Samosa is a deep fried pastry with a spiced filling usually made with potatoes, spices and herbs
Samosa, a crispy and spicy deep fried snack that has an crisp and flaky outer ;ayer made of maida and rich filling of mashed potato,
peas and spices is a popular street food of India.
The main thing about this snack is it can be prepared with one's liking of perfect not too hot,
tangy and spicy taste. Depending on what kind of a filling you use, how the pastry is made, and what is used to fry it, a samosa can be vegan, vegetarian, or non-vegetarian.
INGREDIENTS
For Making Samosa Pastry
2 cups all-purpose flour (maida), 250 grams
1 teaspoon carom seeds
1 teaspoon salt or add as required
6 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter), 50 grams
7 to 8 tablespoons water or add as required
For Cooking Potato & Peas
3 medium-sized potatoes – 300 to 350 grams or 3 cups chopped boiled potatoes
½ cup green peas – 180 grams, fresh – can use frozen peas
2 cups water – for steaming
Other Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil – I used mustard oil. sunflower, canola, grapeseed oil can be used
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger or 1 inch ginger
2 teaspoons finely chopped green chillies or serrano peppers or 1 to 2 green chillies
½ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper
1 pinch asafoetida (hing) – optional
1 to 2 teaspoons dry mango powder (amchur)
salt as required
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
oil for deep frying – as required, any neutral tasting oil
Whole Spices To Be Ground
½ inch cinnamon
1 clove – optional
3 black peppercorns
1 green cardamom
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
PREPARATION
Making The Dough
Take the flour, carom seeds, salt in a bowl. Mix well and add ghee.
With your fingertips rub the ghee or oil in the flour to get a breadcrumb like consistency.
The whole mixture should clump together when joined and not fall apart.
Add water in parts and knead to a firm dough.
If the dough looks dry or floury, then add 1 to 2 tablespoons more water and knead.
Cover the dough with a moistened napkin and set aside for 30 minutes.
Making Potato Stuffing
Steam or boil the potatoes and peas till are cooked completely. Drain them of any extra water in a colander or sieve.
Peel the boiled potatoes and chop them into small cubes.
Dry roast all the whole spices mentioned in the above list until fragrant taking care not to burn them.
When the spices are warm or cool at room temperature, grind them in a dry grinder or coffee grinder to a semi-fine or fine powder.
Heat oil in a pan. add the cumin seeds and crackle them.
Add the ginger and green chillies. Sauté for a few seconds until the raw aroma of ginger goes away.
Add the steamed green peas, red chili powder, the freshly ground spice powder, dry mango powder and asafoetida.
Stir and sauté on a low heat for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the potato cubes. Mix very well and sauté for about 2 to 3 minutes on low heat with frequent stirring.
Set aside the potato filling aside to cool at room temperature.
Assembling & Shaping
After resting the dough for 30 minutes, divide the dough in 6 equal pieces.
Take each piece and roll in your palms first to make a smooth ball.
Then roll it with a rolling pin keeping the thickness to 1 mm throughout.
Cut with a knife or a pastry cutter through the center of the rolled samosa pastry.
With a brush or with your finger tips, spread some water all over the edges.
Join the two straight ends forming a cone shape.
Press the edges so that they get sealed well.
Stuff the prepared samosa cone with the prepared potato-peas stuffing.
Pinch a part on the edge (check the video & photos). This helps the samosa to stand once it is shaped.
Press both the edges. Be sure there are no cracks.
Prepare all the samosa this way and keep covered with a moist kitchen napkin.
Frying Samosa
Now heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. Once the oil becomes hot (test by adding a small piece of dough – it should come up quickly once added to the hot oil). Gently slide the prepared stuffed samosa & quickly reduce the flame to low.
Turn over in between and fry until golden. Drain the fried samosa on paper towels to remove excess oil.
Fry them in batches. For frying the second batch, again increase the temperature of the oil to medium-heat. Do not overcrowd the pan while frying.
Add the samosa and then lower the flame, thereby decreasing the temperature of oil.
This way fry all the samosa in batches.
Serving Suggestions
Serve samosa hot or warm with coriander chutney, tamarind chutney or tomato ketchup.
They can also be served with a yogurt dip or plain raita. Another way is to serve it with chana masala (chickpea curry).
We usually pair samosa with masala chai or ginger chai.
Even bread or pav (Indian bread rolls) can be served with it.
Whatever you serve samosa with, remember to have hot masala chai with it.
Frying tips
Fry samosa on a low to medium-low heat. The oil should not be medium-hot or at a high temperature as this will result in having air-pockets on the crust and will leave the crust undercooked from inside.
The oil for deep frying can be a neutral flavored oil like sunflower, safflower, canola oil or any good vegetable oil.
Make ahead and storage
You can shape samosa and freeze them or you can fry them until the crust becomes opaque and then freeze.
The fried samosa can be kept at room temperature for some hours. If you are not able to finish them all, then store them in an air-tight container in the fridge for a couple of days. When serving you can warm them on a skillet or in an oven until warm (at 170 degrees celsius in a preheated oven).
Alternatives to frying
Air-frying: Preheat air fryer at 180 degrees celsius for 10 minutes. Brush samosa with oil and air fry at 180 degrees celsius till the crust is golden.
Baking: Bake samosa in a preheated oven at 180 degrees celsius for 30 to 35 minutes or until the crust becomes crisp and golden.
