Samosa Potato Stuffed Pastry Recipes

SPICED POTATO-STUFFED PASTRIES: SAMOSAS

Steps:

• To make the dough: Mix the salt and flour in a medium bowl or a food processor. With a pastry blender, incorporate the butter until crumbs have formed. Add the water a few tablespoons at a time, until you can form a ball. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Let it rest for about 15 minutes more. You can prepare the dough in advance and refrigerate it.
• To make the filling: Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain and set aside.
• If using fresh carrots, chop and simmer in water, to cover, in a small pot. Add the corn and peas to barely cook. Set aside to cool.
• Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion until golden. Add the garlic, ginger, and chile and cook for 2 minutes. Add the garam masala, turmeric, chile powder, and salt and cook 2 minutes more.
• In a bowl combine the mashed potatoes, the onion and spice mixture, carrots, peas, corn, lemon juice, and chopped coriander. Mix well.
• To assemble the samosas: Divide the dough into 9 equal size balls. On a floured surface, roll each ball into a 5-inch circle. Cut each circle in half.
• Brush the straightedge side with a little water, fold it in half, and align the two straight sides so they overlap to form a cone shape. Squeeze the edges together to make a tight seal. Place approximately 1 generous tablespoon of filling inside each cone, leaving the top edge clean. Moisten the inside top rim of the cone and press the edges together to make another tight seal. Place the samosas on a tray until ready to fry. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
• Heat approximately 3 inches of vegetable oil in a deep saucepan. Fry several samosas at a time, being careful not to crowd them. When 1 side turns golden brown, flip it over to brown on the other side. Drain on paper towels. Serve with chutney.

BAKED CHEESY SAMOSA PUFFS

Steps:

• Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 400°. Place potatoes in a medium saucepan and pour in cold water to cover by 1". Season generously with salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are very tender, 25-30 minutes. Drain potatoes and let sit until cool enough to handle.
• Peel potatoes, then place in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher or fork until mostly smooth with some pea-size pieces remaining.
• Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium. Cook cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and asafetida, stirring, until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add chile and ginger and cook, stirring, until softened, about 30 seconds. Stir in coriander, turmeric, and 1 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 2¾ tsp. Morton kosher salt; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add potatoes and mix until spiced oil is thoroughly incorporated. Return potato mixture to bowl and let cool.
• Stir cheese, cilantro, lime juice, garam masala, and sugar into potato mixture. Taste and season with more salt if needed.
• Unfold puff pastry sheets on a lightly floured surface and cut into eighteen 2½" squares. Roll out each square to about 4½", then divide between 2 parchment-lined baking sheets.
• Working one at a time, brush edges of pastry with egg. Spoon a heaping tablespoonful of potato mixture onto center of each square. Fold pastry in half by bringing one of the top corners up and over filling and matching it up with the opposite bottom corner to make a triangle. Pinch edges together to seal, then crimp with a fork. Brush tops with egg. Chill puffs 15 minutes.
• Bake puffs until pastry is golden brown and cheese is melted, 25-30 minutes. (Some cheese may ooze out and that is okay.)
• Serve puffs with ketchup, green chutney, or hot sauce for dipping.

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.