Chennai Beach Samosa 'Sundal' Chaat
சென்னை பீச் சமோசா சுண்டல்·(chennai beach samosa sundal)
Late Night Snacks: First-Gen Trader Joe's Hacks
Ten p.m. on a Wednesday in American suburbia, the craving hits for the Marina Beach promenade, wind whipping newspaper cones in the fierce, salty, fennel-scented breeze of Marina Beach, and you grab Trader Joe's frozen samosas, leaning into the freezer aisle and your Instant Pot, swapping sweet chutney and yogurt for a messy, scalding bowl built on fennel seeds and a grandmother's trick of slightly mashing the peas to naturally thicken the broth. Grab a spoon, smash until the pastry shatters, eat fast.
Ingredients
- dried yellow peas1 cup
- neutral oil2 tbsp
- fennel seeds1 tsp
- cinnamon stick1 small
- whole cloves2 small
- red onion1 med
- ginger-garlic paste1 tbsp
- tomato1 large
- fresh curry leaves12 small
- turmeric powder1/2 tsp
- Kashmiri red chili powder1 tsp
- coriander powder1 tsp
- garam masala1/2 tsp
- kosher salt1 1/2 tsp
- water3 cup
- frozen vegetable samosas12 small
- red onion1/2 cup
- fresh cilantro1/4 cup
- sev1/2 cup
- raw green mango3 tbsp
Method
- 01
Crisp the frozen samosas in an air fryer or oven until deeply golden and shatteringly crisp.
Preheat your air fryer to 375°F or your oven to 400°F and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, keeping them warm until assembly.
- 02
Build the aromatic South Indian flavor base by sizzling the whole spices and sautéing the onions.
Set your Instant Pot to Sauté. Add the oil, fennel seeds, cinnamon, and cloves, cooking for 15 seconds before adding the chopped onions and curry leaves to sauté for 4 to 5 minutes until translucent.
- 03
Bloom the spices and tomatoes until they break down into a jammy, fragrant paste.
Stir in the ginger-garlic paste for 30 seconds, then add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric, chili powder, coriander powder, and salt, cooking until the oil just starts to separate at the edges.
- 04
Pressure cook the rinsed yellow peas with water until fully tender.
Cancel the Sauté function, add the peas and water, scrape the bottom of the pot, and cook on High Pressure for 20 minutes, followed by a 10-minute natural pressure release.
- 05
Roughly mash a quarter of the peas directly in the pot to naturally thicken the gravy.
Remove the cinnamon stick and sprinkle in the garam masala. Use a potato masher or give it a quick pulse with an immersion blender to release the starches, transforming the watery liquid into a rich, velvety gravy.
- 06
Smash the hot samosas in a shallow bowl and drown them in the thick pea gravy before garnishing fiercely.
Use the back of a spoon to break open the samosas so the potato filling catches the juices, then top generously with the finely chopped red onions, fresh cilantro, crunchy sev, and grated raw mango.
Notes
You can swap the dried yellow peas for canned chickpeas in a weeknight emergency.
If you can't find dried yellow peas or forgot to plan ahead, rinse two cans of chickpeas, reduce the water to 1 1/2 cups, and pressure cook for just 5 minutes to marry the flavors.