I am going to keep making tropical food until this damn winter ends!

Ok, I love Indian food. I love to make it, eat it, be in restaurants where it is being prepared, etc. I live in North Western Wisconsin, few options........

As it turns out, it is on of the easiest cuisines to cook provided you have the ingredients. Find a good Indian grocery and stock up, or else as with everything else in this world, go on line and have the nice dude from UPS deliver it to you. What you see before me is a Somosa filled with sweet potato, and mango. prep time on this baby is about 30 minutes, with another 20 for assembly and sides, and finally 25 minutes to bake. Try these dishes, I won't beat you down with heavy technique just yet!

Samosa Dough

2 1/4 cups unbleached AP flour

1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

1 Egg

1/3 cup water

1 Tbs. Cider vinegar

technique: Sift flour into large bowl. Add salt and cubed butter. Work butter with fingers until well blended. In a seperate bowl, mix egg, water, and vinegar and whisk together. Form a dough ball and chill for 1 hour.

Samosa Filling

2 lbs Sweet potato (peeled and cubed)

1/4 lb dried mango (fine dice)

1 lg. Onion

1 tsp. Tumeric

1 tsp. Garam masala

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. Red pepper flakes

1 Tbs. Raw sugar (I used Palm sugar)

2 Tbs. Vegetable oil (I used Canola)

Technique: Peel the potatos and boil until soft. Dice the onion and mango and saute in the oil until just soft. Add spices and sugar to the mixture and saute for 2 minutes. Add sweet potatoes and mash.

Assembly: On a floured surface, roll out an egg sized wad of dough into a disc about 6 inches in diameter. Apply filling to the center, wash the edges with egg whites, and fold over. Fold the bottom lip over the top and crimp together. Apply egg wash to the samosa and bake at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. I usually apply the egg wash a time or two while they cook.

I served this with cilantro rice, and a simple mango salsa. Great vegetarian dinner with world class!