Decyphering frozen samosa cooking instructions

August 27, 2022 10:06 AM

This is one of those things that trips me up. My box of frozen samosas has a list of cooking directions which states (defrost first. ) I'm about 90% sure that this means that the samosas should be defrosted before beginning the listed steps, but I also have nagging doubts that the "Defrost first" instruction is an explanation for the first step- 75 sec in the microwave.
posted by Larry David Syndrome to Food & Drink (10 answers total)

Best answer: I think the microwave is the “defrost first” part.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 10:07 AM on August 27, 2022 [8 favorites]

I'm reading that as "defrost" being a prerequisite separate from the steps.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:33 AM on August 27, 2022 [4 favorites]

Like Blue Jello Elf, I think the layout of these instructions implies that you defrost these first (just by leaving them out of the freezer for a while) and then do any one of the subsequent cooking methods. (You could, though, probably defrost in the microwave before microwaving.)
posted by ojocaliente at 10:39 AM on August 27, 2022 [1 favorite]

75s @ 1100W isn't enough energy to defrost a frozen samosa.

I'm with ojocaliente. Is it possible that the box was supposed to show two ways to cook it (microwave OR oven bake) and forgot that nomenclature?
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:39 AM on August 27, 2022 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: I asked my teenaged son's opinion and he went with "defrost before beginning steps of cooking procedure." It then finally occurred to me to to check the samosa producer's company website. Nouvelle-personne has it, although the added twist is that the 75sec cook time in the microwave is for only 2pcs samosas. If they had just printed "defrost first" by the first microwave step, it would have been much clearer. You then have the option to finish them up in the oven or deep fryer. I'm glad that I'm not alone in finding these instructions super confusing. Thanks to everyone who took a crack at them!


scroll down for Instructions.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 10:47 AM on August 27, 2022 [1 favorite]

Go to: Deep Indian Kitchen

Click on the defrost icon, and it will show you how to defrost.

After that, click on the oven icon, and it will show you how to cook in the oven (step one of the oven method is "defrost as per directions" - the defrost directions are under the defrost icon).

If you want to deep fry vs oven, click on the deep fry icon (step one here is also "defrost as per directions", which are under the defrost icon).
posted by SageTrail at 10:53 AM on August 27, 2022 [1 favorite]

Oh, I posted after I saw your post! You beat me to it!! :)
posted by SageTrail at 10:54 AM on August 27, 2022 [1 favorite]

I would bet good money that you could throw those into an air fryer straight out of the freezer and they'd come out just perfect.
posted by flabdablet at 11:32 AM on August 27, 2022 [3 favorites]

I buy those exact same Deep samosas and air fry them @ 375F for 12 minutes from frozen. They're really good.
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:58 AM on August 27, 2022 [2 favorites]

i would absolutely ignore the "defrost first" if I was gonna deep or air fry. hell, probably even cooking them in the oven. at least once for science.
posted by Geckwoistmeinauto at 12:05 PM on August 27, 2022 [1 favorite]