Afghan Vegan Samosa Kachaloo (Golden Potato Dumplings)

Whenever talking about samosa, most people would think that its origin is Indian. But some say it originated in the Middle East region since the first mention of samosa was found in a ninth-century Persian poem where it was referred to as “Sambosaj.” Nowadays, Samosas are a popular entrée, appetizer, or snack in many regions. They are fried or baked pastry with a variety of savory fillings in triangular, cone, or half-moon shapes, depending on the regions they are prepared in, and can also be made as a sweet dish. We will present an Afghan vegetarian (vegan) dish called potato dumplings.

“Gentle viewers, now we add the oil, the flour, and the baking powder together with the yeast and salt. We mix the dough and knead it until it sticks together. Cherished viewers, while we leave the dough to rise, we’ll prepare the filling for the dumpling. We leave the potato until it is fried a little. Plant-based foods are very nutritious, especially coriander, potatoes... We have plenty of vegan food, and naturally, they are very delicious. Now we add the chopped coriander to the potato. We add the ginger, of course, we can use ginger powder as well. Coriander seeds, black pepper, and cumin. The potato should be cooled so that when we fill it in the dough it will be cool enough. OK, now we make the dough in the shape of small balls. For the dough to rise, we left it for 15 minutes, and we covered it with a clean plastic sheet so that our dough does not dry out. Now we are going to use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a circle, very nice circle without anything sticking out. So now we are going to make the dumplings. We cut the circle in the middle. Now we are going to fold the semi-circle. And we fold the other edge of the semi-circle also and we press them together. They now stick together and form a funnel. We put one spoonful of the mixture that we made with the potato and seasonings into the funnel. So we are going to close the top of the funnel.”

“Kind viewers, the dumplings are fried, and we have them on a plate that is already decorated with lettuce and green chili. You can eat these dumplings with a chutney that we made with two tomatoes, two green chilies, a little salt and coriander. Gentle viewers, these dumplings are very delicious. Very delicious!”