Vegetarian Pea & Potato Samosas
There are many ways of making samosas and samosa fillings – this is the way I like best. Depending on the quality of the flour, you might need slightly less or slightly more water to make the dough. You can fry the samosas in sunflower oil, rapeseed oil or ghee.
Makes 10–12 samosas
For the pastry
200g plain flour plus more for dusting
½ tsp salt
6 tsp sunflower oil
100ml room-temperature water
For the filling
2 tsp sunflower oil
1 tsp crushed fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
75g peas
1–2 green chillies, chopped finely
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp amchoor (mango powder)
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced small, then cooked in water until soft but not mushy, then drained
handful fresh coriander, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
sunflower oil, for deep-frying
First make the pastry. Sieve the flour for the pastry into a bowl. Add a pinch of salt and oil. Rub the oil into the flour with your hands, then add the water and bring everything together. Knead briefly until it forms a ball, it should be smooth and soft. Cover the bowl with cloth and leave to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
Make the filling. Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the fennel and cumin seeds. Once they start sizzling, add the peas and cook for few minutes. Add the green chilli together with the ground coriander, ground cumin and mango powder and cook for 1 minute. Add the cooked potatoes into the pan, mix well and cook for 2–3 minutes.
Add the chopped coriander and salt, and keep cooking for 2–3 minutes on a low heat. The vegetables should be well coated with spices. Check the seasoning. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Heat a frying pan over a very low heat. Divide the rested pastry into 5–6 equal-sized balls. Roll each ball into a circle on a lightly floured work surface to approximately 3mm thick and 16cm in diameter. Cook the rolled chapatti warm both sides on the pan then cut in half.
Brush the edges with water. Bring the straight edges together to make a cone and stuff with the filling. Pinch and seal the open edge and then push it with a fork. Repeat until all the remaining dough are made into samosas.
Heat a deep heavy-based pan and fill halfway with sunflower oil. Bring the oil to a temperature of 180C. Deep-fry the samosas, two at a time, for 4–5 minutes until light brown and crisp. Rest on kitchen paper to drain any excess oil. Fry the remaining samosas two at a time.
Serve with a mint and coriander chutney.
