Samosas - 3 Kinds

Over Thanksgiving, me and my Dad made samosas together for the first time. He had just learned from his Aunt in Delhi how to prepare them and wanted to teach me how. My family was in San Francisco for the holiday and my Aunt had decided to invite us all over for Thanksgiving so we prepared three varieties to bring to her house with a coriander chutney:

potato and peas

sweet potato and feta

taro root


The first two fillings came out really well and I'll share the recipes with you on this post. Although my little nephew liked it, the taro root came out a bit dry. The curry is delicious though by itself so I will share that recipe in the next post. Here are our samosas!


It was so fun to make these with my Dad. It does take time, but it can be a really communal activity where everyone can help to wrap the samosas.
I took photos of how to roll out, wrap and fry the samosas - kind of hard to explain in words. My Dad was the hand model:) Recipe for the dough is below for 24 samosas. After you let the dough rest for an hour or so, knead it again and divide and roll into 12 balls like these. Keep these dough balls covered with saran wrap so they do not dry out while you are rolling:

On a floured surface, roll out your first dough ball:

Should be rolled to about a 6 inch diameter:

Cut the circle in half:

Make a cone out of the half piece of dough with a seam that overlaps about 1/4 inch. Seal the seam together with water. Also press the edges together just to make sure that your seam comes together.

Fill your cone with a heaping tablespoon of filling:

Rub a little water in the inside of the top of the cone and close the top. Press well so that it is airtight.

Me and my Dad just folded up the corner of our samosas. Place your samosas on a tray and cover with saran wrap while you fill the rest:

Fry the samosas in a frying pan until golden brown. You can also bake but frying tastes better:)

Thanks for teaching me how to make samosas Dad! T'was fun:)

Samosa dough - makes 24 medium size

*I just used what my brother had in his pantry, you can make this with all all-purpose or with all whole wheat flour

Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon salt

~3 tablespoons warm water

Method

Mix up the flour and the butter with your hands so that it gets all crumbly like bread crumbs. Next add in water, 1 tablespoon at a time. You may need more or less water, but knead until you get a dough that is soft and pliable. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for an hour. Now you can make the filling:

Potato and peas filling - enough for 10 samosas with some leftover

Ingredients

2 tablespoons oil

2 medium sized Yukon gold potatoes (or any other you have on hand), boiled, peeled and cubed small

3/4 cup frozen green peas, defrosted

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 teaspoon ginger, grated

pinch of hing or asafoetida

1 teaspoon cumin seed

1/2 teaspoon amchoor

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1/3 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon coriander powder

salt

Method

Heat oil under medium heat. Put in cumin seeds and hing. Shake up the pot. When the cumin seeds start to sizzle or brown more, put in the onion. Fry until the onions are translucent. Add the ginger and stir well. Next add in the amchoor, garam masala, turmeric and coriander powder. Mix these well, adding oil if necessary. Throw in the potatoes and peas and mix well. Add salt and fry the potatoes and peas for about 8 minutes. Cool mixture for filling.

Sweet potato and feta filling - enough for 10 samosas with some leftover

Ingredients

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed small

1-2 tablespoons oil

1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
pinch of hing or asafoetida

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon ginger, grated

2 green chilis or to taste, minced

1/3 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon cumin

4 oz. crumbled feta

salt to taste

Method

Heat oil under medium heat with mustard seeds, cumin and hing. Shake up the pot. Once they start to pop and sizzle, add in the onions. Fry onions until translucent. Next add in the garlic, ginger and chilis. Fry for a few seconds. Put in turmeric, coriander powder and cumin powder and mix well. Throw in the sweet potatoes and mix until coated with all the spices. Fry until the potatoes are soft - 20 minutes or less. If you feel that the potato is burning up, add water from time to time to cool the pan down. Transfer to a bowl and mix in feta. Add salt to taste. Cool mixture for filling.