Authentic Indian Vegetarian Samosas Recipes

BAKED VEGGIE SAMOSAS

Steps:

• To make the dough, combine the flour, baking powder, a good pinch of sea salt and the ajwain seeds (if using) in a large bowl.
• Use your fingers to rub in 120ml of oil until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in 150ml of cold water, then bring it together with your hands into a rough dough, adding a splash more water, if needed.
• Place in a flour-dusted bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
• Peel and chop the potatoes into rough 2.5cm chunks, then break the cauliflower into florets so they're roughly the same size.
• Add the potatoes to a large pan of boiling salted water and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until tender, adding the cauliflower after 3 minutes. Add the peas for the final minute, then drain.
• Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic, then peel and finely grate the ginger. Deseed and finely chop the chilli.
• Drizzle a lug of oil into a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, add the cumin and onion and cook for 8 minutes, or until softened but not coloured. Stir in the garlic, ginger and chilli, then fry for a further few minutes.
• Bash the fennel seeds to a fine powder and add to the pan along with the garam masala and ground coriander. Stir well.
• Stir the cooked veg into the pan and crush gently with a potato masher - don't overdo it: you want a fairly chunky mixture. Squeeze in the lemon juice and season to taste. Leave to cool, then pick, finely chop and stir in the coriander leaves.
• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Lightly grease a large baking tray with oil.
• On a flour-dusted surface, halve the dough and roll out each portion to about 3cm thick. Using a 7cm pastry cutter, stamp out as many circles as you can, then roll into rounds, roughly ½cm thick and 18cm in diameter.
• Cut each round in half, then brush the straight edges with a little water. Roll into a cone shape, bringing the straight edges together and pressing lightly to seal.
• Spoon in the filling, brush the exposed dough with a little water, then fold over and press to seal. Place onto the prepared baking tray, then repeat with the remaining ingredients, keeping the samosas covered with a damp tea towel as you go.
• Brush the samosas with a little oil and bake for 45 minutes, or until golden and piping hot through. Serve straightaway with mango chutney.

SAMOSA RECIPE

Steps:

• Start by making the samosa dough. To a large bowl, add flour, ajwain (carom seeds), salt and mix well.
• Add the oil and then start mixing with your fingers. Rub the flour with the oil until the oil is well incorporated in all of the flour. Do this for 3 to 4 minutes, you don't want to rush this step. Once incorporated, the mixture resembles crumbs.
• Press some flour between your palm- it should form a shape (& not crumble) - means oil is enough and well incorporated.
• Now, start adding water, little by little and mix to form a stiff dough. Don't overwork the dough and don't knead a soft dough. It should just come together and form a stiff dough. I used around 6 tablespoons of water here.
• Cover the dough with a moist cloth and let it rest for 40 minutes. I usually soak a paper towel in water and then squeeze out all the water and then cover my dough with that. While the dough is resting, start working on the filling.
• Boil potatoes until done. 8 to 9 whistles on high heat with natural pressure release if using stove-top pressure cooker or if using Instant Pot, high pressure 12 minutes with natural pressure release on a trivet with 1 cup water in the bottom of the pot.
• Peel the skin and them mash the potatoes. Set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds, fennel seeds and crushed coriander seeds.Let the seeds sizzle for few seconds and then add the chopped ginger, green chili and hing. Cook for 1 minute.
• Add the boiled & mashed potatoes and green peas to the pan. Mix everything together. I use my potato masher to combine the spices and seasonings well with the potatoes and peas.
• Add the coriander powder, garam masala, amchur, red chili powder and salt. Mix to combine. Once it's all well incorporated, remove pan from heat and let the filling cool down a bit.
• Once the dough has rested, give it a quick knead. Then divide the dough into 7 equal parts of around 58-60 grams each.Start working on a piece of dough, keep the remaining dough balls covered at all times with a moist cloth else the dough will dry out.
• Roll one dough ball into a circle-oval kind of shape, around 6-7 inches in diameter and then cut it into two parts.
• Take one part and apply water on the straight edge/side. I usually mix some flour with water so that it forms a nice glue.Now bring the two ends of the straight edge together and pinch them to form a cone. See step-by-step pictures above for a better idea. Pinch the pointed ends to make it a perfect cone shape.
• Fill the samosa with the potato filling, around 1 to 2 tablespoons. Don't overfill the samosa.
• Now again apply water all around the circumference of the cone as you have to seal it. Pinch the opposite side (side opposite to where you pinched to form the cone) to form a plate (see step-by-step pictures above). Then pinch the edges and seal the samosa.
• Your samosa is now ready. Repeat the same process with remaining dough. Always remember to keep the filled samosa covered with a moist cloth while roll and fill the others. You will get 14 samosas.
• Now heat oil in a kadai on low heat. To check if oil is ready, drop a small piece of dough into the oil. It should take few seconds to come up to the surface. That means the oil is ready.Drop the shaped samosas into the oil.
• Fry on low heat. After around 10-12 minutes, the samosa will become firm and light brown in color. At this point, increase the heat to medium and fry until it gets nicely browned.Don't overcrowd the kadai/wok, fry 4-5 samosas at a time. And each batch will take around 20 minutes since we fry on low heat so be patient.
• Once you finish frying one batch, lower the heat again to low and wait until the temperature of the oil drops and then add the second batch.Enjoy hot samosas with cilantro chutney or sweet tamarind chutney!

VEGETABLE SAMOSAS

Steps:

• To make the vegetable filling, heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat until bubbles appear.
• Add the cumin seeds. When they become fragrant in the oil, toss in the onion and chillies, and fry for 5-7 minutes until the onion is translucent and lightly browned.
• Add the garlic and ginger paste and fry for a further minute. Add the potatoes and mixed powder, and just enough water or spice stock to cover.
• Simmer until the potatoes are soft, topping up the stock if needed. Add the carrot and continue cooking until cooked through but still al dente.
• Reduce the stock until you have a dry potato mixture. Stir in the coriander (cilantro) and peas and season with salt. Set aside to cool.
• Fold the samosas as photographed above.
• When ready to cook, pour 10cm (4in) of rapeseed (canola) oil into a deep saucepan and heat to 170°C (340°F). Fry the samosas in batches until nicely browned.
• Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a wire rack. Keep warm while you fry the remaining samosas.

SAMOSA RECIPE | PUNJABI SAMOSA | ALOO SAMOSA

Steps:

• 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.
• 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 chillies. Sauté for a few seconds until the raw aroma of ginger goes away.
• Add the steamed green peas, red chili powder, the freshly ground spice powder, dry mango powder and asafoetida.
• Stir and sauté on a 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.
• After resting the dough for 30 minutes, divide the dough in 6 equal pieces.
• Take each piece and roll 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 finger tips, 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 a part 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.
• 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 oil.
• This way fry all the samosa in batches.
• 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.

AUTHENTIC INDIAN VEGETARIAN SAMOSAS

Steps:

• Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, return to the pot, and mash.
• Combine mashed potatoes, peas, raisins, green chile, garam masala, ginger, chile powder, and salt in a large bowl. Set filling aside.
• Combine flour, oil, cinnamon, and salt on a flat surface and knead to combine. Slowly knead in a small amount of water at a time, using just enough to form a soft dough that is pliable and even in color.
• Divide dough into 4 balls; roll each into a thin circle and cut in half. Place dough half-circles into an airtight container.
• Place 1 half-circle on a flat surface with the straight edge toward you and the rounded side facing away. Pour a small amount of water into a bowl. Dip a finger in the water and lightly moisten the right side of the rounded edge of the dough; fold wet edge over the left rounded side to create a cone. Press rounded edge to seal and leave straight edge open. Fill with filling and seal open edge by wetting dough with water and pressing together. Repeat with remaining dough and fillings.
• Heat oil in a deep fryer to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Deep fry samosas until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes each.