Potato Samosas
- Cathy Katin-Grazzini
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
Who doesn’t love samosas? This street food is popular throughout South Asia, the Middle East and parts of Africa, and throughout Central Asia. Typically deep-fried and stuffed with savory meat or vegetable fillings, this low-fat plant-based do-over is oil/ghee-free and gluten-free with a flavorful potato-pea masala filling. Fun to make and delicious to eat, crispy samosas make fabulous appetizers and snacks that will “wow” your guests. Served here with tamarind chutney, which provides a beautiful sweet-sour contrast in flavors.
Hints:
Find all spices at your local South Asian grocery or online.
Short on time? Make the filling in advance and refrigerate until use.
Bake or microwave the potatoes to keep the filling dry and fluffy.
For the liveliest flavor, use a little coffee grinder to make fresh flaxseed, coriander, cumin, and fennel powders.
Curry sprigs don’t last long in the fridge or freeze well. To conserve their flavor, bake them in a low oven or dehydrator until they are very dry and crumble easily. Store the whole, dried leaves in a jar in your cupboard where they will keep their potency for months.
Prep 2 hours
Bake 25 minutes
Makes 16 bite-sized samosas or 8 full-sized
Filling
2 full cups mashed potatoes from 2 medium-large baked or microwaved white or yellow potatoes
½ cup frozen peas
1 large or 2 medium Indian or Thai green chilies, chopped, or to taste
1 tablespoon dried curry leaves, crumbled
½ teaspoon granulated onion
½ teaspoon granulated garlic
½ teaspoon fennel powder, freshly ground
¼ teaspoon coriander powder, freshly ground
¼ teaspoon cumin powder, freshly ground
¼ teaspoon ginger powder
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
⅛ teaspoon amchur powder
⅛ teaspoon hing
3 good grinds black pepper
2 teaspoons white miso paste
Dough
1 cup oat flour
1 cup besan or chickpea flour
1 tablespoon flaxseeds, freshly ground
¾ teaspoon ajwain seeds
7 to 8 tablespoons water
Microwave or bake the whole potatoes until they are fork tender. Peel and mash. A few small chunks are fine to leave.
Transfer the mashed potatoes to a bowl and stir in all the ground spices and miso. Add the chopped green chilies to taste. The filling should have some zing.
Stir in the peas and set the bowl aside as you prepare the dough.
In a food processor add the oat and besan flours, the ground flaxseeds, and the ajwain seeds. Add 6 tablespoons of water to start with and run the processor for a full minute. If the mix remains granular and hasn’t gathered into a dough, add a tablespoon at a time of water and reprocess. The dough should not be too stiff and dry but it shouldn’t be overly soft or sloppy either or it will be impossible to roll and stuff. Shoot for a consistency like Play-Doh.
Divide the dough into 8 balls for mini-samosas or 4 balls for full-sized ones.
Roll the first ball in oat flour, brush off the excess, flatten on a board and roll it into a disk an ⅛” in thickness or a little less.
Cut the disk in half. Use a pastry brush to wet the edge of one half of the flat edge, and bring the two corners together, pressing the dry half onto the wet half to form a cone. Supporting the cone on the inside with your hand, press it well to seal the join from top to bottom.
Use a small spoon to fill the cone with potato masala, pressing lightly. Leave ½” empty at the top.
Brush water on one side of the inner cone rim and press it onto the opposing side to seal the samosa very well. For extra insurance against opening when it bakes, you can roll the sealed edge over, and press a second time. Set the samosa on a tray and cover to prevent drying as you roll and fill the remaining samosas.
Samosas’ should be crispy on the outside, soft and flavorful on the inside. For best results air fry or convection bake the samosas on an unlined perforated baking tray for 25 minutes at 350°F. Or bake in a conventional oven at 375°F. Keep an eye on them and remove them when they are golden and crispy.
Easy Tamarind Chutney
Prep 5 minutes
Makes about ½ cup
1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
2 tablespoons date paste
⅛ teaspoon kashmiri chili powder
¼ teaspoon cumin powder, freshly ground
¼ teaspoon garam masala
¼ teaspoon ginger powder
¼ teaspoon fennel powder
A few tablespoons water
Add all ingredients with only 2 tablespoons of water to a high-speed blender. Run it for a minute.
Taste and correct any seasonings as you like.
The chutney shouldn’t be too thick or thin. It should coat the back of a spoon. If it is too dense for your tastes, add another tablespoon of water and reblend it.
