the tapered end at the bottom and fill with the sweet mix. Seal the open end with the flour glue, pressing the edges firmly together. The prepared samosa should be kept refrigerated for about 30 minutes or till you are ready to use. Deep fry in hot oil till golden, remove and place on absorbent paper to soak excess oil. Samosas can be optionally garnished with melted white and dark chocolate lines, piped through a fine tipped piping bag.

Coffee shrikhand

In a bowl add the instant coffee powder, green cardamom powder and caster sugar. Pour in 40mlof warm water, whish well till the coffee and sugar dissolve in the water. Add the thick Greek yogurt to the coffee mixture and whisk till coffee is well incorporated. Keep in refrigerator.

Espresso sauce

Whisk all the ingredients in 20ml of warm water till a smooth glaze.

Serving

Spoon coffee shrikhand on a plate and top it with the coffee glaze. With the back of the spoon, smear the shrikhand and coffee glaze on the plate. Arrange the samosas, meringue and chocolate chips alternatively on the plate.