Samosa

A maida pastry folded round a filling that was cooked and cooled first.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee).

Ingredients

• 300 g maida, plain white flour
• 4 tablespoons ghee, for the pastry
• 1 teaspoon salt
• about 110 ml cold water
• 500 g potatoes, boiled and roughly crushed
• 150 g green peas
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• a 4 cm piece of ginger, grated
• 3 green chillies, chopped
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, for the filling
• oil for deep frying

Method

1. THE FILLING IS COOKED AND COOLED BEFORE IT GOES IN, WHICH IS WHAT MAKES THIS A PASTRY RATHER THAN A FRITTER. Its article's list for the subcontinent is specific: samosas are prepared with AN ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR (LOCALLY KNOWN AS MAIDA) AND STUFFED WITH A FILLING, OFTEN A MIXTURE OF DICED AND COOKED OR MASHED BOILED POTATOES, ONIONS, GREEN PEAS, LENTILS, GINGER, SPICES AND GREEN CHILLIES. Cooked, then stuffed. A warm filling steams the pastry from inside and the seam opens in the oil.
2. AND IT IS FOLDED TWO WAYS, BOTH OF WHICH THE ARTICLE NAMES. BOTH FLAT (TRIANGULAR) AND FULL-SHAPED (TETRAHEDRON/TRIANGULAR PYRAMID) SAMOSAS ARE POPULAR. The tetrahedron holds more and is the harder fold; the flat triangle fries more evenly.
3. THE PASTRY IS MAIDA WITH GHEE RUBBED IN AND VERY LITTLE WATER. Four tablespoons into three hundred grams, rubbed until it holds when squeezed, then brought together with as little cold water as it will take. It should feel tight and slightly dry.
4. KNEAD IT FIRM, REST IT HALF AN HOUR, AND DO NOT LET IT GET SOFT. A slack pastry blisters in the oil and goes bubbly rather than smooth.
5. COOK THE FILLING DRY. Cumin seeds in a little oil, onion, ginger and chilli until soft, then the peas, then the crushed potato, the ground spices and the salt. Keep it on the heat until there is no moisture left in the pan, then spread it out to cool completely.
6. ROLL SIX OVALS, CUT EACH IN HALF, AND MAKE A CONE FROM EACH HALF. Dampen the straight edge, overlap it by a centimetre and press hard -- that seam is the one that fails. Fill the cone two-thirds, then pinch the top shut in a straight line.
7. FRY THEM SLOWLY, STARTING IN BARELY WARM OIL. This is the step that decides the texture. Hot oil blisters the outside and leaves the pastry raw in the fold; started cool and brought up over fifteen or twenty minutes, they come out pale gold, smooth and hard.
8. DRAIN THEM ON A RACK, NOT ON PAPER. Paper traps steam under the pastry and softens the base. Its article has them eaten with chutney or with tomato ketchup, and notes the Hyderabadi version with a thicker crust and a minced meat filling, which is a different dish.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes