Puff Pastry Samosas

One of my favorite things to eat are samosas.  I love them, and I often order them when I eat at Indian restaurants or one of our local vegetarian joints.  I’ve been a little fascinated with them, and I figured it’s high time I learned how to make them.  They can be a little fiddly, so I suggest making a double batch of them and freezing one.  Or, freeze half the single batch.  It’s worth stretching the effort into a couple of meals.  This recipe yields large, generously sized samosas.  One is a substantial appetizer, and two make a meal when served with kachumber salad or something similar.  Look for recipes for garam masala and cilantro-mint chutney later this week.

As a side note, I have tried a few different methods of preparing samosas, and I assure you that this one is the quickest and most failproof of them.  Believe me, the pictures you see are the yield of tonight’s second batch.  All because I was trying to get fancy.  I should know better.

A bonus is that I get to step forward and admit that I am a Potato Ho to everyone.  (Just ask McDonald’s.  I should own stock, it’s such a weakness).  As such, I am submitting these Aloo Mutter Samosas– that’s pea and potato, for the uninitiated– to this month’s Potato Ho-Down, hosted at Fig and Cherry on January 21.  If you didn’t know already, my Ho name is Reese Suzanne.  And, yes, that wicked little cat is my first pet.  

Reese Suzanne’s Aloo Mutter Samosas

• 2 sheets puff pastry, cut into eight triangles
• 2 medium Russet potatoes
• sea salt
• 1 T canola oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ginger, grated
• 1 tsp. garam masala
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• a pinch of turmeric
• 1/2 C frozen green peas
• juice of half a lemon
• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds, toasted
• 1 T cilantro, chopped
• 1 egg, optional

Preheat your oven to 400º.  Peel and dice the potatoes about 1/2 ” square, and boil them in salted water.  Boil until they can be pierced with a fork fairly easily.  Drain them in a colander and set aside.  Heat a tablespoon of oil over medium high heat.  Reduce the heat the moderate and saute the onion until it is translucent.  Salt the onion to keep it from sticking to the pan.  After a couple of minutes, add the garlic and ginger and continue to saute until they are fragrant and tender.  Do not let them take on any color.  Next, stir in the peas and the spices.  Keep the heat moderate, and saute until the peas are tender and most cooked through.  Mix well to coat this in the spices.  Squeeze over the lemon juice, then add the diced potatoes.  Raise the heat to medium high and saute this until the potatoes are cooked through, golden, and starting to crips up on the edges.  Stir in the mustard seeds and remove from the heat.  

Roll out the puff pastry dough about 1/8″ thick.  Cut each sheet into four triangles.  Spoon a couple tablespoons of the potato filling onto the “base” of the triangle.  Fold the two bottom corners together and pinch closed.  Then bring the top point of the triangle back to meet the seam you have just made.  Pinch one side of the triangle together, and then the other.  This yields lovely little pyramids of samosas.  You can make them half this size and use only a tablespoon of filling, also.

Brush with egg wash, if desired.  (The photo at the top of this post is without).  Bake the samosas at 400º for 30 minutes, or until they are golden brown.  Serve with cilantro-mint or tamarind chutney and a cucumber (Kachumber) salad for a delightful meal.

Makes eight large samosas.

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