Samosa | How to make Samosa - by foodogger

Samosa

A Samosa recipe that is your popular and classic Punjabi samosa with a super flaky, crispy crust and a savory, tangy potato and green peas filling.

Ingredients:-

For making samosa pastry

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (maida), 250 grams
• 1 teaspoon carom seeds
• 1 teaspoon salt or add as required
• 6 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter), 50 grams
• 7 to 8 tablespoons water or add as required

For cooking potato & peas

• 3 medium-sized potatoes - 300 to 350 grams or 3 cups chopped boiled potatoes
• ½ cup green peas - 180 grams, fresh - can use frozen peas
• 2 cups water - for steaming

Other ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil - I used mustard oil. sunflower, canola, grapeseed oil can be used
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger or 1-inch ginger
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped green chilies or serrano peppers or 1 to 2 green chilies
• ½ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper
• 1 pinch asafoetida (hing) - optional
• 1 to 2 teaspoons dry mango powder (amchur)
• salt as required
• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
• oil for deep frying - as required, any neutral tasting oil

Whole spices to be ground

• ½ inch cinnamon
• 1 clove - optional
• 3 black peppercorns
• 1 green cardamom
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds

Instructions:-

Making the dough

• Take the flour, carom seeds, salt in a bowl. Mix well and add ghee.
• With your fingertips rub the ghee or oil in the flour to get a breadcrumb-like consistency.
• The whole mixture should clump together when joined and not fall apart.
• Add water in parts and knead to a firm dough.
• If the dough looks dry or floury, then add 1 to 2 tablespoons more water and knead.
• Cover the dough with a moistened napkin and set aside for 30 minutes.

Making potato stuffing

• Steam or boil the potatoes and peas till are cooked completely. Drain them of any extra water in a colander or sieve.
• Peel the boiled potatoes and chop them into small cubes
• Dry roast all the whole spices mentioned in the above list until fragrant taking care not to burn them.
• When the spices are warm or cool at room temperature, grind them in a dry grinder or coffee grinder to a semi-fine or fine powder.
• Heat oil in a pan. add the cumin seeds and crackle them.
• Add the ginger and green chilies. Sauté for a few seconds until the raw aroma of ginger goes away.
• Add the steamed green peas, red chili powder, freshly ground spice powder, dry mango powder, and asafoetida.
• Stir and sauté on low heat for 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add the potato cubes. Mix very well and sauté for about 2 to 3 minutes on low heat with frequent stirring.
• Set aside the potato filling aside to cool at room temperature.

Assembling & shaping

• After resting the dough for 30 minutes, divide the dough into 6 equal pieces.
• Take each piece and roll it in your palms first to make a smooth ball.
• Then roll it with a rolling pin keeping the thickness to 1 mm throughout.
• Cut with a knife or a pastry cutter through the center of the rolled samosa pastry.
• With a brush or with your fingertips, spread some water all over the edges.
• Join the two straight ends forming a cone shape.
• Press the edges so that they get sealed well.
• Stuff the prepared samosa cone with the prepared potato-peas stuffing.
• Pinch apart on the edge (check the video & photos). This helps the samosa to stand once it is shaped.
• Press both the edges. Be sure there are no cracks.
• Prepare all the samosa this way and keep covered with a moist kitchen napkin.

Frying Samosa

• Now heat oil for deep frying in a Kadai or pan. Once the oil becomes hot (test by adding a small piece of dough – it should come up quickly once added to the hot oil). Gently slide the prepared stuffed samosa & quickly reduce the flame to low.
• Turn over in between and fry until golden. Drain the fried samosa on paper towels to remove excess oil.
• Fry them in batches. For frying the second batch, again increase the temperature of the oil to medium heat. Do not overcrowd the pan while frying.
• Add the samosa and then lower the flame, thereby decreasing the temperature of the oil.
• This way fry all the samosa in batches.

Serving suggestions

• Serve samosa hot or warm with coriander chutney, tamarind chutney, or tomato ketchup.
• They can also be served with a yogurt dip or plain raita. Another way is to serve it with chana masala (chickpea curry).
• We usually pair samosa with masala chai or ginger chai.
• Even bread or pav (Indian bread rolls) can be served with it.
• Whatever you serve samosa with, remember to have hot masala chai with it.

Notes:-

Ingredient swaps

1. Roasting whole spices: If you are short of time to roast and grind the whole spices, then in a small bowl, simply mix 2 teaspoons ground coriander (coriander powder), ½ teaspoon ground cumin (cumin powder), ½ teaspoon ground fennel (fennel powder) and ½ teaspoon garam masala powder. Add this prepared spice mix at the step when the green peas and remaining ground spices are added while making the stuffing mixture.
2. Dry mango powder: Replace mango powder with 1 teaspoon lemon juice or 2 teaspoons dry pomegranate powder. 
3. Green peas: Simply skip if you do not have these. 
4. Asafoetida: Skip it completely if you cannot find asafoetida in your city. 
5. All-purpose flour: You can use pastry flour and even whole wheat flour. You may need to add more water when using whole wheat flour. 
6. Ghee: Replace ghee with a neutral-tasting oil. 

Kneading tips

1. Use the amount of fat as specified in the recipe to get a flaky crust.
2. Add water just enough to help you form the dough. Do not make the dough soft like bread or roti dough. The dough should be firm and tight.
3. A soft samosa dough will make air pockets happen on the crust. Too much moisture in the dough makes the crust soft as well as gives it plenty of air pockets.

Frying tips

1. Fry samosa on low to medium-low heat. The oil should not be medium-hot or at a high temperature as this will result in having air pockets on the crust and will leave the crust undercooked from inside. 
2. The oil for deep frying can be a neutral-flavored oil like sunflower, safflower, canola oil, or any good vegetable oil.

Make ahead and storage

1. You can shape samosa and freeze them or you can fry them until the crust becomes opaque and then freeze.
2. The fried samosa can be kept at room temperature for some hours. If you are not able to finish them all, then store them in an air-tight container in the fridge for a couple of days. When serving you can warm them on a skillet or in an oven until warm (at 170 degrees Celsius in a preheated oven).

Alternatives to frying

1. Air-frying: Preheat the air fryer at 180 degrees celsius for 10 minutes. Brush samosa with oil and air fry at 180 degrees celsius till the crust is golden.
2. Baking: Bake samosa in a preheated oven at 180 degrees celsius for 30 to 35 minutes or until the crust becomes crisp and golden.

Nutrition

Serving: 1samosa | Calories: 175kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 205mg | Potassium: 42mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 75IU | Vitamin B1 (Thiamine): 1mg | Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin): 1mg | Vitamin B3 (Niacin): 1mg | Vitamin B6: 1mg | Vitamin C: 3mg | Vitamin E: 1mg | Vitamin K: 2µg | Calcium: 9mg | Vitamin B9 (Folate): 42µg | Iron: 1mg | Magnesium: 8mg | Phosphorus: 30mg | Zinc: 1mg