samosa mexicana

I always feel a certain sense of nostalgia come Cinco de Mayo.  In elementary school, we used to get Cinco de Mayo cookies and decorate colorful tissue paper... just a few of the cherished memories from this holiday.  The little things.

In recent years though, my colorful crafts and cookies have long been replaced with tequila-induced nights, New York priced tacos, and a few more hangovers than I like but still I am always up for celebrating.

These past few weeks I've been trying to come up with a recipe for Cinco de Mayo -- Tacos?  Tortilla soup?  Burritos?  Predictable.  Perhaps Mexican cookies?  Horchata?

My notebook was filled with scribbles of ideas and I was on the brink of giving up, but somewhere between uninspired and a plate of Indian food, Samosa Mexicana was born.  A mexican-inspired filling of spicy shrimp, creamy avocado, black beans, and corn, tucked  inside a crispy spring roll wrapper and topped with some fresh salsa.  Maybe one of my favorite recipes till date...

Okay, so you're probably thinking these are really hard to make or maybe you're slightly intimidated, but that's why you have me!  I've broken down everything for you to try these step-by-step.

Trust me, the end results are worth it.

-- Samosa Mexicana makes 30, total time: 1-2 hours

INGREDIENTS 1 pound of raw shrimp, cleaned 1 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp chili powder 1 tbsp garlic powder 1 tbsp salt Pepper, to taste 1-2 avocados, pitted and removed from skin 1 can of salt-free organic black beans OR 1 cup of dried black beans 2 ears of corn 1/2 cup of white onion, finely chopped 5-7 Serrano peppers, optional Macadamia oil or vegetable oil, for frying 15 spring roll wrappers, defrosted 2 tbsp of all-purpose flour 1 tbsp of water

SOME PREP WORK -  Coarsely chop shrimp into smaller pieces, down to the size of 1/3 the shrimp. -  Boil corn and remove from cob.  Set aside to cool. -  Prepare beans according to package, skip this step if you're using canned black beans.  Set aside to cool.

INSTRUCTIONS Preheat oven at 350.  Wrap serrano pepper in tin foil.  Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes.  Skip this step if you don't want it spicy.

Prepare spring roll wrappers -  Line a plate with a warm, damp towel.  Then, using a knife cut wrappers diagonally from top left corner to bottom right corner, creating two symmetrical triangular pieces.  Place into a stack, then onto the towel-lined plate.  Place another damp towel over triangles.  Set aside.

Make the filling -  in a medium bowl, combine cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper with shrimp, making sure shrimp are well coated.  Heat oil in a medium saucepan on medium-low.  Add onions and cook until translucent, about 3-5 minutes.  Add shrimp to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl, add beans and corn.  Set aside to cool.  

Remove peppers from oven, give them a rough chop, and add to shrimp mix.  Add avocado and gently toss together.

In a small bowl, combine water and flour.  This will act as a sealing agent for the samosas.  Make sure has a medium consistency and it's not watery.

Prepare work station.  I like to put the wrappers on the left, a cutting board in the middle, and the filling and flour mixture in front of me and an empty baking tray or plate to place wrapped samosas.  Follow the wrapping instructions below for the samosas (see here).

1.  Place one wrapper on a flat surface with the base of the triangle facing you. 2.  Take the left corner and pull toward the top right of the triangle. 3.  Fold the right bottom corner over that. 4.  The fold should create a point/ cone shape at the bottom. 5.  Gently hold the cone in the palm of your hand with all three corners out. 6.  Add 1-1 1/2 tablespoon of the filling into the cone. 7.  Fold in the bottom right and left corners, add flour mixture to the top point of the triangle. 8.  Fold the final (top) corner towards you to seal the samosa.

* If there are any holes in the corners, simply take the flour mixture and fill it.  This will prevent the samosa from leaking when it's being fried.

Once you've wrapped the samosas.  Heat a non-stick pan of oil add 2-3 samosas at a time and fry till golden brown.  Let cool and serve with this salsa.