Punjabi Samosa

A tea time classic and the most popular Indian snack. Tastes superb with tomato ketchup or chutney.

Preparation Time 30-45 minutes
Cooking Time 7-10 minutes
Servings 4
Main Ingredients Potatoes, Maida (Refined Flour)
Course Snack
Level Of Cooking Low to Medium

Ingredients                                                                  

• Boiled Potatoes  4 medium
• Refined Flour (Maida)  2.5 cups
• Carom Seeds (Ajwain)  1 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds  (Jeera)  2 teaspoons
• Coriander Seeds  1 teaspoon
• Dry Mango Powder (Amchoor)  1.5 teaspoons
• Coriander Powder  1 teaspoon
• Garam Masala  1 teaspoon
• Clarified Butter (Ghee)  4 tablespoons
• Cooking Oil  Sufficient for deep frying
• Finely Chopped Ginger  1 inch
• Turmeric  1 teaspoon
• Red Chilli Powder  1 teaspoon
• Salt  to taste

Method

Step 1
To make the dough – Take maida (refined flour). Add ajwain (carom seeds), 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of Ghee (clarified butter). Mix thoroughly. Add water little by little as required. Remember to make a slightly hard dough. Cover the dough with a damp cloth.
[Ideal Ratio of maida and ghee: If it is 1kg of maida, then add 200 gms of ghee]

Step 2
Mash the boiled potatoes and keep aside. Dry roast coriander seeds and 1 teaspoon cumin seeds in a small pan. Then remove it from the pan to a plain surface and crush it with a rolling pin (belan). Keep aside.

Step 3
Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee in a pan and add cumin seeds. After half a minute, add chopped ginger. After it turns golden brown, add the mashed potatoes, amchoor (dry mango powder), red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala. Mix the mixture well. Add salt to taste. After 5 minutes, add the crushed coriander and cumin seeds and mix well. Cook for 2-3 minutes. The samosa mixture is now ready. Keep aside.

Step 4
Get the dough. Make a small ball of the dough (approx. bigger than a lemon size). Flatten this ball, slightly dip it in oil and smear the oil on a flat surface (can be chakla or the platform of your kitchen). Then with a rolling pin, roll this piece of dough into an oval shape (approx. your palm size or slightly bigger). Cut this into two. Take one half, wet the edges, and fold the straight edge at the center to bring the two halves together, overlapping a bit to form into a triangular case.

Step 5
Press the overlapping portion, and fill the case with the potato filling, leaving a margin of 1 cm or 1/2 inch all around. Dip your finger in water and smear on this margin on the surface of the samosa. Now, pinch the surface (which is not the joint) in the centre, pull towards front side of the dough, make a cone, seal the edges properly and give a nice backbone to the samosa. Fill all the pieces in the same manner, keeping them covered with a damp cloth.

Step 6 
Heat sufficient oil in a kadhai (pan) and deep-fry the samosas, on medium heat, till golden brown and crisp. Take the samosas out on a tissue paper so that the excess oil is drained.

Step 7 
Enjoy these samosas with tomato ketchup, mint chutney or tamarind chutney.

Relish your Palate!