Samosas

"This comes from the Time Life series of international cookbooks and has been a family favourite in our house for at least 10 years. It's best to set aside a morning to make these and haul someone in the kitchen to help put them together. Although they are not difficult to make, it does go faster if you set up an "assembly line". The seasoning given here is what I would consider a minimum but you may want to add more to your taste, especially when it comes to the hot pepper. You could also do half potatoes and half carrots for the filling if you like. The amount this recipe makes is also a guess based on our samosas, which are bigger than bite sized but not as big as you get in some Indian shops. If you don't have a deep fryer, you could use a wok instead. If you are really set on doing a healthier version, you could brush these with oil and bake in an oven until browned on both sides, however the texture of the dough is not as good as if you fry them. If you choose the baking option, you may also have to brush them with oil a few times and flip at least once to get them reasonably browned all over. Frying is really the preferred method."
 
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photo by love4culinary photo by love4culinary
photo by love4culinary
photo by kabakoros photo by kabakoros
photo by love4culinary photo by love4culinary
photo by Sackville photo by Sackville
Ready In:
2hrs 15mins
Ingredients:
18
Yields:
24 samosas
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ingredients

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directions

  • First put the potatoes on to boil until tender, then drain and cool.
  • While the potatoes are cooking, make the pastry by mixing the flour and salt in a bowl.
  • Pour in the butter or ghee and rub together wtih the flour until it becomes slightly flaky.
  • Pour 3/4 cup water over the flour and pull the dough together with your hands.
  • You can add up to 4 tbsp more water, one spoonful at a time, until everything comes together in a bowl.
  • From here you can knead the dough by hand for about 10 minutes or throw it in a mixer with a dough attachment, going until the dough is smooth and elastic.
  • When the dough is done, place it in a bowl, rub with oil and cover until you are ready to fill the samosas.
  • Next, start making the filling by cutting your cooked potatoes into cubes.
  • Heat the oil in a frying pan and throw in the mustard seeds.
  • Cook until they start to crackle and burst and when that happens immediately add your chopped onion and ginger.
  • Cook for a few minutes until the onion softens and then add the fennel, cumin, turmeric, potatoes, peas, salt and water.
  • Stir well and then reduce the heat to low and let cook for about 5 minutes.
  • Sprinkle over the garam masala and hot pepper and stir again.
  • Taste for seasoning and then take off the heat.
  • Now it is time to start filling your samosas.
  • Grab a piece of dough by pinching off a piece and rolling it thinly and into a circle.
  • You can make the samosas any size you like.
  • With a knife, cut the circle in half, moisten the straight edge with a finger dipped in water and then shape it into a cone, pressing the straight edges together to form a seal.
  • You should now have a little ice cream cone shaped piece of dough which you can spoon filling into.
  • Fill and then moisten the top edges and press closed.
  • Set on a plate and cover with foil or plastic wrap until you are ready to cook (up to 2-3 hours later).
  • To deep fry the samosas, pour 3 cups of vegetable oil into a 12 inch wok and heat until a piece of dough thrown into the oil bubbles.
  • If you have a deep fryer, you want a temperature around 375°F.
  • Brown on both sides and drain on paper towel.
  • Finally, you can enjoy a samosa!

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Reviews

  1. I found this to come together much more quickly than estimated. Peeled and cubed the potatoes before boiling, which saved a fair amount of time. While the potatoes boiled, I prepared the other ingredients and then it took just a few minutes to saute the onions, etc. in the pan. I ended up adding more sea salt and cayenne, and only used 1/3 of the suggested fennel, as I didn't want it to dominate the flavours. The pastry dough was quick, easy and a pleasure to work with. I rolled it out into circles, split at the equator and just put the filling on one half of the half circle, and pressed the other half on top of it, pinching and folding over the sides. Found this easier than shaping it into a cone and filling, and it worked out very well. We're out of peanut oil and ghee at the moment, but I wanted to use a traditional, heat-stable fat so I used some organic, pasture-fed lard and it worked beautifully. Didn't impart any off tastes to the samosas. For a vegetarian oil option, coconut oil would be a good choice. Quick, easy, beautifully flavoured recipe, and it really sated my craving for samosas--thanks for posting!
     
  2. Leave out the fennel seed! I only added a third of what it called for and it was waaaaay too strong still. Otherwaise delicious!
     
  3. YUMMMM! I can't stop eating these. The filling is perfect! I didn't have ginger or onions on hand, so I swapped in cauliflower and carrots, some ginger powder, a little lemon juice, and cilantro for some extra flavor. Cut down the fennel as per other reviewers' suggestion and pan fried instead of deep fried. Put them in the oven for 15 minutes to brown them a little more. It took me quite a while (3 hours) but I attribute that to not really knowing what I was doing. The two issues I had that slowed me down were that once I had made the little cones, it was a little hard to get the filling inside, and then secondly, it was a little tricky to seal them up. A little squishing did the trick. Long project, but would have gone faster with someone else's help. Totally worth the effort though - I'll definitely make these again.
     
  4. Instead of making the pastry I used samosa wrappers (found in the frozen foods section at Indian/Pakistani grocery stores) I'm just rating the filling part of the recipe. I didn't add in the fennel seeds and instead of deep frying I pan fried them. They came out great!
     
  5. I only used the pastry part of this recipe. I wanted meat samosas, so I used the filling from Recipe #41094. The pastry turned out really yummy. I added all the ingredients in one bowl and used the dough hook on my mixer. I also added a tiny bit of cumin (I wanted to put black cumin but didn't have any). Very easy to handle and roll. Will use again!
     
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Tweaks

  1. The recipe would have been five star except for the fennel seed. I only added one tsp whereas the recipe called for three and it was waaaaay too strong of a fennel flavour. I’d leave it or completely next time, or only add 1/4tsp. Otherwise these were so delicious!
     
  2. I found this recipe really easy to follow, although I cut down on the salt and used a salt substitute as I found that a teaspoon of salt in such a small amount of filling is quite a lot, especially for those people on a reduced sodium intake. I also left out the fennel as I found this flavour too strong. You could also replace the potatoe with some cooked rice. All in all it has a genuine Indian flavour.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

This is a picture of me and my husband in Portugal, climbing up above the clouds with our bikes. Right now we are travelling around the world on our bicycles, so I only pop onto Zaar occasionally, when internet connections and time allow me to. If I don't reply to a message about one of my recipes, now you know why! Our trip may take several years so if it's urgent, it's probably better for you to post in the forums ;) Good food is really important to me -- I am happy to pay extra for food that I feel is produced in a sustainable and ethical way and always try to eat using seasonal produce. When we were in the UK we rarely shopped at supermarkets, trying instead to favour small producers, although we were very lucky in that we lived in London and there was lots of choice. We also were fortunate enough to have a weekly organic veg box delivered to our door, filled with so many lovely vegetables for very little money. It really opened my horizons in terms of the variety of vegetables I eat. If you're in the UK, check out Riverford for a box supplier as they're amazing! When I'm not eating I love to take pictures and travel with my husband. <img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/World%20Tour/ZWT2.gif">
 
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