You might not even glance twice

at Kumar Samosa Wala, a small

corner shop hidden away in
bustling New Moti Nagar market.
Its inconspicuous, but ask locals
and regulars and theyll swear by
the delicious samosas doled out
by Uncle, owner Satish Kumar
Bhayana.
Bhayana first started the shop,
which has changed locations a
few times since opening 20 years
ago, with only snack items like
sandwiches and idlis. It is only
in the last 13 years that we have
diversified, and now sell around
14 to 15 types of samosas alone,
Bhayana told us.
There are other multisamosa vendors in town, but
we discovered this shop through
relatives, who go on and on about
the wonders of chowmein, pizza
and meetha samosa. So we
decided to find these exotic fusion
snacks for ourselves.
The shop is a little difficult to
locate, but we asked around and
finally discovered it behind Milan
Cinema. As we neared it, the
delicious smell of freshly fried

samosas wafted over, enticing us.

Bhayana specialises in creating
tasty packages out of traditional
dishes and the shelves are filled
with so many varieties, ranging
from macaroni to malai paneer
tikka. Theres also the shahi
paneer samosa and a sweet
corn samosa; and if your palate
isnt adventurous enough for the
vegetarian keema samosa (soya
nuggets involved), try the simple

aloo mattar one.

I just wanted to try out
something new, Bhayana said.
I formulated the recipes myself
and tested them on people and
made changes. Its all trial and
error. The samosa innovator is
a firm believer in perseverance.
I started out with a few flavours,
then experimented with more.
There has not been a single flavour
Ive had to phase out because

there was not enough demand,

he added.
Our taste test bore out his
claims. We tried one each of the
samosas mentioned above and
went back for secondsof the pizza
samosa, which turned out to
be our favourite. The samosa is
stuffed with eggless mayonnaise
and vegetables, then seasoned
with oregano for that Italian
touch. Bite into the crispy exterior,
and the mayonnaise oozes out.
The chowmein samosa tastes
almost like a spring roll, but with
a thicker crust. The meetha
samosa or gujia samosa was also
very appealing. The name itself
explains the ingredients: khoya
and dry fruits.
We left with full stomachs,
laden with bulging packets; for, on
finding out where we were, several
friends and relatives had asked
us to bring home a taste of Kumar
Samosa Walas rainbow of deepfried delights. AC
Kumar Samosa Wale 2/31
Phase III, New Moti Nagar (9811340381). m Moti Nagar. Daily
9am-7pm. `10- `15 per samosa.

dishes. We wanted to try one from

each, but our faithless victims,
insisted on just one main course
and one dessert.
As a test of grit, we chose the
easiest looking lamb dish, kottina
kary porial or fricasse of lamb
mince with fried potatoes added
to the keema at the end. The
ingredients were easy enough to
find and not very elaborate, but
the finished dish, which we served
with parathas, was lip-smacking.
The colour of the cooked keema,
mixed first with a spice mixture,
then fried, was a standout. One
taster found it a bit spicy and in
her defence the dish does ask for
six to eight dry red chillies for 500
grams of mutton keema. But the
others enjoyed the juicy meat.
For dessert, neiy urundaiy or
ghee balls sounded very rich,
but once they started to come
apart in the mouth, all thoughts of
calories were fast forgotten. This
is a Christmas staple according
to Tirouvanziam-Louis, but it is
easy to make anytime with just
five ingredients. Rice and green
gram are roasted, then blitzed into
a fine powder. A powder of sugar
and cardamom is added to the

mix, which is roasted in about four

cups ghee. Shaped into balls, this
dish was an instant hit.
Some people think South Indian
cooking requires a lot of coconut,
but this book disapproves that
theory. Coconut is used in a
few recipes, but even for the

unadventurous palate, it doesnt

overpower any dish. So for our next
tussle with kitchen equipment,
well try some of the kootu and
porial dishes from the vegetarian
section. Heres hoping the book
fares well there, too. Anugya
Chitransh

aditi tailang

Food & Drink

Love triangle Kumar Samosa Wale

Readers digest
The Pondicherry
Kitchen

Lourdes Tirouvanziam- Louis

Westland Books, `395.

These days everyone is hooked

on some cooking show or
another, whether MasterChef
or Twist of
Taste. Yet
these people
fall into three
classes: wannabe cooks, those
who occasionally enter the kitchen
and those who rule in the rasoi.
This book is for all three, and a gem
for anyone remotely interested in a
different South Indian cuisine.
Tirouvanziam-Louis puts
together relatively easy recipes
from Pondicherry, in an eclectic
banquet inspired by a few different
cuisines. Each dish can be made
by a complete novice as the steps
are simple and few. Helpfully,
every recipe has a regional name,
the English translation and a twoliner about the dish. The book is
divided into sections like chicken,
lamb, duck and turkey, cakes and
sweetmeats, snacks and rice

44 www.timeoutdelhi.net December 7 20 2012

Food & Drink.indd 44

11/30/2012 9:48:13 AM