Persian Samosas Recipes

SAMOSA RECIPE

Steps:

• Start by making the samosa dough. To a large bowl, add flour, ajwain (carom seeds), salt and mix well.
• Add the oil and then start mixing with your fingers. Rub the flour with the oil until the oil is well incorporated in all of the flour. Do this for 3 to 4 minutes, you don't want to rush this step. Once incorporated, the mixture resembles crumbs.
• Press some flour between your palm- it should form a shape (& not crumble) - means oil is enough and well incorporated.
• Now, start adding water, little by little and mix to form a stiff dough. Don't overwork the dough and don't knead a soft dough. It should just come together and form a stiff dough. I used around 6 tablespoons of water here.
• Cover the dough with a moist cloth and let it rest for 40 minutes. I usually soak a paper towel in water and then squeeze out all the water and then cover my dough with that. While the dough is resting, start working on the filling.
• Boil potatoes until done. 8 to 9 whistles on high heat with natural pressure release if using stove-top pressure cooker or if using Instant Pot, high pressure 12 minutes with natural pressure release on a trivet with 1 cup water in the bottom of the pot.
• Peel the skin and them mash the potatoes. Set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds, fennel seeds and crushed coriander seeds.Let the seeds sizzle for few seconds and then add the chopped ginger, green chili and hing. Cook for 1 minute.
• Add the boiled & mashed potatoes and green peas to the pan. Mix everything together. I use my potato masher to combine the spices and seasonings well with the potatoes and peas.
• Add the coriander powder, garam masala, amchur, red chili powder and salt. Mix to combine. Once it's all well incorporated, remove pan from heat and let the filling cool down a bit.
• Once the dough has rested, give it a quick knead. Then divide the dough into 7 equal parts of around 58-60 grams each.Start working on a piece of dough, keep the remaining dough balls covered at all times with a moist cloth else the dough will dry out.
• Roll one dough ball into a circle-oval kind of shape, around 6-7 inches in diameter and then cut it into two parts.
• Take one part and apply water on the straight edge/side. I usually mix some flour with water so that it forms a nice glue.Now bring the two ends of the straight edge together and pinch them to form a cone. See step-by-step pictures above for a better idea. Pinch the pointed ends to make it a perfect cone shape.
• Fill the samosa with the potato filling, around 1 to 2 tablespoons. Don't overfill the samosa.
• Now again apply water all around the circumference of the cone as you have to seal it. Pinch the opposite side (side opposite to where you pinched to form the cone) to form a plate (see step-by-step pictures above). Then pinch the edges and seal the samosa.
• Your samosa is now ready. Repeat the same process with remaining dough. Always remember to keep the filled samosa covered with a moist cloth while roll and fill the others. You will get 14 samosas.
• Now heat oil in a kadai on low heat. To check if oil is ready, drop a small piece of dough into the oil. It should take few seconds to come up to the surface. That means the oil is ready.Drop the shaped samosas into the oil.
• Fry on low heat. After around 10-12 minutes, the samosa will become firm and light brown in color. At this point, increase the heat to medium and fry until it gets nicely browned.Don't overcrowd the kadai/wok, fry 4-5 samosas at a time. And each batch will take around 20 minutes since we fry on low heat so be patient.
• Once you finish frying one batch, lower the heat again to low and wait until the temperature of the oil drops and then add the second batch.Enjoy hot samosas with cilantro chutney or sweet tamarind chutney!

PERSIAN SAMOSAS

Steps:

• Peel the potatoes, cube them, and boil them until they start to get tender, about 20 minutes.
• Dice the onions, saute them in a pan with a little bit of olive oil, about 6 minutes, or until they start to brown. season with turmeric and pepper while they are sauteing. add the garlic and saute for about 45 more seconds. set aside.
• brown the turkey. Add the frozen peas and cook for an additional couple minutes.
• de-stem the cilantro and parsley as best you can (honestly, i'm pretty lazy about this). dice.
• When the potatoes are tender, drain the water and mash with a tbsp of olive oil or butter. Season with salt, pepper, dried mint, and cayenne.
• Cut the flour tortillas in half vertically. put a dollop of the potato, onions, turkey, and herbs right in the middle. fold over vertically. fold and smush the sides (it might help to wet your fingers), making a triangular pocket.
• In a large, relatively deep pan, heat about half an inch of canola oil on medium high heat for about five minutes, or until it starts to crackle. Put your first batch of samosas in, and turn the heat down to medium low. Fry on both sides for about 3-5 minutes, until they are nice and brown.
• Alternatively, you can be a bit more healthy and bake them at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, turning once. Just lightly brush olive oil on both sides.

KENYAN BEEF SAMOSAS RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• In a large pan over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Once hot, add the ground beef. Use a spatula to break apart the meat and cook for 3 minutes. Add onion and cook until beef is brown and onion is translucent, about 4 minutes.
• Add the garlic, jalapeño, salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, and scallions to the meat. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the peas and cilantro, then cook for another 2 minutes. Remove the meat filling from the heat and let cool.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, olive oil, and water. Use your hand or a spatula to mix together. Once the dough pulls away from sides of the bowl, transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for 4 minutes or until the dough is smooth and soft.
• Shape dough into a ball and brush with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and a warm damp tea towel. Let rest for 30 minutes.
• Remove tea towel and plastic wrap and roll the dough out into a 10-inch (25-cm) long log. Cut into 10 even sections. Take one section and roll it into a ball. Place the ball on a lightly floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll it out into a thin circle about 10 inches (25-cm) in diameter. Repeat with the remaining dough. Stack the dough circles as you roll them out, sprinkling a bit of flour between each one and keeping them covered with plastic wrap so they don't dry out.
• In a greased large pan over high heat, place one of the circles of dough and cook for 10 seconds on each side. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Cut one of the par-cooked dough circles into four quarters. Take one quarter and, with the round side closest to you, fold the bottom half to the right. Use the flour paste to seal the fold. Repeat with the left side, crossing over your previous fold to create a cone like pocket. Fill the pocket with meat filling, then fold the remaining tip of the dough towards you and seal with flour paste. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
• In a large, deep pan, heat the canola oil to 350°F (180°C). Once the oil is at the correct temperature, carefully place 4-6 sambusas in the pan. Fry for about 5 minutes, flipping once, until light, golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.
• Enjoy!

ALOO SAMOSAS (POTATO SAMOSAS)

Steps:

• Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and add enough cold water to cover by a few inches. Salt the water, then bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until a knife slides in with little to no resistance, about 20 minutes. Drain, then set aside. When cool enough to handle, peel and use a fork to smush them into a coarse mash.
• Heat the oil in a large nonstick pan over medium for a minute. Add the cumin and coriander seeds, and stir until the seeds are fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and add the ground chile and turmeric, and the coriander and cumin powders, if using. Continue cooking, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the potatoes, peas, garam masala and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and raise the heat to medium. Cook, stirring to evenly mix the ingredients, until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the fresh chiles and cilantro. Let stand until cool enough to handle.
• Meanwhile, prepare to assemble the samosas: Line a sheet pan with wax paper or plastic wrap. Stack the spring roll wrappers and cut evenly in thirds to create 42 rectangles, 8 inches long by 2 2/3-inches wide. If your wrappers are not 8 inches square, aim to cut 42 rectangular shapes in a 3-to-1 ratio. Place a damp clean cloth over your pastry sheets to prevent them from drying out. Place the flour in a small bowl and add enough water (about 3 tablespoons) to make a smooth paste the consistency of craft glue.
• Take a pastry rectangle and place it with the long side facing you on a flat work surface. Replace the damp cloth over the remaining pastry sheets to keep them from drying out. Take the bottom-right corner of the rectangle and fold it over the top, with the short side extending 1 to 2 inches past the top. The overlapping pastry at the bottom right of the sheet will form an equilateral triangle with sides that are about 3 inches long. This triangle will be the final shape and size of the samosa. Fold the triangle so its right outer edge is aligned with the horizontal bottom edge of the sheet. There should now be a triangular pocket with two flaps sticking out to the left. Pick up the pocket so it is open and upright like a cone. Fill the cone with 2 teaspoons of the filling. Using the back of a small spoon, spread the flour paste in a thin layer over the remaining strip of pastry. Fold it over the stuffed triangle to seal the samosa. If the corners of the samosa have any gaps, fill them with the flour paste and pinch them to seal. Repeat with the remaining filling and rectangles (you may have leftover wrappers) and lay on the lined sheet pan, spacing apart. They can be fried or baked right away, or frozen on the pan until firm, then sealed in an airtight container or freezer bag. They can be frozen for up to 2 months before frying and go straight into the hot oil from the freezer.
• To fry the samosas, fill a frying pan with oil to a depth of 1/2 inch. Heat the oil over medium-high until it ripples. Add enough samosas to fit without overlapping and shallow-fry until golden brown, 1 to 3 minutes per side (longer, if frying directly from the freezer). Transfer to a cooling rack or plate lined with a paper towel to prevent them from getting soggy. Repeat with the remaining samosas, replenishing and reheating the oil between batches.
• To bake the samosas, heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 1-inch-deep sheet pan with foil and add a thin layer of oil to the pan (about 1/4 inch). Coat the samosas with the oil in the sheet pan and arrange them on the pan in a single layer in rows. Bake, turning once halfway through, until evenly golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes per side. Transfer to a cooling rack or plate lined with a paper towel to prevent them from getting soggy.
• Serve hot or warm with the mint chutney for dipping.