Punjabi Samosa

Punjabi Samosa

A very popular deep fried Indian snack. Goes well with Green chutney / Tamarind – Dates Chutney / Tomato Ketchup !!!

Makes: 8

Ingredients

Please use same measuring cup to measure flour and water.

For the dough:

1 cup / 200 ml  refined flour (maida / all purpose flour) Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity

2 tablespoon ghee / butter (or minimum 4 teaspoon)

1/2 teaspoon salt ( or to taste )

1/4 teaspoon corn flour

¼ teaspoon  ajwain (ayamodakam / carom seeds) – adding ajwain will give a unique flavour / Punjabi flavour  for samosa covering and  also good for digestion

75 ml water

300 ml oil for deep frying

Method

In a wide bowl, rub ghee or butter into the flour until the mixture is crumbly / flour well blended with ghee / butter. Do not mix it with tablespoon. Mix it with finger tips until the  flour forms a soft bread crumbs like structure (it may take 10 - 12 minutes to reach this breadcrumb stage). This is the secret tip for crispy and crunchy samosas. Mix in  the ajwain, corn flour and salt, then gradually add the water (first start with ¼ cup water and later adjust 1 – 4 tablespoon if required)  to make a firm but pliable dough. Keep aside for half an hour, covered with a damp cloth.

For the  Filling:

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 teaspoon jeera ( cumin seeds )

2 green chillies ( chopped )

1 tablespoon cashew nut, split (optional)

4 potatoes, medium size ( boiled and slightly mashed )

1 tablespoon peas ( shelled and boiled ), optional

3/4 teaspoon amchur powder ( dried mango powder )

1/2 teaspoon salt ( or to taste )

1/2 teaspoon red chilly powder

½ teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon garam masala powder

1 tablespoon  chopped coriander leaves

Method

Heat 1 tablespoon cooking oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds  (jeera) and fry for 1 minute. Fry green chillies and cashew nuts till fragrant on a low heat.

Add boiled and mashed potatoes, peas, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder, amchur powder, chopped coriander leaves and garam masala powder. Mix all the ingredients well. Do not add water. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes.  Set aside to cool for 10 – 12 minutes.

Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Make a ball and roll it like a thin chapatti of 6 – inches in diameter. Cut each chapati in half.

Samosa covering without ajwain

Fold each part in a triangle shape. Fill the mixture, stick the sides with the help of little water.

Final preparation:

Heat oil in a kadai / deep frying pan till smoking. Reduce heat to medium (please wait for 1 minute. Do not fry on high heat. Samosas will get dark brown color immediately and inside portion won’t cook properly ) and fry samosas in batches ( 4 at a time ) turning frequently, till golden and crisp.  So always fry on medium  to low heat. It may take 5 - 8 minutes for each side.

Drain and place on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. Serve hot with any chutneys of your choice.

 Dates jaggery tamarind chutney (or sweet & sour chutney)

Here's the 2nd recipe of Dates and Tamarind Chutney (Highly recommending this homestyle chutney)

Serves: 4

Ingredients

4 tablespoon chopped dates (pick soft dates), remove seeds

1 tablespoon thick tamarind paste

1 tablespoon melted and sieved jaggery

1 ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder

½ teaspoon salt

 3/4 cup ( 150 ml, less than 1 cup) water

Method

In a pan, add chopped dates, tamarind paste, jaggery, red chilli powder, salt and ½ cup (150  ml) water. Mix all the ingredients well. Cover with a lid and cook on a medium to low heat for 10 – 12 minutes or until thickens. Keep aside to cool for 15 – 20 minutes and pass the chutney mixture through a fine iron sieve to extract clear chutney (like North Indian chaat centre).

Green Chutney

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 cup ( 200 g ) chopped coriander leaves ( or 150 g coriander leaves and 50 g mint leaves - wash mint and coriander leaves and drain out water thoroughly )

1 onion, chopped

2 teaspoon lemon juice

2 green chillies

1/2 teaspoon salt ( or to taste )

1/2 teaspoon sugar ( or to taste )

1/2 - inch piece ginger

Method

Make a thick paste of above ingredients in a mixer with very little water. If you need a thick chutney, do not add more water during grinding (or you can adjust the consistency with 2 - 3 tablespoon water ).