Potato (Aloo) Samosas

These Potato Samosas are filled with a tangy and spicy mixture of potatoes, peas, herbs, and spices. 

 

These little Indian dumplings are crispy and spicy. They are delicious fresh from the fryer served on their own as a snack or an appetizer, or with a salad for lunch. 

When these samosas emerge from the fryer, you won't be able to stop eating them. The flaky crispy pastry wrapped around the delicious and spicy potato filling will keep calling your name. It's probably a good idea to have a few friends and family members around to keep you from eating them all. 

How to Make Aloo Samosas:

First, assemble the dough for the wrappers. You begin with all purpose flour which has been seasoned with some salt and freshly chopped thyme. You can skip the thyme if you prefer, or, if you have access to an Indian grocery store, use ajwain/carom seeds. 

Next, add some vegetable oil to the flour and work it in with your fingers for at least 3 to four minutes. You can also substitute vegetable shortening or ghee for the vegetable oil. While I haven't tried it, some recipes include a pinch of baking powder for extra flakiness. 

You know that you've worked the oil into the flour enough when you squeeze the dough in your hand and it sticks together. 

Once the dough is ready, start adding the water and work it in with your hands. You want a stiff and not sticky dough. 

You will need to let the dough rest for about 40 minutes, while you prepare the filling. You can also wrap it tightly and refrigerate it overnight. 

When you are ready to shape and fill the samosas, divide the dough into 7 equal parts and form them into balls. Next, roll them out into thin, about 7-inch circles between two pieces of wax paper. As you can see, the circles don't have to be perfect. 

You can also use parchment paper for rolling out the dough, but wax paper is a little less expensive. You can always roll it out on the counter, but it's so much easier between sheets of wax or parchment paper. 

P.S. Be sure to keep the rest of the dough covered with a damp paper towel while you are working with each dough piece. 

Working with one dough piece at a time, rub half of the straight edge of the half piece and fold it over to form a cone. Press the wet edge against the other edge, with about a 1/2 inch overlap at the top. 

Cup the "cone" in your hand and fill it with about 2 tablespoons of the filling. You can press it down with your fingers or a spoon. 

You will need to leave about a half to 3/4 inch of dough for sealing the samosas. 

With your finger, rub the inside of the dough with water and press the edges together, You can leave it like that, with a pressed together edge. 

If you do that, add any pretty designs to ruffle the edges if you'd like They are so pretty fried with a ruffled edge. 

I like to ensure that the samosas will stay together and not pop open when frying. Therefore, I also rub one side of the pressed together dough and fold it against the triangle for extra insurance. 

This also makes it easy to stand up the samosa triangles on a plate for refrigerating to fry later. 

To fry these samosas, I used the "double-fry" method. Most samosa recipes recommend frying them at 300 to 325 degrees F for 10 minutes in order to achieve a flaky dough. I was worried that this would also result in a greasy dough. 

Instead, I first fried the samosa s for about 3 minutes at 320 degrees F until they were lightly browned, and then removed them from the hot oil to drain on paper towels. 

By using a lower temperature for the first fry, the samosas won't burst open and spill out all of their contents. 

Once you've completed the first fry, heat the oil to 375 degrees F and fry the samosas for a second time for about 2 minutes, until golden brown. 

I fried these, 5 at a time, in a wok with about 3 cups of oil. Because the wok has sloping sides, you don't need as much oil as you might with a saucepan or Dutch oven. 

If you are not a fan of deep frying, but still want to try samosas, you can make these with purchased or homemade puff pastry. Roll out the dough and cut it into 7 inch rounds and follow the instructions to assemble the samosas. 

Bake the puff pastry samosas at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes and then at 375 degrees for 10 minutes more. 

I served these samosas with a mango ginger chutney (my favorite) from Trader Joe's as well as a mint and cilantro dipping sauce. Some of the favorite dipping sauces also include tamarind dipping sauce because it's a great foil to the spices in the filling. 

I've even seen ketchup as a dipping sauce. 

Substitutions for Traditional Indian Ingredients in Samosas:

Ajwain/carom seeds - These are traditionally added to the wrappings. I substituded chopped thyme. 

Amchru - mango powder - I substituted lemon juice.

Asafoetida or hing - I substituted garlic paste and onion powder. 

This is not a comprehensive list I'm sure. Every cook has their favorite filling spices. I encourage you to explore Indian ingredients and play with this recipe. That's kind of what I did. 

Make-ahead tips for samosas:

You can make both the filling and the dough about 24 hours in advance. You can also assemble the unfried samosas and refrigerate them covered for 24 hours before frying.

You can also freeze samosas before frying for up to 30 days. 

What to do with leftover samosas:

First, why would you ever have leftovers? They are so good!

However, if you do, you can reheat them in a 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes. 

If you like these, you might also like aloo tikkis, pan fried potato patties. The spice profile is very similar. 

This month, the Progressive Eats group is sharing recipes for Holi - The Festival of Colors! Our host is Anshie of Spiceroots. Holi Hai! 

If you're unfamiliar with the concept, a progressive dinner involves going from house to house, enjoying a different course at each location. With Progressive Eats it's a virtual party. A theme is chosen each month, members share recipes suitable for a delicious meal or party, and you can hop from blog to blog to check them out. Come along and see all of the delicious fiesta inspired dishes!

Holi Celebration

Beverages

• Spiced Mango Drink (Aam Panna) - The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Strawberry Lassi - Shockingly Delicious
• Thandai -Aromatic Almond Milk - Spiceroots

Savory

• Potato (Aloo) Samosas - Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Easy Saffron Rice - The Heritage Cook

Sweet

• Colorful Chewy Coconut Macaroons - Mother Would Know

Aloo Samosas

Yield: 14 samosas

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

These Potato Samosas are filled with a tangy and spicy mixture of potatoes, peas, herbs, and spices.

Ingredients

For the Dough

• 2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 6 tablespoons water

For the Filling

• 500 to 550 grams potatoes (I used red potatoes)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger or ginger paste
• 1/2 small jalapeño, minced
• 1 scallion, finely diced
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste or minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder or granulated onion
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons thawed frozen peas
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/ 4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

Instructions

To Make the dough

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, thyme, and salt. 
2. Add the oil and work it in with your fingers for about 4 minutes, until some of the flour clumps together if you squeeze it in your hand. 
3. Add the water slowly and work it in with your hands, kneading to get a stiff dough. 
4. Cover the dough with a damp paper towel and let it rest for 40 minutes. 
5. The dough can be tightly wrapped a day in advance. 

To Make the Filling

1. Boil the potatoes in their jackets until fork tender. Let cool, drain the potatoes, and remove the peel. 
2. Mash the potatoes and set aside.
3. In a large skillet, heat the oil and add the seeds and cook for one minute. Add the ginger, jalapeño, scallion, garlic, and onion powder.
4. Cook for an additional 3 minutes, and the add the mashed potatoes and stir everything together.
5. Fold in the peas and cook for 2 mintutes.
6. Add the ground coriander, garam masala, cayenne pepper, salt, and lemon juice, and stir, cooking for one minute. 
7. Remove from the heat and add the chopped cilantro. 
8. Set aside to cool before filling. 
9. The filling can be prepared a day in advance. 

To Assemble and Fry the Samosas

1. Divide the dough into seven equal parts and form each part into a ball. Cover with a damp towel.
2.  Roll each ball into a thin 7 inch circle between two sheets of wax or parchment paper.
3. Remove the paper and divide the dough in half with a bench knife or pizza wheel.
4. Working with one dough piece at a time, brush half of the straight edge of the half piece and fold it over to form a cone. Press the wet edge against the other edge, with about a 1/2 inch overlap at the top.
5. Cup the "cone" in your hand and fill it with about 2 tablespoons of the filling. You can press it down with your fingers or a spoon.
6. You will need to leave about a half to 3/4 inch of dough for sealing the samosas.
7. With your finger, rub the inside of the dough with water and press the edges together,
8. Rub one side of the pressed together dough and fold it against the triangle.
9. Heat 3 cups of oil to 320 degrees F in a wok or sauce pan. Fry the samosas in batches for about 3 minutes. Drain them on a paper towel lined plate. 
10. Bring the oil to 375 degrees F and fry the samosas again for about 2 minutes, until golden and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Serve immediately with your favorite dipping sauce. 

Calories

104.04

Fat (grams)

3.07

Sat. Fat (grams)

0.27

Carbs (grams)

16.55

Fiber (grams)

1.41

Net carbs

15.13

Sugar (grams)

0.71

Protein (grams)

2.68

Sodium (milligrams)

173.22

Cholesterol (grams)

0.00

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2021/03/potato-aloo-samosas.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

samosas, potatoes

Appetizers, street food, holi

Indian

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