Samosa ban gaya American

Washington: Samosa, that typically Indian snack, just became American. Trader Joe's, a US-wide grocery chain, recently launched samosas stuffed with pumpkin, which become a national obsession around this time of the year, leading up to Halloween, which is celebrated with Jack-o'-Lanterns cut out of pumpkins.

Pumpkins are injected into or used in everything from coffee to ice cream to waffles, pies, and breakfast cereals. Many of these concoctions are specially launched around this time for just this season and disappear off the shelves in a few weeks. The same fate awaits Trader Joe's "Spicy Pumpkin Samosa".

Some Indians and Indian-descent Americans, who are wary of excessive westernisation of Indian cuisine, have responded with predictable horror, "No, Trader Joe's. Just No", said one of them. Social media has been full of similar postings chiding Trader Joe's for this culinary infraction. Others were less hostile, and more welcoming.

"Trader Joe's spicy pumpkin samosa is a testament that it is accepted around the world as a global dish and no longer a regional or ethnic dish", said Chintan Pandya, the chef-cofounder of Adda and Dhamaka, the buzziest New York Indian cuisine restaurants.

"It's a big step forward for Samosa as a dish and will open more food gates for regional Indian dishes. Hope it works so we can have Turkey Tikka in the Trader Joe's aisle."