Great Appetizer- Chicken Samosas

I was going through one of the Weight Watchers cookbooks; 50 Great Meals for 5 Points Value or Less and came across Chicken Samosas (1 point each if you were wondering) and immediately had to make them.

I must admit that I have eaten many a samosas in my time, but have never made any before, nor have I cooked Indian food before in my life. So I started off by looking for ingredients. I was able to pick up everything pretty easily except for garam masala. I had been to two grocery stores without luck when it struck me to call one of my Pakistani friends. Garam masala is a mix of spices and while my friend couldn’t tell me what spices are needed, she confirmed that her Mom would be able to tell me without any delay. So in garam masala you need black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, ground cloves and cumin. I was told not to use too much ground cloves because it can overpower everything else. Otherwise she uses about the same amount of each but I suggest you play with a blend that you like. That being said, I'm sure that each household has their own mix to make garam masala so this is certainly not the definitive recipe so don't feel that mine is the final word on the subject. If you would like to share your recipe for garam masala please feel free to post it in the comments.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp Canola Oil
1 small onion finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper finely chopped (wear gloves if you’ve got ‘em otherwise be careful)
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp Garam masala
¾ tsp curry powder
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1 lb ground skinless chicken breast (or you can just dice a chicken breast)
salt
3 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
34 3” square wonton wrappers

Directions:

• Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, jalapeno and garlic and sauté until the onion softens, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the garam masala, curry powder, and turmeric; cook 30 seconds (your kitchen now smells amazing so take a second to enjoy it). Add the chicken and salt; with a wooden spoon break up the chicken and cook until it is no longer pink (5-7 minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro and lime juice. Then let the mixture cool so you can handle it without burning yourself.
  
• Preheat the over to 425 F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray.
  Arrange 6 wonton wrappers on a work surface (only 6 at a time because you don’t want the wrappers to dry out). Get yourself a finger bowl filled with water. Dip your finger in the bowl then moisten the edges of the wrapper. You could make these into simple triangles or you could get a little fancy. If you are making simple triangles place a tbsp of the chicken mixture in the middle and then fold the wrapper diagonally to form a triangle.
• If you want to get a little fancy, check out the pictures but essentially you create a cone by joining two sides of the same right angle, then stuff with filling with the chicken mixture and folding the top over to close the samosa. Press edges firmly to seal. Use a little more water if you need it but you probably won’t.

Spray the samosas lightly with nonstick spray. Bake, turning once, until crisp and golden, about 12 minutes.

I like to enjoy this with a little mango chutney but you could also use plum sauce in a pinch.