Sunday 9 January 2011

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