Samosa!

When I was little my parents would make these for me and often I would either watch them do it or help chop ingredients. In spite of this, it always seemed a miracle to me that they knew-actually KNEW!-how to make these savory little pockets of joy.

Well, I finally decided to learn it myself and the results were fantastic. The only thing I will caution against is that they are a bit labor intensive and if you decide to serve for guests or family you may want to make the samosa ahead of time and then fry them up quickly at the last minute.

Oh, one more thing, the samosa dough recipe is a MUCH BETTER alternative to the empanada dough recipe I have included here in an earlier post. I am going to use this for all future empanadas, being as this dough is thinner, easier to work with, and uses oil instead of butter.

For the Pastry Dough:

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
4 tbls. vegetable oil
4 tbs. water

Sift 2 cups of regular all purpose flour and one tsp. salt into a mixing bowl. I don't own a sifter so I simply measured my ingredients in a fine mesh seive and knocked them into the bowl, voila!

Now add the oil and make a meal with the flour, using yor fingers to crumble it all together. To this, slowly add the water and form it into a ball. I had to use practically 4 more tbls. of water plus an extra tbls. of oil to reach the desired consistency so I think it depends on your water, the humidity, etc. So be open-mided about not following this recipe verbatim.

On a clean, lightly floured work surface, knead the dough for 10 minutes until it is smooth. Again, don't feel bad about adding more oil and water if the dough isn't cooperating. Form the smooth, kneaded dough into a ball and put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

For the Filling:

4-5 medium potatoes
1 c. thawed green peas
1 medium onion, finely diced
2" chunk of ginger, peeled and grated
1 fresh chili or as jalapenos in a jar to taste
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, less if you don't want heat
1 tsp. toasted and ground cumin
1 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. ground coriander
3 tbls. chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbl. lemon juice
3 tbl. water

Boil potatoes in their jackets and peel and dice when cool. Heat 4 tbl. of oil and brown the onions and add peas, ginger, and chili with the cilantro and water. Cover, lower heat, and simmer until peas are cooked 3 min. Add potatoes, salt, spices and lemon juice and cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes.

Serve with pureed heaven, otherwise known as:

Coriander Chutney

1/2 tsp roasted cumin
1 tsp chili pepper
2 bunches of cilantro Or 10, if you worship this herb like I do!
1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp salt