Samosa

A samosa (/səˈmoʊsə/) or samoosa is a fried or baked pastry with a savoury filling, such as spiced potatoes, onions, peas, lentils, macaroni, noodles, and/or minced meat (lamb, beef or chicken).Pine nuts can also be added. The samosa is claimed to have originated in Central Asia. Its size and consistency may vary, but typically it is distinctly triangular or tetrahedral in shape. Indian samosas are usually vegetarian, and often accompanied by a mint sauce (raita) or chutney. Samosas are a popular entrée, appetizer or snack in the local cuisines of the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean, the Horn of Africa, East Africa and North Africa. Due to cultural diffusion and emigration from these areas, samosas in today's world are also prepared in other regions.

Name variation

Samosa (/səˈmoʊsə/; Punjabi: ਸਮੋਸਾ smosa, Sanskrit: शृङ्गाटकं, Hindi: समोसा, Manipuri: Singhara, Nepali: समोसा, Urdu: سموسہ‎) is generally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Other names are used in other areas (Arabic: سمبوسك‎ sambūsak, Sinhalese: සමොසා, Hebrew: סמבוסק‎ sambusak, Gujarati: સમોસા samosa, Kannada: ಸಮೋಸಾ samosa, Malayalam: സമോസ, Marathi: सामोसा, Persian: سمبوسه‎‎, Tamil: சமோசா, Telugu: సమోసా, Urdu: سموسه‎ samosa, samsa (pronounced [ˈsamsə]) or somsa in Turkic Central Asia (Kazakh: самса, [sɑmsɑ́], Kyrgyz: самса, [sɑ́msɑ], Uzbek: 'somsa', [sɒmsa], Uyghur: سامسا‎, [sɑmsɑ́]) and Turkey (Turkish: samsa böreği), sambusa (among Arabs, the Swahili, Djiboutians, Eritreans, Ethiopians, Somalis (Somali: sambuus) and Tajiks (Tajik: самбӯса)), sanbusé (Persian: سنبوسه‎‎; among Iranians), samosha (Burmese: စမူဆာ, IPA: [sʰəmùzà]; among Burmese), sambosa ([sam͡bosḁ]; among the Malagasy) or chamuça (among the Portuguese-speaking world).