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Samosas

Samosa:
A samosa is a small fried turnover of Indian origin that is filled with seasoned vegetables or meat.


​Recipe

Ingredients:
For the pastry:
  • 7.5 ounces (1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour 
  • 2 tbsp semolina
  • 2 tablespoons ghee, clarified butter or vegetable oil 
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 oz water
Method: 
(for the pastry)
Dough for samosa pastry should be a little tougher than for pie dough
  1. Mix all the dry ingredients together.
  2. Add oil into the flour and mix it all very well together. To mix the oil well into the flour, take flour in small portions in your hand and rub it between your palms.
  3. Add water and mix until the dough comes together.
  4. Once the dough comes together, knead it for another 5 minutes on table. Wrap with a plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
For the filling:
  • ½  teaspoon ground coriander seeds 
  • ½  cup chopped yellow onions 
  • 1 teaspoon minced or grated fresh ginger 
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic 
  • ½  hot green chili pepper, minced 
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala 
  • 1 teaspoon salt 
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric 
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne 
  • 2 med baking potatoes, like russets, about 1 pound, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice, and boiled until just tender 
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves 
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 
  1. To make the filling, in a large saute pan or skillet, heat 2 T of clarified butter or oil over medium-high heat. 
  2. Add the ground coriander and cook, stirring, for 10 seconds. 
  3. Add the onions and ginger, and cook, stirring, until starting to caramelize, about 5 minutes. 
  4. Add the garlic, chili peppers, garam masala, salt, turmeric, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 to 45 seconds. 
  5. Add the cooked potatoes and cook, stirring until the potatoes start to color and become dry, about 3 minutes. 
  6. Remove from the heat and add the cilantro and lemon juice. Stir to combine, then adjust the seasoning, to taste. Let sit until cool enough to handle. Mash slightly. 
.Making Samosas:
  1. Cut each portion of dough into 2 oz equal pieces and roll into smooth balls. Place each ball on the floured surface and roll into a thin circle, about 6-inches in diameter. 
  2. Cut the big circle into two semicircles. Take about 1 tablespoon of potato mixture, make a ball off of it and place it in the center of the semicircle. Now dip your finger in water and rub it at the straight edge of the semicircle to make it wet so that it can stick.
  3. Pick up one side and place it over the potato ball covering it half way. Then pick up the other side and place it over the previous one, covering the potato to make a triangle shape. The two flaps should stick to each other right at the center of the samosa. The third side of the triangle should be still open. Use a little water, make it wet and stick the two flaps together with your finger. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough.
  4. Use a wok or deep frying pan to fry the samosas till they turn golden brown in color. Heat the oil to 300 degrees F. Add the pastries in batches, turning, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Serve hot with your choice of sauce or chutney.

The trick all samosa shop vendors use to make crisp samosas is that they use warm oil to fry their samosas. They drop them in oil which is a little over room temperature and slowly increase the temperature of oil. This cooks the outer pastry slowly, making them crisp. Frying them in hot oil makes the pastry soft and you don’t want that. Shop vendors in India sell them with green cilantro and tomato chutney along with some yogurt and tamarind chutney.
Photo used under Creative Commons from kkalyan