Samosa

Singapore has been covered with smoky haze due to forest fires in nearby Sumatra/Indonesia for past 6 days now, and I have been house bound with the kids for last 4 days. I haven't been to gym for over a week and have been making calorific goodies.....grrr.... :( My kids and their friends have been helping me polish those goodies, but today was the day nobody visited us, nor did we visit anybody.... so these deep-fried golden triangles were consumed, just by my family and we really enjoyed them.... :)  

Samosa was the first new thing, I tried after I got married....:) My hubby and our friends have been the tasters for all sorts of samosas that I used to make.... burnt, very spicy, not cooked well enough, soggy or greasy.... but I have been making them over 10 years now...and now can turn out good ones.... in a jiffy, if I have all the ingredients.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 3 cups of flour
• 1 (OR 1 and half) tsp salt
  
• 1 tsp ajwain (optional- I didn't use)
• 3 tbsp ghee/butter/oil
• 1 tsp oil

For the stuffing:

• 12 small potatoes (or 5 regular ones)
• 1 cup of mint leaves
• 1/2 cup of coriander leaves
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 cup of green peas
• 2 green chilies
• 1 tsp each of cumin and fennel seeds
• 1 tsp each of coriander and cumin powder
• 1 tsp amchoor powder(Mango powder)
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 1 tsp salt
• Oil to deep-fry ( about 1 and half  to 2 cups)

Recipe:

• Add salt to the flour. Add ghee to the flour. Mix it well with hands, so as the flour is crumbly.
• Add water slowly, about half a cup at time and mix it to a stiff dough. I used about little less than 1 and 1/4 cup of water.

• Add a tsp of oil and then knead the dough well. I divided the dough in 3 parts and kneaded them separately (as the dough was really stiff).
• You can do the final kneading or everything in a food processor. However, I do it by hand as to control the water. You should not have a soft dough.
• Cover the dough with a plastic wrap and keep it aside for 30 minutes or an hour.

• Boil the potatoes and green peas in a pressure cooker or a microwave or on stove top.
• Chop the potatoes when they are cool. Chop the green chilies, mint and coriander leaves.
• Heat a tsp of oil and add cumin and fennel seeds. When they sputter in oil, add the chopped green chilies.

• Add the potatoes, peas and chopped herbs. 

• Saute and then add the powdered spices and salt.

• Saute on high heat, till the spices and herbs are mixed with the potatoes and peas. Cool the mix.

• Knead the dough again. Make 1 inch balls of the dough. Keep them covered. 
• Roll the dough in a circle. Cut in half. Take the half circle and join both the ends. Seal with water. You should have a cone. 

• Keep the joint on the front and fill the cone with 1 tbsp of stuffing. Seal the bottom with water again. You got a perfect triangular samosa.

• Make others in the same way. Keep them covered under slightly wet kitchen paper. 

• Heat about 1 and half cup of oil in the deep-frying pan/wok.
• Once the oil is hot, lower the heat to low-medium and gently put 3-4(or as many can fit comfortably) samosas. Deep-fry on both sides for about 4/5 minutes per side. Do not increase the heat, otherwise the samosas won't be cooked from the inside.

• Once they are golden brown, drain them on kitchen paper.

• Serve hot, with chutney or sauce of your choice. I served with Kimbal thai red chili sauce. 

Quantity:

• Makes about 25 samosas with about 1/2 cup dough left over.

Notes:

• Samosas need to be deep-fried at low heat to make the covering crispy.
• You can increase the chilies or add about 1 tsp (or more) of red chili powder to the stuffing.

Baked Samosas

• I have baked the samosas too. Instead of ghee, add 3 tbsp softened unsalted butter to the dough. Bake the samosas at 200 degrees for 15-20 minutes. You can flip them, at the last 5 minute mark. Baked samosas come out great without the blisters on the covering ....