Samosas! – Vegan MoFo Day 25

The prompt today is to write about my favourite cuisine. Now, I love to cook from all different cuisines! Some, I don’t cook so much – I don’t know much about east Asian cooking, for instance, although I’d love to learn – and some, pretty often – if pasta counts as “Italian”! But one cuisine I love cooking is Indian. I grew up in Leicester, where there’s a big Indian population (and a ton of awesome Indian food shops!), and both my parents have spent time in India, so it was something I grew up eating!

One memory I have is that we used to stop off and buy samosas and pakora and bhajis on the way home from church on a Sunday afternoon – lovely. Luckily I married into a family who also shares my love for Indian snacks as well!

Since we moved away from Leicester, I have not found a place to get my samosa fix yet – so what should I do? Well, simple, I just make my own. It’s actually a lot easier than I expected – and you don’t need a deep fryer, just oil in a saucepan will do!

I’ve put together a little step-by-step image tutorial for actually folding the samosas – but once you get the hang of it it’s just second nature.

First, you have to make the filling. This is just onion, garlic, potatoes, peas and spices. Leave it to cool before you make the samosas.

Make the dough, and break off a ball about the size of a ping-pong ball. Or a small plum, if you’d rather. Roll it into a circle about 15cm/6in wide. and slice down the middle.

Now, fold the semi-circle into a cone in your hand, so the edges overlap. Seal with a bit of water.

Make sure it’s all sealed and there’s no holes, and fill with the samosa filling. Leave just under a centimetre at the top so you can pinch it closed. Seal it off well with water, you want to make sure there’s no holes.

Heat enough oil to just cover the samosas in a saucepan (I use a small saucepan so as not to use too much oil, and fry one samosa at a time). Using a bit of spare pastry, test to see if the oil is done. If it immediately fizzles and turns golden, it’s ready!

Place one samosa at a time gently in the oil (use a spoon to do this – but not a plastic one as it’ll melt!), and fry for 30 seconds max on each side, until blistering and golden.

Remove the samosa and place on a kitchen towel to absorb any excess oil. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling!

Let cool a little before eating. You can eat them warm or cold, and even freeze them for a quick heat-up-in-the-microwave snack!

Pea and Potato Samosas

• Servings: about 20 samosas
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Ingredients

for the filling:
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 500g potatoes, diced into 1cm cubes
• 1 chilli, chopped
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 100g peas
• Salt & Pepper

for the dough:

• 300g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp oil
• 100ml hot water
• Oil for deep frying

Directions

1. First, make the filling. Heat the oil in a saucepan, and add the cumin seeds. Fry for less than a minute, until toasted and fragrant.
2. Add the onion, garlic, and chilli to the seeds. Fry until the onion is softened.
3. Add the turmeric, salt and pepper, and cumin powder, and mix.
4. Stir through the peas and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Cover the pan, and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender.
6. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
7. Next, make the dough. Mix the salt and flour together, and rub in the oil.
8. Slowly pour in the hot water and mix until a smooth dough is formed.
9. Knead until the dough is smooth.
10. Now, assemble the samosas. In a saucepan, heat up enough oil to just cover the samosas. To test when it is hot enough, drop in a small piece of pastry. If it instantly fizzles and crisps up, it is ready.
11. Lightly flour a work surface. Break off a small piece of dough, about the size of a ping pong ball, and roll out into a circle 15cm/6in diameter.
12. Slice the circle in half to form two semi-circles.
13. Roll the semi circle into a cone shape, with the edges overlapping. Seal with a little water.
14. Scoop the filling into the cone, leaving roughly just under a centimetre gap at the top. Seal this well with more water.
15. Place the samosa in the hot oil (careful, very hot!) and fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown on both sides. Remove from the oil and place on a piece of kitchen towel.
16. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling until all is used up and samosas are made!