World Samosa Day – September 5, 2024

History of World Samosa Day

Despite popular belief, samosas did not originate in India where it enjoys extreme popularity. It originated in the Middle East sometime before the 10th century. It was brought to India by traders around the 13th and 14th centuries. Today, samosas are so well-loved in India that they can be found anywhere, from homes to fancy restaurants to roadside vendors.

The samosa finds reference in 10th-century gastronomic literature. Many medieval Persian texts mention ‘sanbosag,’ which is an early relative of the samosa and the cousin of the Persian pyramidal pastry, ‘samsa.’ Historical accounts refer to ‘sambusak,’ ‘sabusaq,’ and even ‘sanbusaj,’ as tiny mince-filled triangles eaten by traveling merchants around campfires and packed in saddlebags as snacks for a long journey. According to these references, traveling merchants traveled from Central Asia to North Africa, East Asia, and South Asia, and with them, samosas reached these places.

In India, samosas came with Middle Eastern chefs who migrated for employment during the Delhi Sultanate rule. Soon, it became a snack fit for the king. When the medieval Moroccan traveler, Ibn Batuta, visited India in the 14th century, he documented the banquets at the court of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, where ‘sambusak’ — a dish filled with mince, peas, pistachios, almonds, in a triangular pastry — was served to the guests. There have been numerous accounts of people enjoying this historical delight since then.