How to Make Spicy Potato Samosas
March 10, 2021. Sunny winter day. Spicy Potato Samosas.
Jump to RecipeMy family loves Indian food, so much so that both of my kiddos requested Indian meals for their birthdays! One of the items we enjoy tremendously is the little packets of stuffed pastries called Samosas. The menu on our favorite local Indian restaurant describes them as “Vegetable Somosa – Spiced Potatoes and Petite Pea Turnover“. They are absolutely little yummy hot pockets of spicy deliciousness!
I decided to try my hand at making them from scratch today. The overall process is not dissimilar to making hand pies or any filled pastries (like making these crescent rolls) – first, make the dough for the crust, next the filling, and finally assemble and cook.
My homemade samosas may not look pretty, but they tastes so good! My family devoured them all within a day and asked for more. This will stay firmly in our cooking baking rotation! I hope you’ll give these a try. They are definitely worth the effort.
Ingredients for Spicy Potato Samosas
Samosa Dough
2¼ cup All purpose flour
3 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Salt
6 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, very cold, cut into small cubes
2/3 cup Cold Water
Spicy Potato Filling
5 Potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 Onion, diced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 inches Fresh ginger, minced
1 Green chile
1 Lemon juice
3 tsp Curry Powder
1/2 tsp Tumeric Powder
1 tsp Red chile powder
salt to taste
1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
Vegetable Oil, for frying
Making the Dough
Gather all the ingredients. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. With a pastry blender, or your fingers, work the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like bread crumbs. Add 1/2 cup of water into the mixture. Continue mixing while slowly adding the rest of the water until a dough is formed. You may not need to use all the water. Knead the dough for about 5 more minutes. Form into a ball. Cover and let it rest. Next, let’s prepare the filling.
Adding cold butter to flour Blend butter into flour Slowly add water Keep mixing Until it forms into a dough ball. Knead until it becomes smooth.
Preparing the Potato Filling
Put a large pot of water to boil. Optional: Add a bay leaf to the water.
Peel and cube the potatoes. Boil until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Prepare the onions, garlic, ginger and green chile. Heat the vegetable oil in a large fry pan on medium. When hot, fry the onions until softened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Then add in the garlic, and ginger. Fry for another minute. Finally add in the green chile. Stir until everything is soft and golden. Add in the drained potatoes Squeeze in the lemon juice. Add in the chopped cilantro leaves. Then, add in the spices – curry powder, turmeric, red chile powder and salt. Cook for another minute. Mix well to combine. Take the pan off heat. Set aside to cool.
Wash and scrub potatoes Peeled potatoes Cut into cubes Cubed potatoes Prepare the onion, garlic and ginger Chopped and minced Chopping up the green chile Lightly browning the onions Adding in the garlic, ginger and green chile Ready for the potatoes Adding in the boiled potatoes Squeezing in the lemon juice Stir in the chopped cilantro leaves Add in the spice and mix well. Take off heat and set aside to cool.
Assembling and Cooking
While the filling is cooling, start to work on the samosa wrappers. Tilt the dough onto a clean work surface. Divide dough into 9 equal pieces. Roll them into little balls. Using a rolling pin, roll out a ball into a 5 inch circle. Cut in half. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls. You should have 18 half circles.
To assemble, take one piece of wrapper, moisten the straight edge (cut edge) with a little water. Fold in half, aligning the edges. Pinch together to seal and form a triangle shape. Spoon in about 1 tablespoon of filling. Moisten the top edges of the dough and pinch the edges together to create another tight seal. You have made your first samosa! Place on a tray and repeat with the remaining dough wrappers.
Place dough on work surface Cut into 9 pieces Roll into balls Roll out one ball into 5″ circle Cut into half Repeat with other dough balls Take a wrapper and moisten the long edge Fold in half Press the moistened edge to seal Fill with spicy potatoes Moisten the top edges and seal Repeat until all the wrappers are used up
Video below shows step-by-step on how to assemble a samosa:
Cooking Spicy Potato Samosas
In a deep saucepan, heat vegetable oil. You should use enough oil so that the entire samosa can be submerged into the oil. When the oil is hot*, fry several samosas at a time. Depending on the size of your saucepan, do not overcrowd them. When the samosas are golden, flip it over so it can brown evenly on both sides. Drain on wire rack with drip tray. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Assembled samosas Deep fry in oil Drain on wire rack Spicy Potato Samosas Yummy!
Notes on Spicy Potato Samosas
*How to check if the oil is ready for frying? Place the handle of a wooden spoon or chopsticks into the oil. When bubbles begin to appear around the tip of the handle, the oil is ready for frying. Remember not to overcrowd when frying food. Overcrowding means it takes longer to fry and the food tastes oily. Fry in small batches for the best outcome.
Postscript – Chili, Chilli or Chile?
My husband and I got into a discussion about the correct way to spell “Chile”. I think it should be “Chile” and he thinks it ought to be “Chili”. I did a search and found a few articles on this exact topic.
This one is from Merriam-Webster => https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/usage-chili-chilli-chile
Another opinion from a grammar blog =>https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2013/09/chili-chile-or-chilli.html
And this one from a website called chillipeppermadness => https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/frequently-asked-questions/how-do-you-spell-chili-pepper-is-it-chili-chilli-or-chile/
Interesting, right? Location matters.
Spicy Potato Samosas
Ingredients
Samosa Dough
- 2¼ cup All purpose flour
- 3 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 6 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, very cold, cut into small cubes
- 2/3 cup Cold Water
Spicy Potato Filling
- 5 Potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
- 1 Onion, diced
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 2 inches Fresh ginger, minced
- 1 Green chile
- 1 Lemon juice
- 3 tsp Curry Powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Red chile powder
- salt to taste
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
- Vegetable Oil, for frying
Instructions
Making Samosa Dough
- Gather all the ingredients. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. With a pastry blender, or your fingers, work the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like bread crumbs. Add 1/2 cup of water into the mixture. Slowly add the rest of the water until a dough is formed. You may not need to use all the water.
- Knead dough for about 5 minutes. Form into a ball. Cover and let it rest. Prepare the filling next.
Preparing the Spicy Potato Filling
- Put a large pot of water to boil. Optional: Add a bay leaf to the water. Peel and cube the potatoes. Boil until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Prepare the onions, garlic, ginger and green chile. Heat the vegetable oil in a large fry pan on medium. When hot, fry the onions until softened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Then add in the garlic, and ginger. Fry for another minute. Finally add in the green chile. Stir until everything is soft and golden. Add in the drained potatoes. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Next, add in the cilantro leaves and finally all the spices – curry powder, turmeric, red chile powder and salt. Cook for another minute. Mix well to combine. Take the pan off heat. Set aside to cool.
Assembling the Samosas
- While the filling is cooling, start to work on the samosa wrappers. Tilt the dough onto a clean work surface. Divide dough into 9 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a little ball.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out a ball into a 5 inch circle. Cut in half. Repeat with the rest of the dough ball. You should have 18 pieces of half circles.
- To assemble, take one piece of wrapper, moisten the straight edge (cut edge) with a little water. Fold in half, aligning the edges. Pinch together to seal and form a triangle shape.
- Spoon in about 1 tablespoon of filling. Moisten the top edges of the dough and pinch the edges together to create another tight seal. You have made your first samosa! Place on a tray and repeat with the remaining dough wrappers.
Cooking
- In a deep saucepan, heat vegetable oil. You should use enough oil so that the entire samosa can be submerged into the oil. When the oil is hot*, fry several samosas at a time. Depending on the size of your saucepan, do not overcrowd them. When the samosas are golden, flip it over so it can brown evenly on both sides. Drain on wire rack with drip tray. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Notes
Recipe lightly adapted from Shoba Narayan and Michelle Greenwald’s Spice Potato-stuffed Pastries: Samosas.
More Flavorful Ideas:
Want to try more curry and spicy recipes? Check this out => Jacques Pepin’s Amazing Spicy Lamb Curry with Apples and Potatoes
Dreaming of warmer weather? See how I made this Key Lime Pie => How to Make Key Lime Pie with Nut Crust
Fancy a quick and healthy snack? Check out this kale chips => How to Make Quick & Easy Kale Chips (20 Minutes)
Butter Cruffin = Croissant + Muffin =>How to Make Butter Cruffins (Croissant + Muffin)
