Burmese Samusa Soup

 

 Sharing borders with India, China, Laos and Thailand, Burmese cuisine is inevitably influenced by the spices, seasonings, ingredients and cooking styles of its neighbors. Yet it is the way that these ingredients are combined which make Burmese dishes unique.

 Most Myanmar people regard soup as an indispensable component of a meal, possibly because Myanmar people do not normally drink wine, or even a glass of water at meals . Good spicy soups not only facilitate the dining process but also stimulate the appetite of diners. Sometimes, when soup is not available at the meal and the dishes are too dry, a hot cup of green tea is served instead.

 There are many different styles of soup. There are sweet broths that are clear and bland and contain meat or fish and certain vegetables. There are bitter soups that are also clear but peppery and spicy, usually to go with salads as a fast food combination. Some soups are rather sour and made so with the aid of tamarind pulp or tomato. They mostly contain vegetables to lessen the richness of a meal. Finally, there are bean soups of various kinds that are thick and tasty and usually splashed over rice as a dampener.

Coming to their street food, they have a variety of dishes.

Street food is varied, accessible and inexpensive. For today it is their Samusa Soup or Samusa Thouk as they call it.

Samusa soup consists of a flaky samosa pastry that's dunked in a spicy lentil soup and served with shredded cabbage. Although there are many variations on the soup, it's usually prepared with a combination of lentils, black chickpeas, red chili peppers, onions, oil, cabbage, tamarind pulp, vegetable stock, garam masala spices, and coriander.The addition of samosa makes it very flavorful, filling and a complete meal in itself!

When served, a samosa is dunked into the soup, which is additionally garnished with coriander, scallions, and lemon or lime wedges. The dish is often prepared and served at street food stalls throughout Myanmar.

  Several topping give this soup a lot of texture. Crunchy cabbage is must (both green and purple) along with sliced carrots, cilantro, wedge of lime. You can even add some falafels if you like to make it more hearty and more filling as a meal. Bean sprouts, green onions can also be added as a topping. (I skipped purple cabbage as I was out of it. Also, instead of traditional kala chana, I used kabuli chana because I had already some extra after making chole!)

Ingredients:

•         1/4 cup kala chana black chickpeas, 44 grams, soaked overnight
• ▢ 3 tablespoons besan gram flour, 30 grams
• ▢ 2 tablespoons oil 30 ml
• ▢ 2 bay leaves
• ▢ 1 dried red chili broken, can add more to up spice levels
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
• ▢ 1 cup chopped red onion from 1 medium red onion
• ▢ 4-5 large garlic cloves minced
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt divided, adjust to taste
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon coriander powder
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon paprika
• ▢ 2 tablespoons chana dal 35 grams
• ▢ 4.5 cups water divided
• ▢ 1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
• ▢ 6-8 samosa homemade or store-bought
• ▢ cabbage, carrot, cilantro, green onion for topping
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• Procedure: 

   

  • Before you start making the soup, make sure to soak the Black chickpeas (kala chana) overnight. If you want, you can also soak chana dal for 2 to 3 hours (I did not soak it).
  • To a pan on medium-low heat, add besan. Dry roast the besan, stirring continuously for 3 to 4 minutes until it has a nice roasted aroma. Remove pan from heat.Transfer the roasted besan to a glass jar or bowl and add 1/2 cup water to it. Using a wire whisk, mix it all together until the besan and water are well combined. Set this aside.
  • Heat a pot and add the oil and then add the bay leaf, dried red chili, cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Let the cumin seeds crackle and mustard seeds pop.
  • Then add the chopped onion and minced garlic. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt along with the onions (this helps them in cooking faster).Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the onions soften.
  • Then add the spices- turmeric, coriander powder, paprika. Cook for around 45 seconds.
  • Then add the besan-water mixture that we had prepared earlier and stir. Drain the soaked kala chana and add it to the pot along with chana dal. Give it a stir.
  • Add 4 cups water and stir everything. Add remaining 3/4 teaspoon of salt. You can adjust the amount of salt to taste.Also, add tamarind pulp and stir.
  • Close the pot with the lidand cook till lentils are well cooked.
    
  • Open the lid, add soup to serving bowls. Break samosa into 3-4 parts and add to soup bowl. Depending on the size of the soup bowl, you can add 1 or 2 samosa per soup bowl. Top with shredded green & purple cabbage, sliced carrots, cilantro!