May 27, 2009

Potato Samosas..

It's a nice morning, its sunny and warm and I am planning to make a cake, maybe an elaborate meal, maybe go out and get the flowers I bought last week planted , maybe weed a bit......but all end up castles in the air, as finally my little one decides what I should do and should not do and zaps my energy.

My friend calls up and asks me if I am going to buy potatoes.. I hedge and say I don't feel like going out, thinking she is asking me to leave the comfort of my home on such a busy day..but she was just saying..don't buy potatoes, she just bought a sack of giant oversized baking potatoes and was sending some over.

So how big can they be? Well, they turn out to be a pound each, about the size of my palm and fat. What is the first thing that would come to your mind with potatoes?
Puri Bhaji? Aloo subji? Baked potatoes? Mashed potatoes?
Guess where my mind wandered to? Samosas..Giant crisp hot, mouth burning hot samosas!

I don't usually bother making these Potato samosas... the Delhi style.. love those monstrous sized flaky pastry filled with spiced potatoes, not like the petite Malabar meat samosas and not like the cocktail itsy bitsy samosas made in spring roll wrappers. We usually drive down to buy these samosas from a restaurant nearby or just use the freezer ones.

In my days in Delhi, there was a wonderful samosa shop in our shopping area...walking distance, no need for a car!!
Some evenings,(when mom didn't make something yummy) I used to run down to that halwai and order a fresh batch of samosas and garam garam jalebis.
You can't enter the shop..its a dirty mess of cooking..more like a kitchen in action..people hustling about, kneading, pouring, mixing..all labor intensive actions, while the halwai, a jovial fat guy in a dhoti sat near a couple of large cast iron woks, stirring and frying jalebis in one and samosas in the other.
Visions were flashing... waiting for the fresh samosas to be dunked into the oil..they sink deep down into the wat of oil as they are slid in and then surface up for air as they get fried and puff up. ...and the rush to get home before it cools down and then munching them with pudina/Mint chutney and tamarind chutney..and hot dripping jalebis!!

For me, samosas and jalebis always go together...now though they are both in a different country and divorced and living separately. The crust of those samosas were like eating Matri, a flaky crunchy fried circle of maida that's eaten with tea/coffee as a snack.

Anyway, I had to make them and I did have a recipe that I used to use in my torn old book. My crust is not as flaky as the store bought one but then that's due to the water I mix the dough. For flakier crust, use more oil and very little water. It's almost like making pastry dough. And though the size of these samosas turned out to be small( i can only make the Malabar sized ones!!) and the taste is nowhere near the ones from my memories, the exercise in making these samosas was fun.


You Will Need:
Potatoes: 250 gm, or two giant baking potatoes
Onion- 1 medium sized one
Green Chilies-3-4
Ginger Grated-1 tsp
Green Peas- 1 cup cooked
Coriander(whole) -1 tsp, crushed coarsely
Cumin seeds-1 tsp
Aamchoor/Dry Mango Powder-1 tsp
Red Chili Powder-1 tsp
Garam Masala powder- a pinch.
Salt
Cilantro leaves- 3 tbsp chopped

Preparation:
Boil the potatoes (as a whole in the pressure cooker or cut up and boiled in lots of water and drained.)Peel the potatoes and smash them into small pieces. There should be some tiny lumps, not big chinks.

Chop the onions finely and fry them in very little oil till they turn transparent and then add the chilies, ginger, boiled peas, crushed coriander, and all other spices. Add the potatoes too and mix well. Taste and add salt as needed. Add more or less of spices. It should be spicy and tangy. Add the cilantro leaves in the end.

Prepare the dough:
Mix 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour with 1/2 cup whole wheat and 1/2 tsp salt. Add 3 tbsp heated ghee or oil and mix well into crumbles. Add water little by little( you will need about 1 cup of water) till it forms into a tight but pliable dough. Use more oil and less water if you prefer. Let it rest for at least 20 minutes before rolling out. The crust doesn't puff up like puris, just stays as layers and layers of crispiness. Piercing the rolled dough before filling it helps. If the dough feels too springy, let it rest for a minute in between rolling out.

I make the samosas by rolling out the dough into a big thick circle and then cutting it into 4. See the photorial here. But this is another method I saw online and maybe easier for most people. For me, the quarter method is much faster, though the samosas are smaller..maybe better for our waists.:)

Divide the dough into equal balls. Apply a little dry flour to each ball when rolling into a circle of 4″ diameter. Cut each circle into two and lightly dampen the edges of each semicircle with water. Shape each semicircle onto a cone by pressing the cut edges together. Place a spoonful of the potato-pea filling into the cone and seal the edges well (apply some water on the edges if they do not seal well). Repeat this procedure with the rest of the balls.

Deep fry in medium-hot peanut oil in batches on medium flame till crisp and golden brown. Remove onto a paper towel. Serve with pudina and tamarind chutney.

33 comments:

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

Oh so kewl, friend sent you some potatoes, oh how much I wish some one did the groceries for me or atleast put them in their place after I did the shopping ;) those samosas are looking great and I love the golden color on top too!!! 1 pound a potato uhh??? oh my that was amazingly huge!!!

indosungod said...

Shaheen, you are glut for punishment. On a busy busy day you pick samosas to make?. You are indeed brave. But the pleasure of savoring them - none other can beat.

Anonymous said...

mouth watering indeed. I tried to make samosas so many times but for some reason their pastry turns out like a puri texture ): .So how to avoid this puri texture and achieve crispy texture? Nice blog by the way.
Huma

Manju said...

ohh..u ar esoo tempting me by talking about hot hot samosas and jalebis!!! your samosas look soo crisp n nice and it mustve been soo tasty with those chutneys!

Varsha Vipins said...

shaheen..me too went into ma childhood memories..that time ma fav was crispy meat samosa's tho..ur samosa's look cute n plump..:P..lovely ones they are..:)

Cilantro said...

I love Samosas... during my college days we bought them from the canteen and they tasted delicious.
Your pic reminds me of my college days and friends back home.

Gini said...

Potatoes can make you do crazy things.

amna said...

hot samosas with spicy sauce.. hmm.. reminds me of evenings in hyderabad :)

Kalai said...

Wow! They look awesome and I'm not even a huge potato samosa fan. Although I love meat samosas! You are surely ambitious, Shaheen!

mona said...

Ah, those delectable clicks are making me hungry Shaheen. I think I will make some tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

cool..super cool!!
no, i mean hot real hot!!
ki

Alka said...

It is so surprising that most of our nostalgic memories are associated with food, and ur post prove my CLAIM isn't it? Samosas straight from huge Kadhai to a Newspaper wrap, straight into our mouths..no fuss, no worries , not bothering about placing those on some fancy cutlery, no need of freezing those(u get fresh whenever u want),no thawing, no refrying, no calorie counting, no guilty pangs...just hopping out few steps from home and grab some at so easy- to- pocket price..Ahh the good old days...Well food makes me sounds terribly nostalgic, and the samosas are my ultimate fav. I love to make these huge,and yeah mine too never comes out as flaky and crispy as those of Halwai's , but i make these often at home for my kid, who love to take these in his lunchbox to share with his friends.
The stuffing is tad diff. from how we make it, but it surely sounds yummm

Parita said...

Oh my havent had since left india..love the second pic..tempting

Hb said...

Samosas made at home?! I always get samosas from store. Beautiful description and looks like needs great practice too!

Seena said...

Love making them , though it is hard work.. lovely samosas.. :)

Anonymous said...

Wish you had put up the pic of that giant potato before butchering it for the Samosas. Sigh...Delhi and Samosas you are making me all go crazy abt the place but yeah the thought of the summers there right now is the only thing that is keeping me away from jumping on to a plane to Delhi...love that place..

Wow you made Samosas thinking about Delhi my my I think of Kerala all the time and all I do is stuff cheesecakes to pacify me..Awesome your cute little samaosa is looking especially the pic where it resides with the chutney....making me hungry..
sakshi

Shah cooks said...

Ramya.. grocery shoppping..nah..we both share stuff when we get it in bulk.:) Yeah, it would be great if someone puts away the groceries.

Indo, well, that day i didn't make dinner!! had leftovers instead.

huma, the crust should be tight and use as little water as u need..my crust is not fool proof.:))and u need to fry it slowly.

Superchef, samosas was just a trip down the lane earlier, now they are a trip!! make some and see.

Shah cooks said...

varsha, spoke like a true mallu.. meat samosas.. my hubs will have that any day and non stop too.:)

Shah cooks said...

gini, u are right, if u like potatoes, they do make life easier and make u do crazy things.

cilantro,college days and samosas.. for me samosas are pre college delicacies. but yeah, most colleges there do have reliably good samosa chaat.

nags..was it when u were working there? on campus?

kalai.. there.. another meat samosa fan.. i am trying to start a potato samosa fan club here..:)

smdatta said...

OMG, now you had me all drooling. samosa and jalebi, plz I need to go to o. tree super fast

Srivalli said...

wow shaheen those are some inviting samosas!..I like what indo has to say..:)

lubnakarim06 said...

Oh wow my favourite.....looks yum with that golden color...Hmmm i want to indulge right now....that chutney is tempting me more....

Vijitha said...

lovely looking samosas! Crisp n nice

lan said...

looks good! they are a little too big for me. you know what i prefer though? the tiny party sized ones. my husband & i were waxing nostalgic about them just now. since you have a recipe i think 'll give it a try...

Miri said...

Well, guess we moved right into your erstwhile Delhi home because that halwai is right down our lane and makes some great samosas - the hygiene, less said the better ;)

Your samosas win hands down anyday!!

Shah cooks said...

dewfewr

Unknown said...

Wow! samosa sounds delicious...i havnt had samosa since i left india..i wanna try this...uphere in U.S. i always had a hard time trying to find ingredients..however i found a great site www.myethnicworld.com and i thought that i pass great along as well...thanks for sharing.

Myra said...

Hi Shaheen
Samosas look delicious,
i see you blog has had a face lift!!!!! nothing like a change..........
yours Myra x

Unknown said...

Samosas n tea! Heavenly combo! These look too good!

Anonymous said...

...mmmm... yummmmm! Looks so delicious. Thanks for the recipe. Will try it out and let you know.

Rg.

Shaheen said...

Hi! After seeing your post, I got around to making these myself. I liked your tutorial (easy & quick). Samosas turned out lovely!

Anonymous said...

Hi,I wasnt able to understand ,what piercing,the dough means.Can you explain pls.
safia

Shah cooks said...

safia, piercing the dough just means poking the rolled out puris with a fork to avoid it from puffing up..this allows them to become crispier during the slow frying.