Samosa - Fried Pastry with Potato Filling

I recently had a party at home and I was going over the menu with my mother-in-law (She is here to help us with our little one - eight months old and quite mobile on all fours, I must add). This was the first big party I was hosting after the baby and I was nervous about cooking for 30-40 people. For the main course I decided to make Paneer Masala, Coconut Curry Vegetable and Chana Masala served with Roti and mixed vegetable raita. I also decided to make cauliflower rice and yogurt rice. But I was agonizing over what to serve for starters. I didn’t want to serve Vegetable Puffs as I had done so when I hosted our previous party. Luckily my mother in law’s friend had just recently sent her the recipe for Samosa which seemed to be quite fool proof. So we went ahead and made them. I have to admit; it was a little bit tedious to make the dough and fold the Samosas but once done it tasted deliciously divine. So without further adieu, I present the recipe for Samosa.


Ingredients

For the Shell
All Purpose Flour – 2 Cups
Canola Oil or any Vegetable Oil – ¼ Cup
Baking Soda – 1 pinch
Ground Thyme or Ajwain – 1 tsp
Salt – To taste

For the Stuffing
Potato – 2 Large
Peas – ½ Cup
Cumin Seeds – 1 Tsp
Coriander Powder – 2 Tsp
Chili Powder – 1 Tsp
Curry Powder or Garam Masala Powder – ½ Tsp
Turmeric Powder – ½ Tsp
Salt – To taste

Canola Oil for frying



Directions

• Mix the flour with salt, baking soda and ground thyme.
• Add the oil and make it crumbly.
• Then add little water (total of 3/4th cup) slowly and make the dough stiff but pliable. (This takes some time as it is tough to knead all purpose flour).
• Once done, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple of hours. This helps the dough absorb the oil better and so the shell tends to stay crisp longer.
• Boil, peel and mash potatoes.
• Cook the peas and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a large pan and fry the cumin seeds for a couple of minutes.
• Add the coriander powder, chili powder, curry powder and turmeric powder and fry for 30 seconds.
• Then add the mashed potatoes and peas and mix well.
• Add salt and mix well.
• Try not to add water, onions or other spices to this stuffing as it stays fresh longer this way when you freeze the samosas for later use.
• When ready to assemble, take the dough out of the refrigerator and microwave for 30 seconds on high. It does not have to be warm, just pliable.
• Make ping pong size balls and roll it out into a small circle.
• Cut the circle in half and make a cone with the straight edge on the top.
• Mix a little bit of all purpose flour in water to use as a sealant.
• Seal the bottom corner and the side edges leaving just the top portion open.
• Stuff with potato stuffing and seal the top edge.
• Make all the samosas before heating the oil.
• Heat the oil but reduce the flame once its hot.
• Fry the samosas and serve hot with some ketchup.

Servings: 10 (makes around 20 small Samosas)

Nutrition Facts Source: www.nutritiondata.com

Disclaimer: Nutrition Facts are approximate