You
may think of the samosa as a humble street snack but it is much, much more than
that.
It is an
historic artefact - as well as delectable evidence that there is nothing new
about the process of globalisation.
Bite into a samosa and the notion that identity is defined by
the boundaries of a nation state should shatter like the deep-fried crust.
These days it is considered a quintessentially Indian delicacy,
but its history is far more complex and cosmopolitan than that.
Savour the sensation as your teeth sink into the soft, yielding
centre. Let the flavours flow into your mouth.
What you are tasting is the story of India itself - the product
of the fluid forces of the great migrations and interactions that shaped this
country.
The
samosa's origins actually lie thousands of miles away in the ancient empires
that rose up in the Iranian plateau at the dawn of civilization itself.
We don't know for certain when the first cooks shaped pastry
into the now-familiar triangular shape but we do know that the origins of the
name are Persian - "sanbosag".
The samosa is first mentioned in literature by the Persian
historian Abul-Fazl Beyhaqi, writing in the 11th Century.
He describes a dainty delicacy, served as a snack in the great
courts of the mighty Ghaznavid empire. The fine pastry was filled with minced
meats, nuts and dried fruit and then fried till the pastry was crisp.
But the samosa was to be transformed as it followed the epic
journey made by successive waves of migrants into India.
It was brought to India along the route the Aryans had taken
more than 2,000 years earlier - through Central Asia and then over the great
mountains in what is now Afghanistan, before descending down into the fertile
plains of the great rivers of India.
The great
armies of the Mamluks, Tamerlane and the Mughals later made the same journey,
helping build the great sub-continental empire we now know as India.
And, just as India was reshaped by these waves of migrants, the
samosa also underwent a transformation.
Initially it metamorphosed into something much less refined.
By the time it reached what is now Tajikistan and Uzbekistan it
had become what Professor Pushpesh Pant, one of the world's experts on Indian
food, describes as "a crude peasant dish"
The courtly
titbit was now a high-calorie staple, a much bigger and heartier dish - the
sort of thing a shepherd would take out into the pastures with him.
It retained its distinctive shape and was still fried, but the
exotic nuts and fruits were gone - the savoury pastry was now filled with
coarsely chopped goat or lamb eked out with onions and flavoured simply with
salt.
Over the following centuries the samosa made its way over the
icy passes of the Hindu Kush and into the Indian subcontinent.
What happened along the way explains why Professor Pant regards
the samosa as the ultimate "syncretic dish" - the ultimate fusion of
cultures.
"I
think the samosa tells you how influences, culinary and otherwise, have come
across to us," he says, "and how India has adopted them, adapted them
to its own requirements and milieu, and transformed them totally."
Once in India the samosa was taken up and tailored to local
tastes, becoming the world's first fast food.
The samosa is endlessly adaptable and India introduced its own
spices - adding coriander, pepper, caraway seeds, ginger and more.
The filling changed, too, with vegetables often replacing meat.
Later still it was to become the vehicle for other much more
novel foodstuffs, because the modern Indian samosa is the product of yet
another great historical upheaval - the discovery of the New World.
These days most samosas are filled with potato and flavoured
with green chillies, ingredients only introduced from the New World by
Portuguese traders in the 16th Century.
And the samosa has continued to evolve since then.
Everywhere you go in India it is different.
Samosas
vary from region to region, and even from shop to shop as samosa-makers compete
for custom.
Sometimes they are monsters, an entire meal in a single crisp
pastry casing.
Elsewhere they have re-emerged as a courtly treat - samosas are
served as cocktail canapés at weddings and modish Delhi parties.
Even the wafer-thin pastry packed with mince and peas that the
Moroccan traveller Ibn Batuta describes being served at the lavish banquets of
the court of Mohammad bin Tughlaq in 14th Century Delhi, lives on in the
"lukhmi" of Hyderabad.
Meanwhile in Punjab no samosa is complete without the addition
of paneer - fresh Indian cheese - though elsewhere in India this is considered
an aberration.
Not all samosas are savoury these days - at least one Delhi
restaurant serves a delicious chocolate samosa.
And even the cooking techniques can vary.
The classic samosa is still fried to a crisp, golden finish, but
you can sometimes find baked samosas for the calorie-conscious.
Some chefs have experimented with steamed samosas - a mistake,
says Professor Pant. He argues that without the oil the flavours simply don't
emerge properly.
And, of course, the samosa's journey did not end in India. After
centuries of refinement and reworking here it followed new routes back out into
the world.
The
British loved the samosa and spread the now uniquely Indian innovation across
their vast empire - along with shampoo, bungalows, verandas and pyjamas.
And, as the Indian diaspora has spread around the globe in the
last few centuries, they too took samosas with them.
Which is why what began as a tasty titbit for ancient Persian
emperors is now enjoyed in virtually every country on Earth.
So as you savour this delicious snack remember this, wherever
your samosa was prepared and however it was filled it embodies the essence of
India - adaptable, inventive, tolerant and heterogeneous.
And many of the country's other delicious street foods have
similarly fascinating stories.
As the BBC's South Asia correspondent I have the privilege to
travel across India and as I go I intend to explore the incredible culinary
history of this great nation through its street food.
So if there are any street foods that particularly tickle your
palate - or you think will tickle mine - do please contact me and tell me what
they are and where the best examples can be found and I'll do my best to get
out there and taste them.
Representative
Image
Source: BBC
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