Samosa/Potato Stuffed Pastries
Samosas are very popular entrée or appetizer in the local cuisines of India though Samosa is claimed to have originated in Somalia as Sambusa. Samosa is a fried or baked pastry with a savory filling, like spiced potatoes,Cheese, macaroni, noodles and minced meat.
Indian samosas are commonly vegetarian with spiced potato stuffing; often accompanied by coriander- mint chutney, available in almost every restaurant and tea stall. Its size and consistency may vary, but typically it is triangular in shape. It can be made with readymade patty sheets but this recipe is about how to make it from scratch.
Step by Step Instructions with Photos
For the Pastry Dough
- In mixing bowl whisk together flour the flour, black onion or carom seeds and salt.
- Add ghee or oil and using your fingertips rub the ghee/oil in the flour and blend until mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
- Add around ½ cup of warm water and knead until dough just comes together adding water as required.
- Knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes smooth and elastic.
- Lightly grease the dough and cover with a moistened napkin or a wet muslin cloth and keep aside to rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
For the Stuffing
- Heat the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds.
- When the seeds crackle, add asafetida, roughly chopped cashews and raisin, sauté on a medium flame for a few seconds until light golden brown.
- Add chopped green chili and grated ginger and cook for 1 minute.
- Add boiled peas and all grounded powders: turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala, cumin powder, dry mango powder, salt and sugar, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 2 minutes, while stirring continuously.
- Add chopped coriander, chopped or mashed potatoes mix well and cook on a medium flame for another 1 minute, while stirring continuously.
- Add lemon juice, mix well and Divide the stuffing into around 35 equal portions and keep aside.
For the Samosa
- Knead the dough well till smooth and elastic; divide dough into around 18 equal portions forming balls.
- On a floured surface, roll each ball into a 6-inch oval shape.
- Cut each oval in half oval horizontally into 2 equal portions using a knife and lightly brush the straightedge side with a little water.
- Fold it in half, and align the two straight sides so they overlap to form a cone shape. Squeeze the corner and side edges together to make a tight seal leaving rounded side open.
- Hold triangle in your hand with open rounded side facing up and let dough fall open to make cone. Fill cone with one portion of potato mixture, leaving the top edge clean. Moisten the inside top rim of the cone and press the edges together to make another tight seal.
- I have twisted rim to create a design you can skip this part if you want. Place the samosas on a tray until ready to fry. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
- Heat oil in a deep pan. Fry few samosas at a time, being careful not to crowd them on medium flame till they turn golden brown from both the sides. Drain on absorbent paper.
- Serve hot with Mint-Coriander chutney.
Recipe Card
Indian samosas are commonly vegetarian with spiced potato stuffing; often accompanied by coriander- mint chutney, available in almost every restaurant and tea stall. Its size and consistency may vary, but typically it is triangular in shape.
- 4 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 Tsp. Black onion seeds/carom seeds
- 8 Tbsp. Black onion seeds/carom seeds
- ½ Tsp. Salt
- Warm water (for kneading)
- 4 large Potatoes (boiled and chopped or mashed)
- 1 cup Green peas (boiled)
- 2 pc Green chili (finely chopped)
- 1 inch Ginger (grated)
- ½ cup Coriander (finely chopped)
- ½ cup Cashews (roughly chopped)
- 1/3 to ½ cup Raisin
- A pinch Asafetida
- 1 Tsp. Cumin seeds
- 1 Tsp. Chili powder
- 1 Tbsp. Garam masala
- 1 Tsp. Turmeric powder
- 1 Tsp. Cumin powder/Jeera powder
- 1 Tsp. Raw mango powder/Amchur
- 1 Tsp. Lemon juice
- 1-2 Tbsp. Sugar
- Salt to taste
- 2 Tbsp. Oil
- Oil (For frying)
- Mint-Coriander chutney (To serve with)
In mixing bowl whisk together flour the flour, black onion or carom seeds and salt.
Add ghee or oil and using your fingertips rub the ghee/oil in the flour and blend until mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
Add around ½ cup of warm water and knead until dough just comes together adding water as required.
Knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes smooth and elastic.
Lightly grease the dough and cover with a moistened napkin or a wet muslin cloth and keep aside to rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
Heat the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds.
When the seeds crackle, add asafoetida, roughly chopped cashews and raisin,sauté on a medium flame for a few seconds until light golden brown.
Add chopped green chili and grated ginger and cook for 1 minute.
Add boiled peas and all grounded powders: turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala, cumin powder, dry mango powder, salt and sugar, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 2 minutes, while stirring continuously.
Add chopped coriander, chopped or mashed potatoes mix well and cook on a medium flame for another 1 minute, while stirring continuously.
Add lemon juice, mix well and Divide the stuffing into around 35 equal portions and keep aside.
Knead the dough well till smooth and elastic; divide dough into around 18 equal portions forming balls.
On a floured surface, roll each ball into a 6-inch oval shape.
Cut each oval in half oval horizontally into 2 equal portions using a knife and lightly brush the straightedge side with a little water.
Fold it in half, and align the two straight sides so they overlap to form a cone shape. Squeeze the corner and side edges together to make a tight seal leaving rounded side open.
Hold triangle in your hand with open rounded side facing up and let dough fall open to make cone. Fill cone with one portion of potato mixture, leaving the top edge clean. Moisten the inside top rim of the cone and press the edges together to make another tight seal.
I have twisted rim to create a design you can skip this part if you want. Place the samosas on a tray until ready to fry. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
Heat oil in a deep pan. Fry few samosas at a time, being careful not to crowd them on medium flame till they turn golden brown from both the sides. Drain on absorbent paper.
Serve hot with Mint-Coriander chutney.
For the Dough:
- Enough fat should be added to the flour to make crispy pastry of samosa. Less or more fat can result in too hard pastry crust or very brittle respectively.
- While kneading the dough always start with kneading into tight firm dough first and adding water in turns later on.
For Rolling:
- Don’t roll the samosa crust too thick otherwise it will take too much time for cooking resulting in hard crust or uncooked from inside.
- Don’t roll the samosa crust too thin, otherwise it won’t be able to contain the potato stuffing and may burst while frying.
For Frying:
- While frying samosa, the temperature of oil should not be too hot or too cool. Always fry samosas on medium heat and later lower the flame to get crisp & flaky from outside and well-cooked from inside.
- Frying in very hot oil, leads to tiny air bubble pockets on the crust or uncooked samosas from inside.
- Frying in low temperature oil makes samosa greasy as they need more time to cook and absorbs too much of oil.
For Baking:
- You can bake samosa for health perspective at 180 degrees C for about 30-40 minutes. There is not much difference in the taste but texture wise fried samosa looks better.
- Or else bake them till half done and then fry to get golden brown crust.
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