Chicken Samosas

Clean the chicken breast pieces, cut them in medium size pieces, wash properly, drain the water and place in a clean bowl. In a pot, add the chicken pieces and the whole spices. Put the gas up on high heat, mix this and bring this to boil.

Once it starts boiling, lower the gas a bit and let this cook. Stir at times, the chicken will boil in the excess water that comes out the chicken. Boil the chicken for about 15-20 minutes, boil until the chicken looks done and turn the heat off. The water that comes out the chicken can be used to add to the spices later. Let the chicken cool down a bit, take them out and shred the chicken pieces. Keep the chicken aside.

In a big non stick pan, add about 5 tablespoons of oil, adjust the oil if required. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic, ginger, cumin seeds, cinnamon sticks and bayleaves. I used home made mixed ginger and garlic paste. Fry this on high heat for 2-3 minutes, mainly by stirring.

Add the thinly sliced onions, salt and chillies.

Put the gas up and mix this in. Let this cook on medium heat, make sure to stir quite often and adjust heat if required.

If the onions become too dry, add some hot boiled water- I added the chicken stock which I kept when I boiled the chicken, so add that if you have any left. Mix this stock/water in and cook until the onions are soft.

Add all the spices: Tumeric powder 1/3 Tsp Chilli powder 3/4 Tsp Coriander powder 1 & 1/3 Tsp Cumin powder 1 & 1/3 Tsp Hot/mild curry powder 1 & 3/4 Tsp I used Bolst's hot curry powder, you can use any brand of your choice.

Put the gas up and mix this in. The spices will look very dry, you can add more of the remaining stock if you have any left, or you can just add some hot boiled water. Add the stock/water and mix it in.

Cook this on low heat, cook the spices for 10-15 minutes and make sure to stir often. During this cooking stage, you can always add a little amount of water if the spices become too dry.

Once the spices are cooked, add in the potatoes. Mix this on high heat and cook covered on medium heat to speed up the cooking process. Adjust the heat at any point if required, make sure to stir often. Cook until the potatoes are tender. Preparing the potatoes to use at this stage: I peeled the potatoes, cut them in small cubes, soaked them in cold water then rinsed them fully before adding them in at this stage.

Add in the shredded chicken, once the potatoes are cooked not mashed.

Put the gas up and mix it in. Cover and cook this over low heat by stirring often. Cook this for 12-15 minutes, cook the first 5-6 minutes covered over low heat then the remaining time uncovered.

Finally garnish with finely chopped fresh coriander, put the gas up and mix it in. Put the gas down a bit, cook for a further 2-3 minutes and turn the heat off. Let this mixture fully cool down before making making the samosas- stir the mixture at times so it cools faster. You can also transfer half of the mixture in a bowl to speed up the cooling process. If I'm too busy to make it on the same day, I normally cool the mixture fully then place it in the fridge at night then I make the samosas the next day.

As a guide, I made 90 samosas with my mixture. Leave the samosa pads out of the freezer, so they defrost naturally before making the samosas. The quantities of the samosas will vary depending on the size of the pads you're using and how much filling goes in each one. I used two big pads like these and had some extra left at the end. I cut the pad into four strips. Start off using one egg and use the other one if required.

I make four strips like these with the pad shown in the previous picture. For each samosa I always use a double layer, so the pad doesn't absorb too much oil.

Once the samosas are done, you can place them in food bags, label, date the bags and place in the freezer. If you fry the samosas from the freezer, let this defrost a bit or defrost them in the microwave before deep frying them in very hot oil so the inside cooks properly.

Fry them in deep oil, make sure the oil is very hot before placing them in the oil. Cook on high heat for 1-2 minutes then you can lower the heat a bit so the inside heats up fully, then put the gas up again for about a minute then turn them over and repeat the cooking process again. Once done, take them out and place on a tissue paper in a bowl to drain the excess oil. Repeat the cooking process for the remaining batches. If you like your samosas coated in bread crumbs like the picture, then cover the samosas fully in egg wash and roll in breadcrumbs. Place them nicely without over lapping on a tray to settle. You can then freeze them for later use.