Following the recipe for beef babotie samosas these vegetarian babotie samosas make use of lentils and rice in place of the beef. The texture is very similar and the babotie spices and chutney taste pretty much the same. This is an excellent way of making these little snacks more healthy.
Babotie is a dish of sweet spiced minced meat covered with a layer of milk and egg mixture which is then baked. The flavours are classically South Africa employing not only Indian spices but also fruit jam or chutney. This recipe and the one for beef babotie samosas take these flavours and marry them with a perfect Indian snack.
The samosas are made using spring roll wrappers to make them extra crispy and a lighter alternative to the normal pastry-based samosas found in Indian cuisine. These samosas are then baked in the oven instead of deep fried to make them an even lighter snack to enjoy.
Serve these samosas as a snack or as a starter to an Indian meal or even barbecue. Babotie samosas go great with an Indian pickle such as Hot Mango Pickle which can bought at an Indian grocery store.
For this recipe, I have suggested 2 samosas per serving.
Vegetarian Babotie Samosas – Spiced Lentil Samosas
Ingredients
Instructions
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Add the vegetable oil to a frying pan along with the bay leaf. Heat the frying pan to a medium heat and add the onions. Fry until the onions start to soften.
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Add the carrot and fry for 2 minutes before adding the red pepper and frying for a further minute.
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Add the garlic and chili. Fry for about 1 minute being careful not to let the garlic burn.
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Add the madras curry powder, paprika powder and turmeric powder and fry for 1 minute until fragrant.
If the mixture is very dry add a splash of water -
Add the lentils and tomato puree. Cook for about 1 minute.
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Stir in the jam or chutney and red wine vinegar. Cook for a further minute, then add the rice and stir to mix everything. Add salt and check for seasoning.
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Let the mixture cool completely and remove the bay leaf before filling the samosas.
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Cut each sheet of spring roll wrapper in two and using a brush of egg join the two shorter sides together to make a long strip of pastry.
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Place a heaped tablespoon of the cooled mixture at the end of the strip of pastry. Fold the pasty to make a triangle.
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Continue folding all the way along the length of the pastry. Use another brush of egg to seal the triangle-shaped parcel.
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At this stage the samosas can be frozen for up to 3 months. The samosas should be cooked from frozen.
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Heat an oven to 200ºC with the fan.
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Coat each samosa with a little oil (you can rub each one with your hands) and place on a baking tray.
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Cook for 20 minutes turning every now and then to ensure they are not sticking. The samosas are ready when the pastry is golden and crispy.
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Serve warm with chutney such as hot mango chutney.
