Myanmar – Samosa Thouk

by Fauzan Anandika

Myanmar, or Burma, is one of the countries in the Asia Peninsula. Have various landscapes, from hills to lowland, and rivers make Myanmar rich in arable land. Not only the land but Myanmar also rich in culture and tradition. They have beautiful dance and festival, one of the unique dance tourists should see is the Kyaukse Elephant Dance Festival.

Kyaukse Elephant Dance Festival is a yearly dance festival and is also one of the biggest traditional dance festivals in Myanmar. This ceremony was held one day before the full moon, base on the Burmese lunar calendar. Basically, it is a dance competition where each participant wears a colorful elephant costume and competing for each other. 

The local history said that the festival was held based on the Raja Anawratha story. It says that the king of the Pagan empire receives several Buddha relics during his trip to China. Upon his return, he ordered to build a pagoda to keep all those relics. Then, he tied a Buddha tooth replica in the elephant’s back and let the elephant choose the suitable place to build the pagoda. When the elephant stopped in two hills, Thalyaung dan Pyetkhaywe, the king orders his fellow to build the pagoda there. The king also makes a festival to honor the king’s elephant. Up until now, the festival is held every once a year to continue the tradition.

All the dance festival participant performs acrobatic dance accompanied by local traditional music. At least 29 elephants are performing on the stage. During the festival as a tourist, you will serve a beautiful and energetic scene and not forget some tasteful food. Even they serving the traditional dish, Myanmar food is still suiting our taste. Samosa Thouk is one of the favorite street food that is easy to find at the festival. 

Samosa Thouk is a Burmese soup that uses samosa as a base and pours with spicy miju miju sauce topped with shredded cabbage. Myanmar dish influenced by Chinese, India, and Thailand culinary so do Samosa Thouk. The soup for Samosa Thouk is similar to Sambar Vada from South India.

Ingredient

• 100-gram lentil peanuts
• 10 ml of cooking oil
• 2 piece of dried red chili
• 1 piece of onions, chopped
• 4 pieces of green chili, slice into two
• 15 grams of blended tamarind
• 200 ml of chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 10 grams of red chili powder
• 5 mg of masala salt
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

Falafel ingredient

• 375 grams of chickpeas
• 1 small onion
• 4 clove of garlic
• 50 grams of parsley
• 50 gram of cilantro leaves
• 2 teaspoon of cumin powder
• 1 pinch of cardamon
• 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoon of sea salt
• ½ teaspoon of black pepper
• 2 tablespoon of garbanzo beans powder
• 500 ml of avocado oil

Falafel preparation

1. Soak chickpeas in water for 8 hours.
2. Wash the chickpeas.
3. Add all the ingredients except avocado oil in a food processor. Finely mix the dough.
4. Cover the dough with plastic pepper and keep it in the fridge for 2 hours.
5. Heat the avocado oil in a frying pan. 
6. Mold the dough into a 2 cm flat ball.
7. Fry the dough for 2 minutes. 

Toppings

• 8 pieces fried samosa
• 10 pieces of falafel
• Shredded cabbage
• Chopped coriander leaves
• Sliced lemon
• Chopped scallions

How to cook 

1. Steam the lentil until soft and mushy.
2. Prepare a frying pan, heat cooking oil in medium fire.
3. Add dried chili, cook until the color changes.
4. Add onions and green chili, cook for 2 minutes.
5. Add coriander powder, red chili powder, masala salt, salt, and pepper, cook for 1 minute.
6. Add lentils, chicken broth, and blended tamarind.
7. Boil for 10 minutes
8. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper.

Servings

1. Divide the soup into a serving bowl.
2. Add samosa and falafel.
3. Topped with shredded cabbage, sliced lemon, coriander leaves, and scallions.
4. Serve while still hot.