Samosa Recipe

Samosas are one of my favorite snacks; great for vegetarian visitors too!

Filling
5 medium potatoes
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 tsp cumin seed
1 tbs chopped fresh ginger
3/4 c frozen green peas
2 tsp salt
1 tbs coriander powder
1 hot green chile
1 tsp mango powder
1 tbs garam masala (equal parts cumin, black pepper, cardamom, a dash of cloves, cinnamon,
ginger powder and one bay leaf)
1/4 cup water

Dough
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 c water


Cook potatoes in boiling water until tender. Cut into 1/2 in pieces. Heat a little vegetable oil (1/4cup) in a frying pan over medium heat. Add cumin seeds (or cumin if you don't have seeds) and ginger for under one minute. Add potatoes and peas and stir.

Ad the salt, coriander, green chile, mango powder and garam masala. Mix and stir in water. Cover and cook for 2-3 min. Stir and let stand for 5 min. Let cool.

For dough
Mix flour, salt and oil. Add water gradually as you mix. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until dough becomes smooth and soft. Divide into 10 balls.

Assembly
Roll each ball into a (fairly flat and large-6 in maybe) circle and cut each in half. Take one half circle, dip your finger in water and run it along the straight (cut) edge. Fold in half, joining the straight edges to make a cone. Seal edges tightly and then fill with filling. dip finger in water and run along the open edges and seal tightly.

Cooking
Heat oil in frying pan (about 1/3 c) on medium until hot. Fry until light golden brown; approximately 4 minutes on each side. Serve with cilantro chutney:
Chutney
1 small bunch cilantro
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 or 2 hot green chiles
1 tsp salt
3 tbs lemon juice
Cut majority of cilantro stems off. Place ingredients in food processor and grind into a smooth paste. If you don't have a processor, mince all until smooth.

*Recipe taken from "New Indian Home Cooking" by Madhu Gadia. These will not disappoint!

My Des Moines Commute

As I cannot drive (see Rob's OWI Weekend), I have been inclined to explore the public transportation system in Des Moines, IA. This issue (public transportation) has been on the political register hotlist for some time, yet it remains underdeveloped in most mid-sized American cities. Des Moines is not in any way a "walkable" city, thus most of its inhabitants use personal automobiles for transportation.

The bus system in Des Moines is not as comprehensive as bus systems in other cities, nor is service as frequent. However, I am impressed with the core bus lines which run through the city limits; suburbs are not legitimate communities so their access to public transportation is not important. My office at the Alliance for Retired Americans is 6.5 miles from my house, and the nearest bus stop is about 4 blocks from my house. I ride my bike to the bus stop, which takes approximately 3 minutes, and my arrival bus stop is equidistant from my workplace, requiring similar bike time.

Des Moines, following the model of many progressive public transportation systems, has bike racks on all of its buses, which makes it easy for me to utilize supplementary transportation (walking from bus stop to bus stop would perhaps double the commute). It's great; I ride-I get on-I get off. The total commute takes just under 40 minutes. This may seem like a lot of time since Des Moines is so small, but comparatively, it's great! To travel the same distance in the New York metro area would take over an hour. Bottom line- I encourage you, my fellow Americans, to utilize public transportation in your community. You will not only save on insurance/car payments but you will also reduce pollution and improve an incipient industry in your community. Now if only the Des Moines bus would run past 8:00 pm...

I LOVE HOOTIEVILLE

Hootieville is the greatest, best bluegrass festival in all of Rockbridge county, in the course of covering the weekends events, I got a couple gems, here's one.