Love, InshAllah
Now that I’ve managed to sit through my very first scary movie without wetting myself, I’m feeling pretty brave, and dare I say, excited for another. It’s the first time in my life where I’m actually looking forward to watching a scary movie as opposed to digging my heels in with a big fat no. Hey, look at me – all grown up.
In case you’re wondering, the movie was The Conjuring. I’m not saying I’m suddenly into scary movies, but I kind of feel cheated by the experience. All that build up and it just falls flat like that? I waited 10 years! But, if I hadn’t watched the movie, then I never would have discovered there was actually nothing to be afraid of. I would probably have continued avoiding them for another 10 years … thanks, Edward Scissorhands. Yeah, I know, they’re just movies. Humour me. I’m now turning to good old Wikipedia for a reliable and much scarier alternative.
I’m the kind of person who will try anything once, which probably explains why my bucket list is so long. I think it’s important to welcome new experiences and try different things otherwise you’ll never know how you really feel about them, or the ways they may change you and your life. You could spend 10 years thinking you would absolutely hate pottery classes, only to give it a go one day and decide it’s actually pretty fun. And, hey, don’t them sunflowers look just great in your lopsided vase on the mantle like that? Also, I just added pottery classes to my list. Does anyone want to come with me for lopsided bowls and a mud fight? Other things on my list range from hot air balloon rides, cycling through Amsterdam and horse riding, to things like camping, learning to ride a bike, and trying marmite.
I’ve only been ice skating once in my life. I spent most of the time holding on to the edge, and the one time I felt brave (and stupid) and decided to wander into the middle of the rink, my legs turned to jelly and I fell on my butt. I couldn’t sit down for the next 2 weeks, and decided I would not be going again. Whilst I was in Italy in August I ate octopus and decided it tasted like rubber. But I also tried mussles and apple-flavoured ice cream and my body weight in olives and decided I liked them. Especially the ice cream.
Other firsts: I’ve said yes to climbing a mountain (gah, my legs), and to touching (and living with) a cat. Yes to baking for fundraisers, and to volunteering with terminally ill patients, mentally ill patients, and deaf children. Yes to running around dressed as fairy (the wings were impractical, but fun), and yes to commuting for two hours (it’s tiring but I finally have time to read – so much excitement over my next Amazon delivery!). Yes to canvas painting, and to violin lessons. Yes to being an agony aunt, and to running around London pretending to be a French tourist (oui, oui). Yes to being a bridesmaid, and to having dinner with a cult for (still the strangest experience of my life). Yes to using a big girl camera, to being blindfolded in a forest for a trust exercise, and on to so so so many more other yeses.
I hope I never lose that part of me. The part that likes to say yes and tries new things, forcing me out of my comfort zone. That curious nature that wonders and explores. Some of these things changed my life, and some had no real affect at all. Also, some were kind of stupid, but, hey, I had fun and that counts for a lot. Trying blogging changed my life, but I gave up canvas painting after a couple of years, and I never got past my first violin lesson. Either way, I’m glad for all the experiences, and even more so for the people I’ve done them with or met because of them. I’ve been so blessed.
The first time I tried chocolate samosas was at the halal food festival, and it didn’t take me long to come home and try to make them myself. When I first told my family about them and fried up a batch, they were really reluctant to give them a go. Samosas are meant to be savoury! Okay, yeah, but let’s break the rules and eat about a dozen of these for dinner.
They said yes, gave chocolate samosas a go, and loved them. My kitchen currently resembles a samosa factory. We made chicken filled ones last week, a mixed vegetable batch a couple of days ago, and as I write this, there is a pack of samosa pastry defrosting by my side ready to be filled with cheese. But after the success of my chocolate samosas, I decided to try something a little different. Because you know what’s better than chocolate samosas? Chocolate AND CARAMEL samosas. Not convinced? Just say yes!
Traditionally we only make samosas for Eid in my family, so that’s twice a year. But I think I’ll be coming up with all sorts of excuses to make these caramel ones all year round.
As I mentioned in my last samosa post, people do fold the pastry sheet in different ways to make the ‘pocket’. The instructions below for making the pocket are slightly different to the ones for my chocolate samosa but either way works. Choose the one you prefer, or if you have your own way of creating the pocket then roll with that. Just make sure all the corners are sealed well or the caramel will leak out.
{RECIPE}: CHOCOLATE AND CARAMEL SAMOSA
Serves: 20
55g plain flour
12-15 tbsp water
20 sheets of spring roll/samosa pastry measuring approx. 20cm x 20cm
20 caramel squares or caramel truffles (I’ve used truffles but either one will work)
100g milk chocolate, roughly chopped
In a bowl, combine the flour and water to form a paste. The paste should be ‘gloopy’. If it’s too thick add a bit more water or if it’s too runny then add a bit more flour – adjust until you get the desired consistency.
Take 1 sheet of pastry and fold it into a third and place it horizontally in front of you.
To create the ‘pocket’ – spread some of the paste along the left hand edge and half way along the top edge (so a right-angle of paste along the left side of the rectangle). Take hold of the top left corner and fold towards you in a slant to the right, until the corner you are holding meets the bottom edge (the bottom left corner should now have ended up folded past the bottom edge).
Spread paste along the remaining half of the top edge and fold this in a slant across the previously folded region to form a point at the top, making sure the edges align. Turn it around – you should find that you’ve created a ‘pocket’. Place the caramel chocolate into the pocket, as well as some chopped milk chocolate.
Spread paste over the regions of pastry outside the pocket, and fold the triangle of filling continuously across the length of pastry in a ‘flip flop’ until you get to the end. Make your folds as tight as possible, making sure all point are sealed off and be careful not to let any filling spill out. The caramel square/truffle might give the samosa a bit of a funny shape but try to work it into a triangle.
Repeat above steps until all the pastry sheets have been used.
Fry in hot oil for approx. 5 minutes or until they’ve turned golden brown on the outside. Best served warm.
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Adapted from the author’s food blog, Your Sunny Side Up.
Nazia was born, raised, and still resides in London. Her favourite food in the whole wide world is toasted buttered bread, which she sometimes eats at every meal of the day. Her second favourite food is cheese. Besides spending a lot of time in the kitchen, she also really likes reading, writing, taking photographs, quirky socks, Chinese food, stealing rocks from places she visits (it’s not really stealing), wedges (not to be confused with wedgies), mornings, nail polish, washing dishes, pyjama bottoms, the colour yellow, making lists, rainstorms, handwritten letters, coffee, autumn, chewing gum, action movies and comedies, storytelling, and more.
Connect with Nazia on her social networks – the facebook page, twitter,instagram and pinterest.
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