Samosa Recipe (Punjabi Aloo Samosa)

Take the flour, carom seeds, salt in a bowl. Mix well and add ghee.

With your fingertips rub the ghee or oil in the flour to get a breadcrumb like consistency.

The whole mixture should clump together when joined and not fall apart.

Add water in parts and knead to a firm dough.

If the dough looks dry or floury, then add 1 to 2 tablespoons more water and knead.

Cover the dough with a moistened napkin and set aside for 30 minutes.

Steam or boil the potatoes and peas till are cooked completely. Drain them of any extra water in a colander or sieve.

Peel the boiled potatoes and chop them into small cubes

Dry roast all the whole spices mentioned in the above list until fragrant taking care not to burn them.

When the spices are warm or cool at room temperature, grind them in a dry grinder or coffee grinder to a semi-fine or fine powder.

Heat oil in a pan. add the cumin seeds and crackle them.

Add the ginger and green chillies. Sauté for a few seconds until the raw aroma of ginger goes away.

Add the steamed green peas, red chili powder, the freshly ground spice powder, dry mango powder and asafoetida.

Stir and sauté on a low heat for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the potato cubes. Mix very well and sauté for about 2 to 3 minutes on low heat with frequent stirring.

Set aside the potato filling aside to cool at room temperature.

After resting the dough for 30 minutes, divide the dough in 6 equal pieces.

Take each piece and roll in your palms first to make a smooth ball.

Then roll it with a rolling pin keeping the thickness to 1 mm throughout.

Cut with a knife or a pastry cutter through the center of the rolled samosa pastry.

With a brush or with your finger tips, spread some water all over the edges.

Join the two straight ends forming a cone shape.

Press the edges so that they get sealed well.

Stuff the prepared samosa cone with the prepared potato-peas stuffing.

Pinch a part on the edge (check the video & photos). This helps the samosa to stand once it is shaped.

Press both the edges. Be sure there are no cracks.

Prepare all the samosa this way and keep covered with a moist kitchen napkin.

Now heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. Once the oil becomes hot (test by adding a small piece of dough – it should come up quickly once added to the hot oil). Gently slide the prepared stuffed samosa & quickly reduce the flame to low.

Turn over in between and fry until golden. Drain the fried samosa on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Fry them in batches. For frying the second batch, again increase the temperature of the oil to medium-heat. Do not overcrowd the pan while frying.

Add the samosa and then lower the heat, thereby decreasing the temperature of oil.

This way fry all the samosa in batches.

Serve samosa hot or warm with coriander chutney, tamarind chutney or tomato ketchup.

They can also be served with a yogurt dip or plain raita. Another way is to serve it with chana masala (chickpea curry).

We usually pair samosa with masala chai or ginger chai.

Even bread or pav (Indian bread rolls) can be served with it.

Whatever you serve this snack with, remember to have hot masala chai with it.