You say samosa, I say samoosa. At least I do after our latest visit to Cape Town, where we shovelled the little golden triangles of savoury spiced goodness down our throats at every conceivable opportunity.
The samosa, originally introduced to India between the 13th and 14th centuries by Arab traders as the sambosa, made its way to South Africa when Dutch settlers shipped Indian, Malaysian and Indonesian peoples from what was then known as the East Indies, to work as slaves in the new Cape Colony.
From these dark beginnings, these diverse cultures integrated to form a new identity as Cape Malay. This cultural union saw traditional South African and Dutch cuisine infused with Indian and Malay flavours to create a cuisine that’s as unique to Cape Town, as it delicious. For visitors, charismatic and colourful Bo Kaap, nestled at the foot of Signal Hill on the fringe of the Cape Town city centre, is one of the best places for a taste of Cape Malay cuisine.
Here you’ll find stores selling and sweet treats like melktert (milk tart), jam-filled hertzoggies, sticky, sweet koeksisters and their Cape Malay counterpart koesisters (spiced sweet fried pastries), as well as restaurants serving up fragrant favourites including curry, breyani, bredie (stew), sosaties (meat kebabs) and bobotie, a mixture of curried beef mince and fruit with a creamy golden topping that is the national dish of South Africa.
And then there are the samoosas. More petit than their Indian cousins, South African samoosas are frequently filled with bobotie, as well as more familiar vegetarian fillings. Fortunate to be staying for several nights metres from Bo Kaap’s colourful main street, we stocked up on bags of traditional South African samoosa daily, at the Rose Corner Café. And when we returned to town for a few days stay at The Silo, the Gourmet Samooserie at the V&A Foodmarket became our go to samoosa station.
As our minds wander back to beautiful Cape Town, the kids’ tastebuds are crying out for more. So after a smashing out a platter of delicious bobotie samoosas with apricot chilli sauce, along with a dozen vegetarian potato samoosas with mint coriander raita (my personal faves), for afternoon tea, we’re sharing our recipes with you.
Bobotie samoosa with apricot chilli sauce
Ingredients
- For the samoosa
- 12 sheets filo or spring roll pastry cut into 25cm x 7cm strips
- Egg white lightly beaten
- 500g beef mince
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 onion, finely chopped
- 2 tsp garlic paste
- 2 tsp ginger paste
- 2-3 red chillies finely chopped
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 bunch of coriander, stems and leave, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- For the apricot chilli sauce
- 3 tbsp apricot jam
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons tamarind paste
- 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Place all apricot chilli sauce ingredients into a saucepan and heat on medium/low temperature until combined, set aside to cool.
- Heat oil and sauté onion in a pan until translucent.
- Add garlic, ginger, chilli and ground spices and cook 60 seconds or until fragrant (around 60 seconds).
- Add the beef and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently to break down the mince.
- Set aside to cool before adding coriander, 1 tbsp of apricot chilli sauce and lemon Seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
- Take one strip of filo or spring roll pastry and brush one long edge with egg wash
- Add a tbsp of bobotie mix to pastry and fold into a triangle, repeating until you reach the end of the strip.
- Deep fry in medium oil until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Serve with remaining apricot chilli sauce.
Potato samoosa with mint coriander raita
Ingredients
- for the potato samoosa
- 12 sheets filo or spring roll pastry cut into 25cm x 7cm strips
- Egg white lightly beaten
- 3 large potatoes, peeled, cubed and boiled
- 1 brown onion finely chopped.
- 2 red chillies finely chopped
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp coriander
- ½ cup of fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Egg white for sealing
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- For the mint coriander raita
- ½ cup Greek yoghurt
- ½ cup mint leaves
- ½ cup coriander
- Pinch cumin
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place all raita ingredients in a blender and blitz until combined, set aside in refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Heat oil and sauté onion in a pan until translucent.
- Add mustard seeds, garlic, ginger, chilli and ground spices and cook 60 seconds or until fragrant (around 60 seconds).
- Add the cooked potato and lemon juice.
- Set aside to cool before adding coriander and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Take one strip of filo or spring roll pastry and brush one long edge with egg wash
- Add a tbsp of potato mix to pastry and fold into a triangle, repeating until you reach the end of the strip.
- Deep fry in medium oil until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Serve with mint coriander raita.
An award-winning travel writer and photographer, Aleney de Winter was fresh from school when she first set off to explore the far reaches of Australia with a two-man tent and a beaten-up Kingswood for company. Three decades, and two kids later, and she's still on the go, with her itchy-footed offspring in tow. 
Robert pringle
February 25, 2022 at 8:42 am (2 years ago)Love all South African Food