Mangalore: Savoury Samosas Spice up Ramadan Iftar in City
By Thafleel
For Daijiworld Media Network
Mangalore, Sep 29: Many of us are aware that the holy month of Ramadan, involves fasting by the devout. However, not many of us know that 'samosas', are an integral part of this month of prayer!
Unbelievable as it sounds, it is a fact that these stuffed spicy pastries are sold in crores within the span of 30 days. Most people buy samosas from street vendors in the city and very few prepare it at home for 'Iftar' (snack for breaking the daily fast). Iftar follows 'maghrib' (sunset). Traditionally, a date holds the place of honour during Iftar.
Even though the samosa has been a favorite snack across the Indian subcontinent for centuries, it became popular along the coastal belt only a few decades ago. According to Faizal, a street vendor near Lady Goshen, every vendor in the city sells about 500 to 600 samosas a day.
Speaking to Daijiworld, he said, 'I opt for this business only during Ramadan. We buy samosas from wholesalers. This business is suitable for this month, because we cannot go for physical labour when fasting.' Like Faizal, most of the samosa vendors take up this occupation temporarily.
They charge Rs 2 for a samosa and wholesale customers enjoy a discount of 50 paise on each samosa.
Yousuf Zameer, a wholesale vendor, who found making samosas a lucrative alternative during Ramadan, has been in the business for five years now. Zameer prepares about 12,000 samosas a day. 'We prepare both veg and non-veg samosas. I have eight assistants with me. There is a lot of competition in this field. There are six such samosa centres in the city,' he added.
A samosa is a fried triangular or tetrahedron-shaped pastry shell with a savory filling of spiced potatoes, onion, peas, coriander, and sometimes fresh paneer. The popular vegetarian version contains flour (maida), potato, onion, spices, green chili. It is often eaten with chutney, such as mint, coriander or tamarind.
History
It is believed that the samosa originated in Central Asia (where they were known as 'samsa' prior to the 10th century) and were introduced to the Indian subcontinent in the 13th or 14th century by traders from the region. The word samosa can be traced to the Persian 'sanbosag'. The name in other countries also derives from this root, such as the crescent-shaped 'sanbusak' or 'sanbusaj' in Arab countries, 'sambosa' in Afghanistan, 'samsa' in Turkish-speaking nations, 'sambusa' in parts of Iran and 'chamuça' in Goa and Portugal.
Amir Khusro (1253-1325), a scholar and the royal poet of the Delhi sultanate, wrote in the 14th century that princes and nobles enjoyed the 'samosa prepared from meat, ghee, and onion...'.
Ibn Battuta, the 14th century traveller and explorer, describes a meal at the court of Muhammad bin Tughluq where the 'samushak' or 'sambusak', a small pie stuffed with minced meat, almonds, pistachio, walnuts, and spices, was served before the third course of 'pulao'.