How I love Chicken Samosas… and how I missed them!
You can find Chicken Samosas or Chamuças de Galinha in every Portuguese cafe menu. It’s the result of our hybrid Indian-Portuguese cuisine, due to Portuguese presence in Goa in the 16th Century, where Chicken Samosas are hugely popular. We eat them cold as a quick snack and they are addictive so I definitely had to create my own gluten free and low FODMAP version! I was facing two big challenges
First challenge:
The dough is usually hand made with regular flour and deep fried or replaced with filo pastry and baked in the oven. Needless to say that both options are a no-no for gluten intolerants such as myself. So, to be able to enjoy them this summer, I got the inspiration from Sarah´s Spring Samosas, where she substitutes the pastry for rice paper wrappers. Genious!
Second challenge:
Traditionally, samosas are doused with curry powder (which normally contains garlic) and loaded with onions and peas (both high FODMAP vegetables). So I´ve carefully selected the spices to create a low FODMAP curry and the veggies to create a gut friendly filling.
I am quite pleased with the final result, even if I do miss the chunchyness of the original pastry. One point in favor of this version is that, because they are much healthier, you can eat half a dozen with no guilt 😉
Chicken Summer Samosas
Ingredients
- 8 round rice paper wrappers for spring rolls 8.5” / 22cm
- 10 oz | 300 g lean ground chicken
- 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
- 1 garlic clove with skin crushed (for infusing)
- 1 tsp ginger
- Big pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp mustard
- 1 chili pepper seeds and membrane removed and minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil or ghee
- 1 medium carrot diced in small cubes
- 1 small red bell pepper seeded and diced in small cubes
- 1/2 cup | 15 gr. fresh parsley chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh mint chopped (optional)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan, infuse the crushed garlic with skin in the ghee (or olive oil) on a fairly low hear for 2 minutes. Remove the garlic clove.
- Add ground chicken and saute for 8-10 min until chicken is dry and cooked through, stirring occasionally and breaking up lumps. Add ginger and salt and saute for 5 minutes more.
- For the curry, start by adding the cumin seeds and sizzle them for 30 sec. Add in the turmeric, mustard and chili, give everything a good stir and reduce heat to medium-low.
- In the meantime, warm olive oil (or ghee) in a deep non stick skillet set over medium-high heat.
- Add in the diced carrot and bell pepper and sautée for 5-10 minutes, or until cooked and still crunchy.
- Place the vegetables in the pan where the chicken has been cooking and mix until just combined.
- Fold in fresh parsley, mint and lemon juice, stir and remove from heat.
- Pour 2 inches/ 5 cm of warm water into a large shallow dish. One at a time, place a rice paper wrap in the water and let soften, just until it becomes pliable (this step is important! Do not let the paper become completely soggy or the rice paper will split. There should still be some pattern visible on the surface). Remove from water and place rice paper on a clean, flat surface. Using a very sharp knife or a pizza cutter, slice the rice paper circle in half. On each half, place a generous scoop of the filling. Carefully fold it, creating a triangle. Fold the top of the package to seal it, and flip it over. Repeat steps with the remaining rice paper and filling.
Adoro somosas! Estou dando 5 estrelas adiantado, pois tenho certeza de que vou gostar desta receita maravilhosa que evita aqueles alimentos que me fazemtanto mal. Obrigada, Joana!
Espero que goste, Marisa 🙂
Hello Joana, I love this healthier version of Samosa using rice paper. My kids love rice paper wraps so I think it is a great light dish to cook for my family! I am thinking it could also be a good idea to make a vegetarian version using hard tofu.
Hard tofu sounds great and I´m sure they´re going to be as flavorful. Not sure if the kids like curry, though 😉 Let me know how it went. Beijinhos!
They sound yummy and I will be trying them. Garlic is excluded from the FODMAP information I have from Monash university. I definitely react very badly to garlic but I have found I can add flavour in other ways e.g. With the green parts of spring/ green onions.
Hi Mel. Garlic infused oil is perfectly safe and a great trick to learn on the low FODMAP diet. Just make sure to follow the recipe and discard the garlic clove before adding in any other ingredient. Cheers!
Do the samosas freeze well? (Before baking)
I would say no because rice paper rolls are very fragile and thin.
Hi Joana, n’ayant pas tous les ingrédients sous la main, j’ai un peu modifié la recette mais ce fut quand même un vrai DELICE!
Notre petit Luca a même demandé s’il pouvait en apporter à l’école demain pour le goûter!
Tx very much !
🙂 merci, Rosa. Very happy to hear your kid loved it too. Xo