Samosa Recipe

A samosa is a snack eaten most frequently at teatime, but it can be consumed at any time of the day. It is best described as a flaky, crispy fried pastry, filled with a spicy potato mixture.

There are two common types of Samosas; Kaghazi and Normal. There are also vegetable samosas, chicken samosas and even cheese samosas, but today we’re sticking with the classic: Potato-filled samosas. In this recipe, we’re going to teach you how to make normal (as in Potato filled) samosa.

The best samosa has a light crisp smooth pastry, with very little blistering. The filling is fragrant and spicy, a perfect complement to the pastry.

Ingredients

Samosa Pastry

250 grams all-purpose flour or organic maida

¼ cup/60 ml oil or melted ghee

¼ cup water (+ 2 tbsp.)

¾ tsp. carom seeds (ajwain)

1 tsp. cumin seeds (zeera)

½ tsp. salt

Potato Filling

500 grams Potatoes (Approximately 10 small potatoes)

¼ cup coriander finely chopped

½ tsp. salt (adjust to taste)

½ teaspoon garam masala

4 green chilies chopped finely (optional)

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

½ teaspoon coriander powder

For Frying

1 litre Neutral Oil (Sunflower, Grapeseed, etc)

Method

Note: For this recipe, try to follow the steps exactly, for maximum efficiency. Otherwise you might waste a lot of time unnecessarily.

In a large bowl, mix together: flour, salt, cumin seeds and carom seeds.
1. Alt Step 1: Wash your potatoes thoroughly under the tap, with the skins on. Use small potatoes as they will cook more easily. If you have identifiable potato varieties where you live, use Yukon Golds for the best result, if you can’t find them, any type is fine.
1. Add 2 ½ litres of water to a large pot and add the potatoes whole, boil, until just cooked through.
Make a well in the centre and add the oil (if you are using ghee, melt it first in the microwave for thirty seconds).
Mix well using your hands until the flour is saturated enough that it clumps together if it is pressed in your fist.
Now, slowly; tablespoon by tablespoon add the water until the dough holds together relatively easily. Do not add excess water, which can lead to gluey pastry.
Cover the bowl and set aside for 30 minutes (do not refrigerate).
Wash your potatoes thoroughly under the tap, with the skins on. Use small potatoes as they will cook more easily. If you have identifiable potato varieties where you live, use Yukon Golds for the best result, if you can’t find them, any type is fine.
Add 2 ½ litres of water to a pressure cooker, along with the potatoes. Shut the pressure cook lid tight and let it cook. When the whistle goes off, if you have large potatoes, cook for ten minutes and for small ones cook for 6 minutes. (See Alt Step 1 if you don’t have a Pressure Cooker.)
When the potatoes are done, cool them under tap water and peel and set aside in another large bowl.
By now, thirty minutes should have passed, and you can now knead the pastry dough. Knead it until it has all come together and smoothened out. If it does not come together add a little bit of water at a time until it does. Knead for 3 minutes max. Set aside again for ten minutes.
Now, taking the boiled potatoes, crumble them up, until they are in small rough chunks, about ½ a square inch. I prefer to use my hands but you can use the back of a spoon if you like.
Add into the crumbled potatoes, all the other ingredients for the potato filling. (Coriander, green chillies, salt, red chilli powder, garam masala, coriander powder).
Toss the filling together with a spoon. Set aside.
Now for the fiddly bit: rolling out the pastry. Divide the dough into five equal balls.
Taking one ball of dough, flatten it out until it is roughly circular and about two inches in diameter. Then tuck the edges in, until you have a relatively perfect circle about 1 ½ inch across.

Step 17

Roll the circle out on a plain surface with a rolling pin. Flip the sides frequently to get an even circle. Roll out until it is about 1/16 of an inch thick and about 8 inches in diameter.
Cut this circle exactly in half and set aside the pastry. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
No taking one half circle onto the palm of your hand, wet half of the straight edge of the semicircle with water.
Fold both sides of the semicircle up to make a cone shape. Press the straight edge of the semicircle together firmly and into the cone add two tablespoons of filling.

Step 18

Close the lip of the cone by wetting and pressing together the two edges.
Set aside on an oiled sheet tray.
Add one litre of oil to a large pot or wok and leave on the stove to heat up.
Repeat the process with the rest of the pastry sheets.

Cook the samosas, three at a time in medium hot oil (it should bubble but not smoke) until golden brown on all sides. Keep flipping them in the oil gently to ensure even colour.
Serve hot with your choice of chutney. I recommend our mint coriander chutney.