Spiced starchy bite size, almost mashed potatoes along with peas all stuffed in a flaky pasty, deep fried to golden brown! Potatoes and Peas Samosa is my all my favourite Indian snack. And I love to pair it with a perfect cup of Indian Masala Chai. It took a while and few failed attempt to finally get the recipe right. If you follow all the tips, you will get it right too!
Samosa is one of the most popular Indian snack!
Close to our old apartment, there is this very popular Indian sweet and snack shop. It is always jam-packed, serving folks their favorites. They definitely make sure no one misses their favorites from back home. Almost every Friday evening, Arvind would stop there from work and pick my all time preferred – samosa. A short message from him and I would quickly start prepping masala chai. By the time he reached home, tea would almost be ready and samosa would still be warm. What better way to start the weekend? Over the period of time, it almost became a ritual. Then we moved to a different area and the shop was way out of his route. I love samosa and had to learn how to make it at home so that occasionally we could go back to our Friday evening customary.
There are wide varieties of filling you can use in samosas. My favourite pick has always been the classic potato and peas.
Key tips to make perfect flaky samosa!
Just like it’s important to use cold butter and ice water to make a flaky piecrust, it’s equally essential to start deep-frying the samosas in room temperature oil and not drop these in hot oil. Allowing it to fry the samosa slowly as the temperature rises creates that crispy flaky crust that we all love the most about this snack. My friend Prerna shared this knowledge with me that she learned from local vendors in India. That is the perfect source and it worked like a wonder. Success finally!
Well, it’s true that by doing so, it soaks a lot of oil, which is why samosas should never be your everyday diet. Make it occasionally, but make it perfect.
Samosa Filling:
I don't prefer too spicy filling and I also prefer it simple.No matter what stuffing you want, make sure to keep it dry and not too soggy. My favourite choice is boiled potatoes tiny bite size, sautéed with some spices and then mixed with some peas.
What kind of flour to use?
The preferred choice is always all purpose flour but you can surely keep it healthy by using whole wheat flour. Just keep in mind that all purpose flour with give a light flaky crust. Whole wheat might make it little dense.
Shaping the Samosa
- Roll the dough thin and a little oval instead of circle. This will help you shape the cone better.
- I normally just pinch the edges and it seals fine. But if you are worried, rub a little water in the edges to seal it tight.
- It's important to seal the samosa tight, so the filling doesn't come out when you fry the samosa.
- Also do not over stuff the samosa.
Can you bake or air fry?
You absolutely can! However the taste will be very different and not authentic. I always prefer deep frying because I make it very occasionally and eat just one or two.
I can never get bored of this flaky, deep fried, savory filled pastry. And while most people like to pair it with green chutney or tamarind sweet chutney, I need nothing more than some ketchup and a hot cup of tea.
And thank you Sam for being such an awesome hand model. If only I could borrow you for all my posts!
Potatoes and Peas Samosa
Ingredients
for the dough
- 1-½ cup all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon carom seeds
- 1 teaspoon salt
- water for kneading
for the filling
- 2 medium size potatoes pealed and boiled.
- ½ cup peas
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon dry mango powder
- salt
deep frying
- vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine flour with salt and carom seeds. Now, pour oil and mix it with hand thoroughly. Once the flour holds itself when held in your fist tightly, you can start pouring water little by little until it forms dough. Cover the bowl and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
- In the mean time, make the filling. Cut the boiled potatoes in tiny bite sizes and add chili powder, cumin powder and dry mango powder. Add salt if you didn’t add while boiling the potatoes and give it a rough mix.
- In a small pan, heat 1-tablespoon oil and add mustard seeds. It will splatter, so be very careful. Add peas and fry for about a minute. Next, add boiled potatoes and give it a stir. Check for salt and add any, if required. Once done, keep it aside and allow it to cool completely.
- Once the filing is cool and dough is rested enough, give the dough another knead and divide it into equal size balls. Make big balls (about 21/2 inches in diameter), because each ball will make two samosas. Mine were medium size samosas.
- Roll out the ball into a circle; slice it with knife in the center, take one semicircle in hand and form a cone. Place it in your hand comfortably (follow the pictures above to understand better) and fill about 2 tablespoons of the mixture. Pinch the end to seal it tightly and allow it to sit on the board to make a flat bottom. You can rub some water at the edges if it’s not sealing properly.
- In a big wok or deep pan, pour enough vegetable oil and drop a few of the samosas. Bring the heat to medium and allow it to fry slowly. Do not overcrowd the pan and rotate it in between to brown it on all the sides. Once done, lift it from the oil and keep it in a kitchen towel, allowing it to drain any excess oil.
- Allow the oil to cool down before you fry the next batch.
Notes
Nutrition
Divya Shivaraman
I meant covering with a wet cloth - ah i forgot to mention that 😉
Divya Shivaraman
Hi Kankana,
I made these wonderful Indian Tea time snack today...That was Awesome...I shared this with 4 of my friends too...everyone enjoyed ending licking their fingers and complaining - only one?
I am a blogger too...i know how difficult it is to create one such post....you did a fab job clicking everything so perfect...Its my duty to comment my experience - personally - I loved it, Thank you. I made some small changes by adding green chillies,Onions, Garlic and Raisins to the potato mixture. I also added some cumin seeds to the maida batter. I am not sure did you add this point in your writing if not i would suggest you would , i covered the batter and the filled uncooked samosas covered until it goes to oil as it got dry from outside...Thank you again..
Vanamala
Ver nice .... Lovely pics
najla
Never knew that samosas should be dropped into oil at room temparature.. Should try it next time.. Beautiful post and snaps Kankana.. Thanks for sharing.. 🙂
rebecca
these look perfect
nipponnin
I've never made this before. Or I have never eaten this before. Looks wonderful! I'm going to try it. Photographs are perfect and so impressive.
Vidya
absolutely love the step by step pictures..looks perfect..
samosa + tamarind chutney..one of fav combo...mm im already feeling hungry.
Lan | morestomach
goodness, i never realized how much time it would take to cook these things up! cooling the oil between batches. and they're always so cheap!!
i love the ritual you had with Arvind, and when it no longer became possible to keep it up that way, you found another way to make it happen.
is it sacrilege for me to ask if it's at all possible to bake??? (and if it's offensive that i asked, can we still be friends??)
Vineetha Sush
Kankana, Thats a brillint piece of information about frying them in room temperature oil, Next time when i have some guests over ,i am going to fry them in room temp...samosa looks prefect, pics as always classic !
Kathy@Olives&Garlic
I am addicted to samosas. Such a delicious recipe. Can't wait to try making my own
Nami | JOC
Homemade samosa from scratch! Gosh, there is nothing better than that!
Kitchen Belleicious
my kids would love this! Well done. I must try it
jehanne
I love your pictorials, thats very useful Kankana especially since I can never get the shape right! I love the addition carom seeds in your dough, they look exceptionally gorgeous !
Elvira
I'm not going to miss out on making these...that's for sure!! I don't think I've ever seen them here in Rome. They are perfect for when I organize the aperitivo night with friends, I know they will be stunned 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Kiran
LOVE homemade samosa with cuppa pipping hot tea. Just divine! 🙂
Shumaila The Novice
A little time consuming but homemade samosas are the best. My dad told me about the slow frying trick. I dont know how he knew but it does work 🙂
Nik@ABrownTable
Kankana, these samosas look gorgeous! Also you've made me super hungry before lunch time! I'm also making note of the room temperature oil tip you shared because I think I'm going to make your recipe for Diwali this week 🙂
carey
Room temperature oil! I love unexpected tricks like that — it's so interesting.
When I was young, there was this little natural foods store on the way to my grandma's house that sold fresh samosas, and my parents would always stop there and buy a giant bag of them. (This was back when samosas were hard to come by in upstate NY, so gorging ourselves seemed necessary!) These seem to be quite similar to what I remember — potatoes and peas, and not an overwhelming amount of spices. My parents still talk about those samosas (and lament the fact that they can't get them anymore), so I would love to surprise them with a batch of these!
Radhika Vasanth
Brings back old memories. Dad used to bring hot samosas on his way back from work and Mom serves it with Hot tea. Hot chai with samosas slathered in green chutney and dates chutney makes me weak in my knees. We still follow this ritual when I am home
Shoba Shrinivasan
Wow,
First time on your space and I loved the pictorials. Such slender beautiful hands and loved the color of her dress - purple set against the dark background - added so much more drama for me! I love samosas and can have them all day bt I love to dunk them in Sweet Chat tamarind chutney! Droooolll!
Shobha