Samosa Recipe (Punjabi Potato Samosa)

Peel, halve and boil potatoes in a pot of water, until fork tender (not mushy). Or (pressure cook unpeeled potatoes for 5 whistles on a medium flame or in the instant pot for 8 mins, placed over a trivet. When the pressure drops, cool & peel them.)

Crumble the potatoes, don't mash them. Keep aside.

Mix together flour, carom seeds, salt and oil in a mixing bowl.

Rub the flour well with your fingers or in between your palms for 3 to 4 mins to incorporate the oil. It should look like breadcrumbs and this is very important to make flaky samosa.

Take handful of flour and press down with your fingers. It must hold shape and not crumble. This is an indication that the oil is well incorporated. (check video or photos in the post)

Add water little by little and mix the flour to form a slightly stiff yet pliable dough. (Check pictures in the post). It should not be very soft like roti/naan dough. Cover and rest for 25 to 30 mins.

Heat a pan with oil. Add cumin seeds.

When they begins to sizzle, add ginger & green chilies. Fry until ginger smells aromatic, for about 30 to 60 seconds.

Stir in the green peas and saute for 2 mins.

Add red chilli powder, garam masala, cumin powder, chaat masala (optional) & fennel powder. Saute for 30 seconds.

Stir in the potatoes and sprinkle salt. Mix and saute for 2 to 3 mins. Mix in coriander leaves & set aside to cool.

Taste and add more salt if needed. If using lemon juice, add it now. Divide the mixture roughly to 10 portions.

Knead the dough gently to smoothen a bit. Divide it to 5 portions and roll to balls. Cover the dough balls until the end, to prevent drying out.

Grease the rolling area and then flatten a ball. Drizzle a few drops of oil.

Begin to roll to a circle or oval shaped disc. (Around 8.5 inches long by 6.5 inches wide). It should be neither too thick nor too thin. (Watch video)

Using a knife cut it to two semicircles. The 2 parts make 2 samosas. If the edges are too thick, gently roll it to thin down.

Work on one part - apply water over the straight edge (towards the cut side). Join the edges to make a cone. Press down gently to seal the cone from inside as well. (Check video or photos above) (If you have trouble sticking them, make a paste of flour and water, smear that lightly & then stick)

Fill the cone with one portion of potato masala and press down with your finger to push it inside the cone. Smear water generously on both the other edges.

Bring the edges together and seal them by pinching off the edges together. If you prefer to make a standing samosa, make a pleat on one side. Bring back the pleat and seal it by pinching off the edges together. (Check video or photos above)

Make sure the samosa is sealed well. Cover them with a cloth to prevent drying.

After you make 5 samosas, begin to heat the oil until medium hot.

Oil has to be medium hot and not very hot or cold. A piece of dough dropped in the oil should not sizzle or rise immediately. Instead you should see tiny bubbles in the oil & the dough should take a while to come up to the surface. This is the right temperature.

Gently add as many samosas as you can to the oil and fry them on a low flame, undisturbed for few minutes (about 10 to 12 mins).

When the crust becomes firm, increase the flame to medium. Turn them to the other side and fry until crispy and golden.

While the first batch of samosas fry, make the rest of them. Remove the golden fried samosas to a wired rack or a steel colander. Let the temperature of oil come down slightly before you fry the next batch.

Serve samosa with mint chutney, sweet tamarind chutney or tomato ketchup.

Preheat the oven at 180 C or 360 F for about 20 mins. Brush each samosa generously with oil all over and place them on a prepared tray. Bake these for about 35 to 40 mins.

Spray your samosa with oil or brush with ghee. Preheat your air fryer for 7 mins at 360 F or 180 C if required.

Place the samosa in the air fryer basket or tray spacing them at least an inch apart from each other.

Air fry for 12 mins, turn them to the other side and air fry for another 5 to 6 mins, or a little longer until golden and crisp. (In non-preheated air fryer air fry at 370 F or 190 C for the same time)

Brush them with ghee or oil as required.