Indian Samosas (Stuffed Savory Deep-Fried Pastry Cones), Makes 24
Resource: “Madhur Jaffrey’s World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking”
Pastry:
1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose white flour
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp soft, unsalted butter
Stuffing:
4 medium-sized potatoes, boiled unpeeled and cooled
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium-sized onion, peeled and minced
1 cup shelled fresh or defrosted frozen peas
1 tbsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
1 fresh hot green chili, minced
3 tbsp finely minced Chinese parsley
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice or 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp amchoor
1 tsp anardana (dried pomegranate seeds)
Oil for frying
Extra flour for dusting
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the softened butter and rub it in with your hands so that the flour resembles fine bread crumbs. Add warm water, a tablespoon at a time, and begin to gather the flour into a ball. You will need 5 tablespoons of water. Form a ball and begin to knead it. Knead well for about 10-15 minutes or until dough is very soft and pliable. (If you have a food processor, put the steel blade in place and empty the sifted flour and salt into a container. Add the softened butter and turn on the machine. When you have a bread-crumb consistency, begin to add about 5 tablespoons of water slowly through the funnel. Stop when the dough forms a ball. Take out the ball and knead it for 5-10 minutes or until it is very soft and pliable.) Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it sit for an hour in the refrigerator. The dough can be made a day in advance and refrigerated.
Make the stuffing. Peel the potatoes and dice them into roughly 1/4-inch pieces. Heat the 4 tablespoons oil in a 10-12″ skillet over a medium flame. Put in the onion, stirring and frying until it turns a light-brown color. Add the peas, the ginger, green chili, Chinese parsley, and 3 tablespoons of water. Cover, lower heat and simmer very gently until peas are cooked. Stir every now and then and add additional water, a tablespoon at a time, if the skillet seems dried out. Now put in the diced potatoes, salt, coriander, garam masala, roasted ground cumin, cayenne pepper, lemon juice (or lemon juice and amchoor), and anardana. Keep heat on low and mix the spices with the potatoes. Continue cooking gently, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes. Check salt and lemon juice. Turn off heat and leave potato mixture to cool.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator and knead again. Divide dough into 12 equal balls. Keep balls covered with plastic wrap.
Place a small bowl of water on your work surface. Lightly flour on a pastry board.
1. Flatten one of the dough balls on it and roll it out into a round about 6″ in diameter.
2. Now cut the round in half with a sharp knife.
3. Pick up one half and form a cone, making a 1/4″ overlapping seam.
4. Using a little water, from the nearby bowl to create the seam.
5. Fill the cone with a heaping tablespoon of the stuffing. Close the top of the cone by sticking the open edges of the triangle together, again with the help of a little water. This seam should also be 1/4″ wide.
6. Press the top seam again and, if possible, “flute” it with your fingers. Put the samosa on a platter in a cool spot. Make all 24 samosas this way.
Heat oil for deep frying (about 2-1/2″ deep) in a wok or other wide utensil over medium-low flame. When the oil is hot, drop in the samosas, as many as will lie in a single layer. Fry them slowly until they are golden brown, turning them over when one side seems done. When the second side of the samosas has turned a golden color, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and place them on a paper-towel-lined platter. Do all samosas this way.
Samosas may be served at room temperature or they may be served warm. Samosas may be made ahead of time (up to a day), refrigerated neatly in flat plastic containers, and then reheated in a 350 degree oven. If you wish to freeze samosas, fry them partially, drain them, and freeze them in a single layer in flat plastic containers. When you wish to eat them, defrost and fry them a second time.
Generally, samosas are served with a tart, spicy chutney like Tamarind-Mint Chutney (see below).
Tamarind-Mint Chutney (fairly typical sweet-and-sour for dipping samosas), Makes 1 cup
Resource: “Madhur Jaffrey’s World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking”
1 heaping tbsp chopped fresh Chinese parsley
1 heaping tbsp chopped mint
2 tbsp chopped gur (jaggery) or dark brown sugar
A 3/4″ cube of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/4 tsp pounded or ground kala namak (black salt)
2/3 cup tamarind paste
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground, roasted cumin seeds
Put the Chinese parsley, mint, gur, ginger, kala namak and 4 tablespoons of water into the container of an electric blender or food processor. Blend until you have a smooth paste. Mix contents of the blender with the tamarind paste (use a nonmetallic or stainless-steel bowl). Add all the remaining ingredients. Mix well and keep covered in the refrigerator until ready to use.
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