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4

May

2009

Vegetable Samosas with Cucumber & Mint Raita

Saved in:-   Main Courses,Raw Food Recipes,Starters


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From Issue 14 of News From The kitchen

 

raw food recipe samosas

Click ‘more’ for full recipe and ‘how to’ diagram.

For the samosa wrappers

5 cups peeled courgette (zucchini)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flax meal*

- Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth.

- Add flax meal and blend again until smooth.

- Pour mixture onto a non-stick dehydrator sheet and spread evenly into a square. you can choose the size, but for the ones in the photo the mixture was spread 26cm x 26cm square.

- Dehydrate for 8 hours at 105 degrees F, or until able to peel of the sheet.

- Once the dehydrator sheets are removed, return to the dehydrator for 30 mins, until both sides are dry to the touch but still pliable.

* Flax meal is flax seed that have been ground in a coffee grinder or similar, to produce a fine flour.

 

For the samosa filling

1 cup courgette (zucchini), peeled
3 tablespoons water
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon dark miso
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
2 tablespoons garam masala
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
8 sun-dried tomato halves
1/2 teaspoon salt

- Grind all ingredients in a food processor, leaving some texture to the mixture.

- Add the following ingredients and pulse* in:

1/2 cup tightly-packed spinach, chopped small
2 sliced spring onions (green onions)
1/4 cup diced tomatoes
1/4 cup coriander (cilantro), finely chopped
1/2 cup peas

*Pulsing in done by switching the on/off switch several times in short bursts, so to chop the ingredients, leaving plenty of texture. Some food processors actually have a pulse button.

 

To assemble


How To Wrap Samosa - Steps

 

Step 1 – Cut the wrappers into strips approximately 7cm by 25cm, and fold over the corner of one end.

Steps 2, 3 & 4 – Fold the pointed end created by the first fold over as in step 4.

Step 5 – You will now be able to open the wrapper up into a cone.

Step 6 – Fill with the mixture.

Step 7 – Tuck the corner in so it doesn’t stick out.

Steps 8, 9 & 10 – Start folding the remaining part of the wrapper around so it forms that familiar triangle shape.

Steps 11 & 12 – Wet the remaining corner of the wrapper and fold into place to seal the samosa.

Step 13 – The completed samosa.

*The samosas can be eaten as they are or can be returned to the dehydrator for as long as you like. I like to do this as they will be warm and ready to eat in a few hours.

 

For the cucumber mint raita

1/4 cup cashew nuts
1 cup cucumber
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup mint
1/2 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon lime Juice
Pinch cayenne

- Blend all ingredients in a high-power blender.

Tip: for a really nice dip for crudite, add extra cashews or avocado and blend to get desired thickness.

 

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  • Christy

    These sound fantastic! *Bookmarked*
    About how long would you say it took to make them start to finish?

    Thanks again!

  • http://www.luiyuming.com astrorainfall

    WOW – your samosas make me want to buy a dehydrator. Courgettes are a great idea and the first I have seen for samosas. Usually, coconut features in such recipes and glad to see one more accessible. I live in Japan so buying coconut, let alone a young coconut, is next to impossible.

  • Linda Beall

    Russell,

    All your recipes are absolutely amazing in appearance as well as taste. We have tried many and are always delighted with the result. One of our favorites is the curried cabbage pillows, but everything we try is wonderful. I am anxious to try the somosas and falafel.
    Here is my question…there is what appears to be a new dessert at your home page,….chocolate, berries, and some sort of white topping…..I couldn’t find a recipe anywhere though. What is that?

    Thanks!! Linda Beall

    From Russell: If you go to the archives here http://newsfromthekitchenarchives.com/ and look at issue 19 you’ll see it.

  • Dave

    I am new to this and keep seeing this dehydrator recipes and find they are pretty costly.
    So I can try some of the dishes before buying one, is there anyway I can use an electric over with the temperature turned down to achieve similar results?
    Thanks

    From Russell: I have heard of people doing this but have never tried it myself. Let me know via these comments how you get on if you try it :-)

  • assata perkins

    your recipes are mind blowing!! these look delicious!!!

  • http://meghantelpnerblog.com Meghan (Making Love In The Kitchen)

    These looks fantastic- and so simple. Two keys in any raw food uncooking.

  • Angela

    Hi Russell,

    You are such a tremendous gift to the world! Thank you so much for sharing your remarkable recipes, and your passion with all of us :)

    I’ve only tried one of your recipes so far, and it turned out amazingly well, and I can’t wait to try all the other ones!

    I noticed on your other website, there are some absolutely stunningly gorgeous and ridiculously enticing pictures…but I can’t seem to find the recipes for some of them…especially those cannolis!!! Oh my goodness…why do you tease me like that??? lol!

    Are any of those recipes avaliable in your ebooks? Please let me know if they are available, immediately if not sooner ;) hehe!

    You rock!
    Angela

  • http://coupleofvegans.blogspot.com Jodye

    These samosas look beautiful. I really must start making more raw foods. I fear my dehydrator is feeling neglected

  • Marijana Pontoni

    I tried to make them myself and served them to people who were at my entry level workshop about raw food.

    They were all blown away! Shame was, though, that I didn’t get one myself because they eat all of samosas!

  • Irina

    Though I’m not 100% raw, I just recently started reading about all the health benefits of the lifestyle, and have slowly started incorporating more raw into my everyday diet. After stumbling on this blog a few days ago, I couldn’t believe all the creative, gourmet stuff on here. Wow. These recipes are RAW?!

    This particular samosa photo kept tempting me and I decided that this would be my first ever raw recipe to make (I’m not counting the usual chopped salads and cut fruit). Everything came together easily. The hardest part was waiting for the wrap to dehydrate. :) These samosas were really, really good with deep, complex flavors and I can’t wait to eat them again tomorrow.

    Thank you for posting such incredible recipes. I’m already planning the next one.

  • veronica

    Hi!
    Thanx for all the wonderful recipes! :) I have a question about flax seeds. I’ve read somewhere that it can be poisonous, and shouldn’t be eaten raw. Is this true? I really like flax seeds but after reading that I’m a little afraid of eating them.

    From Russell: I’ve never heard of flax seed being poisonous. As far as I’m aware there’s nothing but good stuff in them, such as the omega oils. They also have a very complete protein profile.

  • Veronique

    Hi Russell,

    I just made the Samosa wrappers…Their in the dehydrator right now. The mixture was very liquid and yellowish after I blended all the ingredients althought I followed the recipe to a T.

    I will wait another 8 hours and see what happens, hopefully it works. Is the color and texture I’m describing normal?
    How do you spread the mix in the dehydrator, very thin see through layer or on the thicker side?
    Help…LOL!

    From Russell: If you spread the mixture 26 x 26cm approx that will give a certain thickness that will be just right.

    How did they turn out?

    Merci Russell,

    Veronique

  • Barbara

    Ohhh, I just made these today and I am so proud, they look exactly the same as yours do and they are sooo delicious. I hope you are proud of your creations, they are genuine and excellent!!! Even non rawist loved it!!! Thank you:)

  • Kerry McCauley

    I’ve not made the samosas since I just got a dehydrator and haven’t put it to work yet BUT I have made and served the riata several times. I absolutely love it served with apple rounds sliced thin like crackers. The mint and cucumber is so tasty, the touch of cumin and I go heavy on the cayenne. It makes such a refreshing dip, and an easy way to get more fruit into the diet. Fruit and nuts. All ages seem to like it.

    Russell, you have such a wonderful gift and such a generous spirit to share your creations. It is a pleasure to share your blog. Many thanks!!

  • Melanie

    Can’t wait to make these. I’ve been making onion bread in the dehydrator as a replacement for toast, buns etc but wow, this would easily replace tortillas and be packed with delicious filling. The possibilities are endless! I’ve been making fruit smoothie leather in the dehydrator too – never thought to do a vegetable mix! So inspired – love your story, I can SO relate!

  • Karen The Red

    Maybe I’m not getting it, but I really couldn’t follow the directions for folding the wraps. The pictures were a bit small and the directions scant. Other than that, they tasted great.

  • shawna

    how many samosas does this recipe yield?

  • Deborah

    I have a child that is allergic to tomato and zucchini do you know of anything I can substitute to make wraps?

    From Russell: Young coconut meat works really well instead of zucchini. If you can’t find them then try something like carrot. Tomatoes you could just leave out.

  • Renee

    These look lovely…
    Like Shawna, would like to know – at that size and with that amt filling, how many samosas, and how much raita?
    Do you recipe books include this type of info?
    thanks!

  • http://rawchefblog.com Leslie

    Made these yesterday & they were so tasty my family ate them faster than I could make them. My husband suggested I shape them like spring rolls & they are much faster to make. The dough only took about 4 1/2 hours to dehydrate. Yield 16.
    BTW, the each of the 3 parts of this recipe is awesome. Eating all 3 together, as my daughter said, “Tastes like heaven.”

  • The Health Billionaire

    Hey Russell,

    These are some of the best dishes I’ve seen in my life.

    I sent the ice cream sandwiches recipe to my brother :)

    The Health Billionaire
    http://www.thehealthbillionaire.com

  • Katie

    This recipe is supremeOOO. Love it.

  • Cindy

    OMG! These are a little labor intensive…but sooo worth it!
    Probably one of the best raw recipes I’ve tried. I can’t wait to try the rest! I’m sure they’ll be just as good, if not better. I have a question. Due to the nutritional benefit of hemp seed, would it be a good substitute for the sunflower seeds or flax meal? And if so, would the proportions be the same? Thanks for sharing your awesome recipes!

    From Russell: You could substitute the sunflower seeds in this recipe for help but not the flax – flax is there to hold the wrapper together and make it pliable, which is does because of the oils. Hem won’t do that.

  • Chauna

    Hi, I am currently making these and have a question regarding the dehydration process. I placed all of the batter on one sheet and it is too thick. It has been dehydrating for 14 hours now and still is not done. Should I have used more than one sheet? How many? How thick should it be after I spread it out? Thanks for your help!

  • http://cookpratiba.blogspot.com Pratiba Bhat

    Superb!! :) Good work :) Keep it up :)

  • Beautifulmonster4u

    I am new to the raw food life style and i was gettin a little bored eating a “different salad” everyday and wanted to experience the more interesting taste and texture of raw foods – and this site is GOLDEN – i made these last night and they were a hit even with my non-raw husband!! he said the samosa’s tasted so fresh! I love this site – i think this site may have saved my life because i am hooked on eating raw! Thank you!

  • Ms Nedhari

    I don’t eat flax seeds nor soy (miso). Could i replace the flax with chia and what could replace the miso

  • http://www.therawchef.com Russell James

    Flax can be replaced with chia, yes.

    The dark miso in the recipe is not made from soy, it’s barley or rice based. It’s only the light miso that is soy based, and even then you can get chick pea miso that is light and not soy based either.

  • Michelle

    This recipe is great!!! Tasted wonderful and a fantastic presentation!!! I felt like a real RAW Gourmet.

  • pia

    I love the way you put things together all your food tast so great. I know i can buy cd´s from you but i like real books do you make that too. This have made me almost all raw i dont think i could have done it without the help foom your gourmet cooking please dont ever stop helping . You must have a heart of gold, sharing with us. Love from Pia.

  • http://www.therawchef.com Russell James

    Thanks, Pia.

    A physical book is coming :) Hopefully this year.

  • Anu

    wow….this is amazing…I got this flax seeds and meal and tried many recipes but all for waste…this recipe looks wonderful…will surely try….Thanks Russell….
    Cheers
    Anu
    Check out my space too
    http://anuzhealthykitchen.blogspot.com/

  • Pingback: Spicy Raw Vegan Samosas | The Organic Gypsy

  • Søren Jensen

    Hi Russell

    I have just tried making these but not with a completely successful outcome yet. Am I correct in assuming the zucchini layer is quite thick when you spread it out on the dehydrator sheet? Anyway, after dehydrating it had shrunk considerably, although the middle bit was still soggy. When I dehydrated it a few hours more to dry it out, the sides – on the other hand – became a bit brittle. I’ve still some practising to do before a raw wrapper becomes as pliable as your pictures show.
    So this recipe yields four samosas, right? I wasn’t that great in filling them so the end result was nowhere as picturesque as yours – is there a video of this in your starter set? Also I had a lot of left-over filling – I could have done with half.

    Sorry if this sounds a bit negative – I think your creativity within the raw kitchen is absolutely stunning and look forward to seeing more recipes from your hand.

  • http://www.therawchef.com Russell James

    Sounds like you spread the mixture a little too thick.  If you spread thinner you’ll get it dry more evenly and then you’ll also have more wrapper to use with the extra filling.

    Not sure which dehydrator you have a but got one that dries evenly like an Excalibur or TSM is important here.

  • Søren Jensen

    Thanks Russell, I have a 5-tray Excalibur btw. I had some wonderful raw samosas on Saf, Shoreditch (London), and I’m intending to be able to replicate them! I’ll try again to see if I can improve. I’m making the caramellized onion pizza tonight ;-) 

  • Erin

    Hi Russell! Can you freeze extra wraps for use later? If so, do you recommend room temperature thawing or placing them back into the dehydrator and for how long? 

    Thanks! Love your recipes!

  • http://www.therawchef.com Russell James

    I’ve never tried freezing them, but I imagine it would work, probably OK to let them defrost at room temperature.  Let me know if you try it.

  • Marje

    I would like to be able to print this recipe out!  Why not?  But the page has way too much stuff on it to be done well.  Can you make it possible to put the recipes on a separate page like you do under your monthly videos?  I would really appreciate it!

  • http://www.therawchef.com Russell James

    Hi Marje,  thanks for your request, I appreciate it.  You can actually already download the recipe with the ‘download’ button at the top of the recipe, by the picture.

  • Sukhi

     I have not made this recipe yet, but it looks SO delicious!
    That soon I will do so, Very nice Russel, like all of your creations!
    Haute cuisine!
    Thanks, Sukhi

  • http://www.therawchef.com Russell James

    Thanks, Sukhi.

    How did it turn out?