East-Indian Samosas

This is a delicious East-Indian appetizer, and one of my favorites.  You can also make them slightly larger, or make more of them and turn it into a meal in itself.  They are a fun project to make, you can even get the kids to help.  They are triangular shaped pastries, filled with a spiced potato mixture.  Some people also add minced meat to the mixture, it depends what you like.  But they are quite  mouth-watering!

Samosas

(makes 8)

Dough:

½ cup all purpose flour

1 tsp Suji, Or semolina flour (optional)

¼ tsp salt

1 tablespoon + 1 tsp oil

¼ cup lukewarm water

Filling:

2 medium boiled red potatoes (should be boiled whole until tender but not mushy, then cooled and cut into ½ inch cubes)

1/3 cup sweet peas

2 tablespoons oil

½ tsp cumin seed

1 tsp coriander powder

¼ tsp red chili powder

½ tsp Garam masala

1 tsp umjur (dried mango) powder (or a few drops of lemon juice)

2 medium green chilies, seeded and chopped

1tsp salt

Plenty of oil for deep frying

Directions:

Making the dough:

1.        In a medium mixing bowl, place the flour, suji, salt and oil.  Mix together by had for about 10 seconds. 

2.        Add the lukewarm water, and blend to make a dough.  Knead for about a minute.  Set dough aside, covered, and allow it to rest for at least 20 minutes. 

Making the filling:

1.        Heat 2 tablespons of oil on medium in a medium skillet.  Add the cumin seed to the oil, along with the green peas, coriander, garam masala, green chilies.  Blend well and fry for 1 minute.

2.        Add potatoes, mix until well blended.  Then add the salt.  Stir-fry for about 2 minutes.

3.        Add mango powder, blend well.  Taste your filling at this point to test if you want more salt or chilly powder.  If you add more, blend well.

4.        Turn off heat and set filling mixture aside to cool for about 15 minutes.  It will cool faster if you spread it out on a large plate.

Making the Samosas:

1.        On a flat surface, knead the samosa dough for a few seconds.  Divide dough into 4 equal balls and slightly flatten them. 

2.        Roll each ball out about 6” in diameter.  Cut each circle in half.

3.       Lay a half dough circle in the palm of your hand and dip the fingertips of your other hand into some water.  Rub the water along the outer edges of the half circle of dough. 

4.       Place about 2 heaping tablespoons of the potato filling on one side of the half circle of dough.  Fold the other side over to enclose the filling.  It should resemble a triangle in shape.  Now pinch all the edges of the dough together, so they will not come apart during cooking.  Repeat these steps with the rest of the dough.

5.       On medium, heat a large deep-frying pot or skillet filled about 2 inches deep with oil.  Oil should not be too hot, you can test it by dropping a tiny piece of dough in the oil.  The dough should not rise up too fast.  It should only sizzle a bit at the bottom, then slowly rise.  If it rises too fast, the oil is too hot so you should reduce heat for a few minutes.

6.       Once oil is ready, fry the samosas, 4 at a time, for about 5 minutes.  During frying you should turn them over after about 2.5 minutes.  Once they are golden in color, like wontons or egg rolls, remove them from the oil and place on paper towels to drain.  Serve hot with any Indian dipping sauce, if desired.