MUSING - SOME MORE SIR?

The writing is clear on the wall. “The regime must go…as a custodian of mass destruction, a threat to humanity…” Wait! It is neither Saddam nor Bush. With just a tiny grenade sized weapon, that hits you right below the belt, this latest bully around the block has quickly assumed to be a solid threat and literally so.Watching the twin towers crumble like a pack of cards might have been painful, but no less agonizing is the sudden appearance of a twin tyre around the midriff one would agree The telltale sign of a billowing belly may as well suggest that you are its latest victim. So watch out!

The Samosa has seen better days but with the dieticians at its heels it is planning to do what most men on the wanted list do. Make a hasty retreat, go underground, play it safe and just hibernate before it suffers further ignominy. Armed to their teeth, health experts have sent out a war cry In UK recently. Statutory caution like cigarettes, "Harmful to health!!! Contains *** calories, that can damage your heart ", is likely to stamp these lip smacking, soft potato filled, deep-fried, cone shaped, munchies into some insufferable troublemaker forever.

How it came upon such notoriety all of a sudden is not hard to surmise. For Pan America and UK, it was enough to be tackling with evils like Terrorism and Recession. Recently one more geek topped the list. Namely Atkins! The focus suddenly shifted from their homes and their jobs to their food! The most unpalatable of them all was perhaps the last - The fact that their staple diet of bread and cheese, mashed potato and pasta are equally if not more harmful than the terrorists looming large and the South Asians taking over their jobs. A regular deep-fried Samosa - crispy on the outside and filled with high-carb potato – is as dangerous as the limpid eyed Ladin, it was quickly declared.

Albeit the writing on the wall one is tempted to be the devil’s advocate, making some allowance for the Samosa, which lies so defamed today. Hardly anyone reading this article, can ignore the fond memories, an ordinary samosa can conjure. The hot cuppas, with the cricket matches and rainy days, the first tentative dates of runaway college students, the flushing brand new brides culinary expertise, the aroma of a vacation with mummy toiling in the kitchen, all weave around the familiar picture of a samosa. From the far and away times, as long as one can remember, it was always there, readily available in the nearest sweet shop, to spice up an ordinary day into an extraordinary one.

This medieval cuisine gradually migrated towards the occident with the Aryans. From just a little something to munch upon when you are peckish to a favourite hors du oeuvre, during the Mughal times, Samosas have had a rich history of transmutation. From an entrée item, it soon came to be served as meal in itself, mixed with local specialties. Traditionally made with pork or chicken based meat filling it even turned vegetarian to suit the palate of the Brahmins. These deep-fried pastry pockets which can be filled with local delicacies soon became a favourite snack throughout East Africa, Asia and Europe. Slipping effortlessly into the local fare, it became a gastronomes delight. From the corner shops to the mobile snack bars, samosas, were everywhere at a licking distance. They survived the march of time with great ingenuity. Invited to tables under the names of Bestels or Briouattes during the great Barbarian invasions, to Samousas and Sambouksas or Shingara of now, it changed its name to suit its appearance as a savoury and sweet meat with equal ease and nonchalance.
India has been harbouring it for the longest time and even funding its diabolic designs-Allowing it to be repacked (from the magnum to the tiny cocktail ones) and reselling it to a larger market (even to the Middle East as Indian Samousas today). Quickly crossing borders, trampling over the nutrifreaks worst fears, invading foreign tastes, the Samosa gradually garnered a certain mass appeal. Precisely why the experts foment, “Its extraterritorial ambitions are no less than Hitler and almost as diabolic.”

Riding the wave of the LOW-CARB revolution, trying to catch a piece of the pie is once again, yours only “ the Samosa”. Of all the morphed and cloned savouries that has trickled in to replace the flour based ones like Atkins bread, muffin and cheesecake mixes, the Samosa is unmistakably the leader amongst the Asian snacks. Just as the experts had dreaded the new incarnation of a Samosa is ready for a makeover. Jini’s Ethnic Gourmet in faraway Vancouver BC is busy revamping the humble East Indian SAMOSA. “ It is notorious for its fat and carb content and will throw any dieter over the edge but my friends still love it for several reasons”, Jini says. It is a favourite for picnics and school tiffins and evening snacks. You can refrigerate it and use almost any filling of your choice, which makes it extremely user friendly. “But you can’t enjoy eating anything that prompts you to break into a skipping rope.” Jini’s reformed samosas are the LOW FAT and the LOW-CARB ones “ wrapped in a special whole-wheat wrapper and choc full of wholesome low-carb vegetables and soy protein”.
Well don’t even hazard a guess on how it may taste. It’s a smart move that’s about all. Shows how the Samosa’s isn’t ready to get into a “sink hole” yet. Be happy it is running the race or simply lament this strange transmutation – “The good old Samosa on the verge of extinction, over some half-baked notions,” as some would put it!
Anyway if India is sweating it was just the Cricket matches and the shooting mercury. Fortunately for us from Gol Market to Hog Market, from Crawford to Guindy, the wafting smell of the GJams (gulabjamuns) and the hot Sams (garam samosas) will be an aide memoir of India’s unique quality to survive the worst. . In the long list of Terrorism, Recession, Atkins, or a bad Innings, just add one more - the sinful Samosa. We will survive them all.