“If you don’t have a samosa at iftar, what’s the point?” laughs Sadaf Hussain, a food lover, cook, and food historian. For him, food is much more than just eating — it’s about memories. He remembers watching his mother grind fresh spices on a stone grinder in Jharkhand, eating sehri meals at his grandmother’s house, and late-night nihari outings with friends in Delhi.
Sadaf first became popular in 2016 on MasterChef India Season 5. Since then, he has cooked for many food events across India and also gives food tours of Old Delhi. In December 2024, he released his book Masalamandi, which tells the story of Indian masalas and how every region has its own spice blends like garam masala. The book is like a mix of a cookbook and a history book.
When it comes to Ramzan, samosas are a must-have for Sadaf. He loves experimenting with them. During a recent trip to Lucknow, he enjoyed different styles of qeema samosas (meat samosas), but he is very picky about the samosa wrapper matching the filling. He even talks about the famous Hyderabadi lukhmi, a square-shaped qeema samosa.
Sadaf says his love for samosas started in childhood. Since making qeema samosas daily during Ramzan was too much work, his mother would prepare egg samosas instead. This simple switch became a family favorite, and now Sadaf shares this easy recipe with everyone for a delicious iftar snack.