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November 4. 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Noah Merali Staff Writer
I
grew up making samosas with my nani, or grandmother, and I loved it. I would watch her carefully fold the sheets of dough into pockets, stuff them with spiced ground meat, and seal them while she told me stories about her childhood in Kenya. I sat patiently as she made what seemed like dozens of samosas before we got to my favourite part: biting into a freshly fried, crispy samosa (and almost always burning my mouth). However, despite my love for the food, I never wanted to eat one in primary school. None of the other kids knew what they were and I feared being branded an outcast. My culture’s food felt like just another reminder that I didn’t belong. When I started studying at McGill last year, samosa sales shocked me. I was surprised to learn that samosas were widely known on campus but I was also surprised that they were not the samosas I grew up with. The samosas that are (perhaps unhealthily) consumed by McGill students are large pastries stuffed with potatoes and spices, but these samosas are just one variant of many. The evolution and history of this millenium-old snack are both closely tied to the exploration, growth, and colonization of India. Surprisingly, the humble comfort food we know now had vastly different origins. First described as the sanbosag in the 11th century, it was a delicacy commonly served in the royal court of the Ghaznavid Empire, encompassing an area of the modern-day Middle-East. The
features
sanbosag was a fried pastry made with minced meats and dried fruits and nuts. Its ingredients spoke to its purpose: it was a dish fit for a king. Other reports say that the sanbosag – also referred to as the sanbusak or the sanbusaj – was commonly eaten by merchants who carried these triangular snacks through their travels across Asia and Northern Africa. From its origins, the samosa has been a universal food beloved by all, even in a form we do not yet recognize.
As empires fought and traded, the sanbosag was shared betwen peoples and brought with traders as they made their way across the continent and towards India. As empires fought and traded, the sanbosag was shared between peoples and brought with traders as they made their way across the continent and towards India. Over the years, migrants changed the sanbosag to fit their needs; this is when it began to approach the samosa we know and love. Pushpesh Pant, former professor of International Relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University, says that along the way – around
modern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – the samosa changed from a royal snack to “a crude peasant dish.” It became more rudimentary and far easier to prepare. This iteration of the samosa did away with the fancy fruits and nuts, instead making use of roughly ground goat or lamb that was seasoned only with onions and salt. The samosa was no longer a regal pastry, but rather a hearty snack that a shepherd could take out into the field. Not only did this evolution serve as a testament to the samosa’s adaptability, it also allowed it to become a cheap street food that was accessible to anyone.
It’s not just the spices: everything from the texture of the filling to the dish’s social purpose can vary between regions. Centuries after its departure from the Middle East, between the 1200s and 1500s, the samosa finally arrived in South Asia. From there, it became a microcosm of the rich cultural landscape of India. It was quickly adopted as a fast food and then adapted to fit the purposes, tastes and resources of various Indian regions. This
is the source of the wide variety of modern Indian samosas, from where it grew and developed by adapting to the unique spice mixes and flavour profiles of regional cuisines. In the 16th century, the Indian samosa was once again revolutionized when Portuguese traders introduced the potato to the Indian subcontinent. Whether it is chopped or mashed, potatoes are an integral part of many samosa recipes, proving once again how the samosa envelops cultures and embraces innovation. It’s not just the spices: everything from the texture of the filling to the dish’s social purpose can vary between regions. In some parts of India, samosas are quite filling and can serve as a whole meal, while in other parts, the samosa has returned to its elevated status and become a light cocktail party finger food instead. In some regions of India, like Hyderabad, the samosa stays true to its Middle-Eastern roots; in Punjab, no samosa is complete without paneer (cheese). However, though this variation continues even today, this is by no means the end of the story for the samosa and for the Indian people. In the early 18th century, when British interests took hold of the subcontinent, India was unwillingly connected to a larger network of cultures. As Indians were relocated throughout the British Empire, often as slaves or indentured
As Indians were relocated throughout the British Empire, often as slaves or indentured servants, they looked to their food as a way of retaining their culture. servants, they looked to their food as a way of retaining their culture. The British colonial system encouraged the spread of samosas to a variety of English-speaking countries like Canada and the USA, where they are commonly served as exotic hors d’oeuvres at parties. Before they came to those countries, they were brought elsewhere by displaced people in an attempt to reconnect with their homes. The samosas that I grew up with come from East Africa. Some of the first Indians in Africa were the tens of thousands of slaves, indentured servants, and other labourers who were brought over by the British Empire to either work in sugarcane plantations in South