Greetings dear readers, and a very warm Eid Mubarak to all those who celebrate!
I mentioned earlier this month that this past Ramadan was one of the toughest yet for me, a rumination only affirmed by the unfortunate bout of pharyngitis accompanied by an admission into the ER with low blood pressure and a high fever. But alas, some antibiotics and many days of much needed rest helped me combat the fatigue and I am feeling almost as good as new.
One thing I find fascinating is that when it comes to eating while sick, old habits die hard. Take a health-nut, superfood-loving, refined-carb hating vegan like me and riddle her with a lousy old virus and what do you get? Someone who won’t eat anything but boiled potatoes with cumin powder, salt and olive oil. When I’m sick, it is by far the only thing I can stand to look at without (excuse my French) resisting the urge to hurl. What’s even more shocking? I actually craved soft drinks. I’m not proud to say it, but I washed down many a plate of potatoes with some ice cold 7UP topped off with freshly squeezed lime.
In my defense, I can’t help it. I think anyone from my generation can attest that we’ve been bred to drink 7UP in the case of a) an upset stomach b) a fever c) any state of being unwell whatsoever. There’s just something about Arab doctors and recommending 7UP!
Anyways, as per usual, I digress. Part one of today’s recipe features our friend the white potato, but in a more wholesome version of a true Ramadan classic, samosas – or as they’re referred to here in the gulf “samboosas”.
While samboosa is a staple at most any Ramadan table, it’s also a pretty popular street food that can be purchased from hole-in-the-wall type vendors along with chapathi. It typically comes in two varieties, cheese and vegetable and is served piping hot, crispy and deep fried.
Now, I’m not going to lie and say I don’t indulge in the occasional 1 (or 4) when the opportunity presents itself – I do. But hey – all the more motivation to come up with a healthier and more nutritionally dense alternative, right?
- 1 medium potato, peeled and mashed
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- ½ cup peas and carrots (frozen will do)
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp organic coconut oil
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ½-1 tsp curry powder
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 3oz serving of firm tofu
- 2 tbsp of tofutti cream cheese
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
- 4 sheets of rice paper
- Start by preparing the filling - in a medium pot heat coconut oil before adding the cumin, coriander and curry powder along with the onion. Sautee until translucent before adding in the peas and carrots.
- Stir on medium heat for a few more minutes before adding in the mashed potato at turmeric. Mix well with a fork to combine and season with salt and black pepper as desired.
- For the cheese filling, combine all ingredients in a shallow bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Set aside the filling to cool and prepare the rice paper sheets - you'll need a large shallow tray with lukewarm water. Soak each sheet in the water on each side for a few seconds before transferring to a cutting board. Cut the sheet in half using a sharp knife (it's important to do this before the sheet goes completely soft).
- You should now have two half-circle sheets which will start to soften up. Spoon the filling 1-2 tsp or so into the corner of each sheet and fold in alternating directions to make a triangle, then roll the loose edges to seal.
- To cook either place in an air fryer for 6 minutes on 200 C or bake in a pre-heated oven or grill (180 C) until slightly golden and crispy. If baking, brush with a tiny bit of coconut oil to avoid sticking.
- Serve immediately, as the rice paper naturally wilts when it gets colder and loses a bit of it's crisp.
Working with rice paper is tricky at first, but it holds up extremely well in place of wheat pastry – and is deliciously light and versatile.
And thanks to my wonderful air fryer, and the result of this recipe development session, I can now have samboosa all year round – guilt free!
Love this recipe!! I’ve been meaning to use rice wrappers in this way for a while. Thanks for the inspiration!!
Hi soft drinks contain phenylalanine. Not harmful unless you have a disease called PKU. . Nice recipe thank you.
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who was told to drink 7UP when ill.
I’m sorry you were ill and super glad you are better!
That is an awesome recipe. I’ve never heard of an air fryer before. how excellent! I’ll investigate!
Glad you’re feeling better Nada. I had to laugh when you mentioned the 7-Up and “your generation”– my mother swore by 7-Up when I was sick — and that was in the U.S. in the 1950s-60s! Apparently 7-Up is the healing aid of choice in all countries and throughout the generations. 🙂
I had also not heard of an air fryer and now I’m anxious to check it out.
That is so funny!! And here I was thinking it was unique to the Middle East 🙂 air fryers are fantastic, highly recommend the Philips if you’re looking to invest in one.
If I can’t find rice wrappers would it be possible to use w.w. tortilla. Would it be baked at the same heat and time. Thanks.
Hi Janet! I can’t say if a wholewheat tortilla would work to be honest as I haven’t tried it out but you could experiment for sure. Are there any asian or oriental food markets nearby where you are? They would stick rice wrappers.
heyy Nada, great post will try it once.
My name is Hanoof and im 14 years old. I just turned vegan for 2 weeks now and i have never felt better, and i was so excited to know that you live in bahrain too, i would love to meet you and talk about all my vegan concerns and what not, you seem like an amazing personn. xx
Hi Hanoof! Thank you so much for your sweet words – I would love to meet up, shoot me an e-mail on nada@onearabvegan.com.
I landed here after Googling “Arab vegetables.” I was struck by what you said about 7UP. I’m of Czech and Irish descent, and grew up in Chicago during the 1950s. We used 7UP the same way your family did! Whenever anyone had an upset stomach, Mom poured a glass of 7UP. How funny.
How strange indeed! I guess the 7UP myth traveled far and wide in those days.
I know this thread is old but I have to comment. The 7Up thing isn’t a myth, it’s a twist on something that actually does work, if done how it originally was. When sick in the early 1900 one would be given Ginger Ale (Canada Dry being the most common one) as it used to have (Canada Dry still does) real ginger in it and ginger is known to ease nausea. The sugar in the pop helped with low blood sugar caused by throwing up. Somewhere along the lines people kept it up over generations not noticing ginger was removed from most of those pops. 7Up has always been a lemon lime drink not a ginger one but it is often confused with ginger ale so many started giving that to sick kids.
Just found your post while searching GF vegan samosa, thank you for the recipe I’m Canadian and we are given ginger ale as well. 😃
Hello Nada,
I live in Japan and have been at a loss as to how to replace filo pastry in recipes. However, this recipe is soooo inspirational, I have to get on and try it. I’m going to have a go making filo pilo, as we used to call it (filo pie). Also I went to an Indian restaurant the other day and had spicy potato samosas and realised that I HAD to make them at home. Now my path lies clear ahead of me. Thanks so much.
I would love to visit Japan someday! You’re most welcome Elise, hope it turns out delicious.
I’m really late to the party, but this soo cool… 7Up for any kind of sickness?! I’m from India and here we get recommended to drink Limca, a similarly flavored soft-drink for fever and stomach upsets 🙂
And Nada, you are totally one amazing woman to be a vegan in the Arab world! Respect you so much <3
Can you freeze the samosa ?
Yes you definitely can, it freezes great.
Hi,
My wife and I are very interested in trying this. Sadly, I did not understand how to fold these. Can you clarify?
Shukren,
Tom
Hi Thomas – so if you had a semicircle of rice paper with the flat end facing you, you would place the filling in the middle, then take the bottom left corner and lift it across to cover the filling on the right. Then you would take the point on the far left and fold the whole samosa over to the right, sealing up any loose edges. I hope that description helps – if not I recommend googling “how to fold a samosa – semicircle”, the visual images may shed more light!
Hi Nada,
Thank you very much! I am a visual learner and will use both your words and the google search. I am so excited to try these, and your other recipes. I am an ESL teacher and vegan, and enjoy learning about the food cultures of my students.
Sincerely,
Tom
Hi there,
These look amazing! Ive been missing these since we started gluten free a few years ago. I would like to know if I can fill these with feta and spinach? Or with curried meat? what do you think? Today I have vegan guests so will make the vegan ones today but my family & I are not vegan so can we fill them with other ingredients as well?
thanks a lot!
Hi Maris, as I’m vegan I have never tried using non-vegan filling therefore cannot vouch for the results. Hope you enjoy them!
Thank you so much for this samosa recipe. I just bought an awesome air fryer and was wondering if I could make my rice paper spring rolls and other foods in it. We too are Vegan and Gluten-free. So this helps a lot.
Much Warm Regards
Muisha
Ive yet to try rice paper strips as bacon & as a wrap for samosas. Genius idea, thanks!
Going to try these tonight. In Canada, we drink ginger ale when sick 😄
Came across your recipe when I was looking for a gluten free option of samosas. I made this recipe but included leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, so therefore was not vegan. I quadrupled the recipe and OMG what a fabulous recipe. I baked them in the oven at 350*F for 25 minutes turning them over halfway through. The marriage of all of the spices together are wonderful. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Just made these and although they didn’t turn out looking as beautiful as yours, they were delicious!! My 12 year old son devoured them 😋
So lovely to hear that Galia! And no stress on the presentation – practice makes perfect 😉