Friday evening plans made us move our Every Other Friday to Thursday, and it was my turn. I happened to have some ground lamb in the refrigerator, and it was calling out for Indian. The Every Other Friday rule is that we have to try something we’ve never cooked before, and I decided to attempt samosas. I had thought that any self-respecting samosa had to be deep-fried, but I read several authoritative sources who said that you can bake them.

I’m very fond of deep-fried things, but I’ve never deep-fried at home. There are two reasons I’m reluctant to start now. The first is that I’m intimidated by hot oil. In the olden days it was a weapon, poured over the ramparts onto whoever was trying to storm the castle, and I’m just not sure I want that kind of thing in my kitchen. The second is that I’m trying to rein in what seems like inexorable winter weight gain.

So, when those authoritative sources said I could bake them, I wanted to believe. I mixed my filling. I kneaded my dough. I rolled out my wrappers and formed the little stuffed triangles. I even pan-fried them to give them some crunch on both sides before I baked them.

I had high hopes as I slid the tray into the oven, but they were dashed when I took it out. My samosas were pasty. They were dry. Although the flavor wasn’t bad, they weren’t at all what samosas should be. They were a disappointment.

I now consider myself an authoritative source, and I’m here to tell you that you can’t bake samosas. You just can’t.

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