Every time Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams travels to space, she carries a small piece of India with her. It was because of her love for Indian cuisine that she brought the samosa, labelled the ‘King of Indian Snacks’, into space, making it the first Indian snack to do so. Chennai-based Nidhi Singh shares a similar ideology that a good samosa has no geographical boundaries. And it is with this intention that she co-founded Samosa Singh with her husband, Shikar Veer Singh, in 2016, and finally opened their doors to Chennai makkal.
While they started with just one outlet in Bengaluru, they catered samosas to big brands around the city — all the multiplexes, airlines and five-star hotels. But like most other businesses, Samosa Singh suffered huge losses during the pandemic. “We became zero overnight. The industries to whom we were supplying were the first hit and the worst hit by the pandemic. We focussed on continuing production on a small scale. As soon as there was a liberation in the restrictions, we started selling online,” she shares.
On the plate
On a rainy afternoon, over a cup of tea, as I bite into this piece of sinful heaven wrapped with samosa trivia, Nidhi continues to share her thoughts, “Everything that resonates with samosa, which gives a homely feeling, is on our menu. Of course, samosa is our hero-product. We wanted to give the customers a feel of the local samosa they usually eat. To preserve the nostalgia, we carefully curated the contents to make the wrapper look like a newspaper.”
I first reach out to get a taste of the usual suspect, the Punjabi Aloo Samosa. Flaky on the first bite, stuffed with all the deliciousness in its belly, the soft crust urged me to go slow and be in this samosa moment. While the green chutney was a bit salty and not to my preference, the tamarind chutney elicited the right kind of emotions it brings when splashed over a samosa.
After a few bites and burps, the box gulab jamuns seemed like a perfect way to balance the flavours on my palate. Medium-thick in texture, this ball of sweetness cleansed my taste buds before I tried out the corn cheese samosa. The fine crust was filled with fresh cheese and corn and lightly spiced with green chilli, which gave the stuffing a jaunty little bounce.
Pyaz ki kachori, my next dish, was a masala mix. Already stuffed from samosas, this seemed overwhelming. So, I turned to moong dal halwa for comfort. Dripping in ghee, it was a wholesome experience, sending me into a tizzy.
Being a hard-core meat lover, I couldn’t wait to try the pepper chicken samosa. It wasn’t too spicy and the shredded chicken was tender. The dehi bhalla, the sweet addition to the menu, was slightly sour and the bhalla crumbled easily, while the sourness in the tikki chole chaat was prominent.
Perfecting the product
Nidhi points out that the recipes have evolved and are altered according to the geography and preference of customers. The team uses highly standardised and automated methods, excluding tastemakers. Before each product is officially released, samples are sent to a hand-picked audience for review. “Through all the fine-tuning, we ensure that the customer gets a quality product,” says Nidhi.
The company has now slowly expanded to eight cities with 72 outlets. They hope to incorporate more varieties — fruit drinks, sweets and seasonal favourites, and expand their outlets to popular tier 2 cities in the country and bring dine-ins to Chennai.
To order, log into samosasingh.dotpe.in/order Price: From Rs 15