Thai samosas, again! At Amarin Thai on Castro Street, Mountain View. I liked these much better as they were spicy, stuffed with potatoes and came with a intriguing sauce/chutney - the red one that you can see in the picture. 

Official version Mixed potato, vegetable oil with curry powder sauce wrapped with a flour paper and deep-fried

A Thai samosa at Sweet Basil Thai in Foster City. The samosas were small, crispy and sweet. And no, I am not too fond of sweet samosas :( 

Official version Crispy wrap with mixed potato, onion and curry powder

Finally! An Indian samosa! There are zillions of Chaat houses in Fremont (and no, I have NOT been to all of them) but Chaat Bhavan is pretty legitimate. A simple hot samosa, with the traditional combination of a spicy green chutney and a sweet chutney - on a stainless steel plate - what more could you ask for? You get two of these too! Seriously, just go there!

Official version two crispy shells stuffed with potatoes & peas with chutney

A sambosa at Cafe Sophia - an Afghani restaurant in Palo Alto. This was similar to the previous Sambusak…a bit like the Indian puff and stuffed with spinach and feta cheese. Here the sambosa is on top of a Bolani and the dumplings are called Ashak. Don’t miss the Afghani Chai if you go here…out of this world!

Official version A puff pastry filled with baby spinach and feta cheese, baked to perfection.

A sambusak at Dish Dash in Sunnyvale. Looks & feels like the Indian puff, but is stuffed with spinach and feta cheese. Surprisingly its a whole entree by itself and not just an appetizer. Three of them will definitely fill you up! Not spicy, not sweet either. 

Official version Spinach, mushrooms, onions, almonds and feta cheese wrapped in filo dough, and served with a special tahini-herb sauce.

An Ethiopian sambussa, at Zeni’s in San Jose. Looks just like the Indian puff, tastes a bit sweet on the outside but gets spicy in the interior. I had one that was stuffed with veggies and sprouted lentils. A bit expensive at $3 each. Thanks to Janice on Yelp for the pic

Official version Thin dough shells stuffed with lentils, onion, hot green & herbs. This meatless dish is lightly deep fried in vegetable oil to a golden perfection

A Burmese samusa, from the Green Elephant Gourmet in Palo Alto. It is smaller than the Indian counterpart, but very similar in taste. Stuffed with potatoes and veggies, it was a pleasure to eat with the sauce that came along with it.

Official version  Burmese raviolis filled with curry spices and potatoes.

What are samosas?

If you don’t know what samosas are, you should read the wiki. Depending on where you are from, you will realize that a lot of people in the world eat samosas. Until a month back, I had had only the Indian variety - and when I tried reading up about its history I realized that it has been around for quite some time and part of a lot of cultures in the world. This blog is my attempt to eat different kinds of samosas available in the Bay Area at different restaurants and share my reviews. 

Why samosas?

They are DELICIOUS, that is why!

If you are looking for just Indian samosas the following links may be useful:

• Discussion on Chow
• Discussion on Yelp for East Bay
• I wish I had attended this Samosa Rolling Contest