Potato Samosas
- Makes 20-24 samosas
And if you have any questions, ask away in comments. Happy Cooking!Perfectly seasoned potato filling encased in golden pastry, fresh and crisp straight from a kadhai of bubbling-hot oil - once you’ve tried a freshly-made Samosa you’ll never go back to store-bought ones.
Growing up in India even though Samosas were readily available in every street corner, restaurant, railway station, and movie theater, I never really ate a samosa outside of home and still don’t. I learnt the secret of making these golden parcels of deliciousness from my father. On his days off, he would wake up earlier than usual to make us these potato-filled dumplings for breakfast/brunch.
Both my parents would spend the first hour making the dough from scratch, then boil potatoes, peel them, make the filling and the tamarind chutney. Finally, the three of us would gather around - my mother roling out perfect circles out of the pastry, and my dad and I, filling and frying these golden cones of deliciousness. We’d all finally sit-down mid-morning to reap the fruits of our labour, with my two other siblings just out of bed. And sometimes, we’d even get some homemade crisps made from leftover pastry, which we’d savor with more lip-smacking tamarind sauce.
It’s been 23 years since I moved out of my parents’ home, but the recipe hasn’t changed. I still stick to the same mildly-flavored potato filling, seasoned with quality garam masala and tangy mango powder.
It’s fairly simple to make samosas, just a little time-consuming. Like all dumplings, I encourage you to gather everyone and make it a family activity. - you’d be done in no time and while having fun. Just a couple of things to remember,Don’t skip the mango powder in the filling. It’s a light-brown colored ground spice made with dried raw green mangoes, and is easily available in all Indian grocery stores.
Don’t reduce the amount of oil in the pastry. The oil content makes the dough pliable and easy to roll, and once cooked, results in light and flakey exterior.
Ingredients
Pastry
250g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds or caraway seeds
40g vegetable or coconut oil
85g water
Filling
2 large or 600g potatoes
2 tablespoons vegetable or coconut oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2-3 fresh bird’s eye chilies, finely chopped
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon mango powder (labelled 'Amchur powder' on packets in Indian grocery stores)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup freshly chopped coriander leaves
Vegetable or coconut oil, for deep frying
Recipes
To make pastry
1. Mix together flour, salt, and cumin seeds. Pour in oil.
2. Now, adding little water at a time, bring together into a ball, then knead for about 5-7 minutes into a firm pliable dough.
3. Cover with a damp towel and set aside to rest for about 2 hours.
For the filling
1. Wash and place potatoes in a saucepan with 5 cups of water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for 50-60 minutes until potatoes are fully cooked. Drain, cool them down, peel and roughly chop into 1 cm cubes. (Potatoes can also be baked at 190ºC wrapped in aluminum foil for about 60-90 minutes until fully cooked OR pressure cooked for 5-7 minutes depending on size).
2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok. Add cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add chilies followed by cubed potatoes, garam masala, mango powder and salt.
3. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, mixing well. Add coriander leaves and stir well. Set aside to cool.
Making Samosas
1. Divide the dough into 10-12 equal portions
2. Roll out each ball of dough into a 6-7" oval.
3. Cut through the diameter dividing each oval into 2 semicircles.
4. Run a moist finger along the radius and roll around your finger making a cone by sticking along the edges, as shown in the Youtube video.
5. Fill about 2 tablespoons of filling in the cone and run a moist finger along the third edge and seal.
6. Pour 2-3 inches of vegetable or coconut oil in a wok. Heat on medium flame to 375˚F (for about 5 minutes until the surface of the oil starts shimmering). Once hot, reduce heat to low-medium flame.
7. Deep-fry samosas on low-medium heat. Turn them over every few minutes and fry until lightly golden all over (this should take about 10 minutes for each batch).
8. Serve hot samosas with sweet chili sauce, or sweet tamarind chutney.
NOTE:
To freeze samosas, place them on a parchment-lined tray and freeze for 30-60 minutes uncovered. Once the outside of the pastry is frozen, place samosas in ziplock bags and freeze for up to 3 months.
To use frozen samosas, deep-fry in hot oil for about 15 minutes.