Samosas

One of the quintessential Indian snacks, known and loved around the globe, these are a little fiddly to make, but not nearly so hard as you might have thought. This recipe makes 16 samosas. 

Filling ingredients:
4 medium potatoes
2/3 cup frozen peas
2 chillies, chopped (optional)
2 Tbs lemon juice
4 Tbs oil
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp garam masala

Making the filling:

1. Boil potatoes till cooked but firm, and leave to cool
2. Peel and cut into 1 cm cubes
3. Stir in lemon juice and salt to taste
4. In a saucepan, heat oil and add cumin, stirring till it releases its aroma
5. Add chillies and fry till soft
6. Stir in peas and remaining spices for 2 minutes
7. Stir in potatoes
8. Leave to cool while you prepare the pastry

Pastry ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbs semolina (optional, makes pastry crisper)
3 Tbs oil
1/2 cup lukewarm water

Making the pastry:

1. Mix flour, semolina (if using) and oil till mixture is like breadcrumbs
2. Add half the water and knead to a firm dough, adding more water only if necessary
3. Knead for 1 min
4. Leave to rest for 20 mins
5. Divide into eight pieces

Making the samosas:

1. Roll each piece of dough into a 10 cm circle and slice in half
2. Wet the edges of each half circle and form a cone, pressing to seal the join (Fig 1)
3. Fill cone carefully with about 2 Tbs potato filling, letting the cone bulge out as you fill it (Fig 2)
4. Seal the open end to form a plump triangle, gently shifting the filling around to make an even shaped samosa (Fig 3)
5. When all 16 samosas are formed, fry in at least 2 cm oil, turning once, until golden all over. (Deep frying obviously produces a plumper, rounder samosa)
6. Serve hot with mango pickle, mango chutney and/or tamarind sauce

Fig 1: Form each half circle into a cone

Fig 2: Fill generously

Fig 3: Seal open end and rearrange filling

Fig 4: Repeat till all samosas are ready

Fig 5: Fry, a few at a time, till golden