4 types of Samosas

Me and my wife were at Thane and before starting a brief(!) shopping stint decided to visit Kunjavihar. Now people who have not visited Thane, Kunjavihar is a two storey vada pav ki tapri at Thane railway station. After the regular load of a vada pav, I sunk my teeth on a steaming hot samosa, and my wife quickly noticed the odd red color of the stuffing.

Now that was an amateur gazing at a Ghati samosa for the occasional time and noticing the difference.

I elaborated to her that there are 4 different types of Samosas in Mumbai and around and she wouldn’t agree. So let me elaborate a bit more..

There are 4 different types of Samosas

1.  The Punjabi Samosa
2. The Gujju or Kacchi Samosa
3. The Ghati Samosa
4. The Madrasi Samosa

Now the chutney that goes with the samosa is also a distinctive identifier of the type of samosa you are eating and the experience you are having. So I have added a special note at the end of each description.

Locating the right store for the right experience is also important and hence I have provided a few landmarks to spot a samosa you are looking for.

The Punjabi Samosa

The Punjabi samosa crust is crispy and smooth. And when I say smooth, when you hold it a bit firmly, the crust will crumble. It’s the oil that they add in the flour to make it like that. Now I don’t know how they do it, but it tastes simply amazing. When you get your teeth and tongue through the crust to the stuffing, you will find the occasional coriander seed sticking in your teeth. The garam masala is very evident, but is optimum to make the samosa delectable. The stuffing will be potatoes and peas veggie with a twist of chaat and garam masala. The size will be medium and you will often find it smoking on a big tawa. The Punjabi samosa is the best in the category of samosas and can be had any time of the day.

Chutney: The chutney will always be imli ki chutney with overpowering sweetness of jaggery. Some of the vendors will try to tell you that it is khajur ki chutney, but a look at the shack and you will understand that it is good ol’ imli boiled with a kilo of gud.

How to Locate: A sardarji will be sitting at the counter. And the samosa will be simmering on a big tawa. There would be red colored jalebis available as well at the store even though it is selling only snacks. If you are frequenting the store you are bound to see a motherly looking Punjabi aunty at the counter sometimes while her son or husband toils away serving.  

When you see all the above indicators, immediately deduce that you are in for a Punjabi samosa treat J

Special Note: Notice the jalebis at the store and have them please, awesome combination with the samosa. The samosa chat is also good to have occasionally, it has the ragda and sev added to it.

The Gujju or the Kacchi Samosa

The Guuju samosa will have a slightly firmer crust than the Punjabi samosa. The stuffing will not have peas, but a gooey paste of potatoes and sweet, sour, spicy and different kind of taste. Combined with the different kind of crust, the taste is simply amazing. It will not be spicy, it will be chatpata. The sourness and sweetness will be optimum and you will barely feel it. The samosa forms crispy and gooey mixture when a large portion is eaten. This is particularly dangerous if the samosa is hot as it will burn your tongue and any skin inside your mouth the paste comes in contact with. So please be patient with your samosa and please blow a little before biting each morsel and enjoy a slow heaven inside your mouth.

Chutney: The chutney will always be tomato ki chutney with some kind of semi-solid substance. I have never been able to decode the semi-solid substance but I bet it is the left over dhokla added in mixture of tomatoes, gud and a little bit of chilies as you will feel a bit of a tinge on your tongue. Often, the chutney is much more tastier than the samosa and can be had with a variety of other snacks.

How to Locate: The person giving the samosa will always be in a dirty, if not torn baniyan. The person sitting at the counter will always ask for 1 rupee or 2 rupee change, after that exasperated will ask for 5 rupee change. The area around the store will be sticky and there will be a water ki taki with a leaking tap. If you visit the store often, you are bound to find gujju aunties asking for snacks other than samosa

When you see all the above indicators, you can be assured that you have come to the right place for a perfect gujju samosaJ

Special Note: Please ask for extra chutney and you will have a large portion of it. The store is very liberal in serving the chutney. You can even ask for 2 packs of chutney with one parcel samosa. The samosa also tastes good with fried chilies.

The Ghati Samosa

The Ghati Samosa will have a tough outer crust and if not bitten carefully can hurt the top of your mouth to the point where the skin comes off. The stuffing will be peas and potato bhaji with red masala and will be extremely spicy. The common belief in the maker’s mind is that the samosa is a hot item and the eater should have a holistic experience from being served hot to the stuffing being made fiery hot. The lal masala is what gives the stuffing in ghati samosa the red color. It will invariably have a few coriander leaves. The size of the samosa will be slightly bigger than the Punjabi or the gujju samosa. The peas will be semi cooked and sometimes overcooked. It will give you an altogether different taste from the above 2 types of samosas and you will enjoy it if you have a palate for spicy stuff.

Chutney: The chutney will be the same that is provided along with the delicious vada pav served at the same gaadi. It will be cripy, sand dry and red in color, but less fiery than expected. Sometimes, if the gaadi or tapri is famous in the area then you will find a degraded version of the Punjabi imli ki chutney and green coriander chutney. Both the liquid chutneys are watery and have a faint hint of respective tastes.

How to Locate: The famous vada pav ki gaadi or tapri are best places for finding the ghati samosa. The word “famous” is very important because the simple vada pav ki gaadi will not sell samosas, they will stick to the pav and vada. The famous gaadi or tapri will add samosa as a second option.

When you smell vadas from a distance before reaching the gaadi, and when after having gone half way through your samosa you realize you are going to need a cold drink or lime juice to cool your insides, know that you have been overwhelmed by a ghati samosaJ

Special Note: The samosas can also be had with fried chilies available at the gaadi. Please note the color of the chilies, the dark greener the color, the more hot is the chily.

The Madrasi Samosa

The Madrasi Samosa will have a tougher outer crust as if to emphasize the extreme softness of the idli and the medu vada in comparison. You will find the flour sticking in your teeth as the samosa is not fresh, it does not stand competition in comparison with idli, vada and coconut chutney. The stuffing will be a mixture of red and yellow color, more biased towards yellow. It will be shallow tasting with occasional mustard seeds and a distant glimpse of the garam masala used in the sambur. Someone with a flair for north Indian stuff might add a few peas. Special importance is given to the shape of the samosa and it will never resemble the Punjabi samosa.

Chutney: The chutney will always be green coconut chutney that you would have eaten with the idlis. The tomato chutney served with vada sambur will also be there but will not be served with the samosa.

How to Locate:  The Madrasi category consists of Udupi, Chettinad, Decan and Mallu restaurants. So if you are at any of these restaurants and want to have a different taste from the regular masala dosa, uttapa, idli and vada, please have an item called Neer dosa if it is available with coconut and tomato chutney and potato masala. Please try items called as idly fry or idly chilly if you want to try something different.

The types of restaurants mentioned above will have the samosa, but they will also have 20 other items that can be snacked upon J

Special Note: The samosas will always be stale, because nobody goes to a madrasi restaurant to have a samosa. Madras is best known for filter coffee.