Samosa - Savory Indian Pototo Pies

Directions

1. For the Samosa pastry shell:
2. Mix the flour, salt, carom/cumin seeds, oil/ghee/shortening until the dough resembles coarse sands. The idea here is to coat each and every grain of flour with oil.
3. Now sprinkle the water slowly and form a soft but really stiff dough. Even after using up 1/2 a cup of water the dough will seem dry, don’t get tempted to add more water.
4. Knead the dough well for about 5 mins. It will be very stiff and a little difficult to work with. Don’t worry, its totally worth the effort. Tip: The amount of water in the dough is very important, the lesser the better. If there is too much water in the dough, you will end up with too many bubbles on your fried samosas, which don’t look pretty at all!
5. Use just enough water to bring the flour together. After that knead for 5 mins, sprinkling some water only when required. Cover with a plastic wrap/moist kitchen towel and keep aside. Let the dough rest for at least an hour, up to 2 hours.

1. Potato Stuffing and assembling the samosa
2. Heat oil in a skillet and add the cumin seeds, saute for 30 seconds. Add ginger, garlic and minced green chillies and fry for about a minute, on medium heat.
3. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and saute for 30 secs. Add in the boiled potatoes, boiled peas and salt to taste. Cook uncovered for 4-5 minutes.
4. Sprinkle the garam masala on top and stir to combine. Cook for about 2 minutes. Finish with the chopped cilantro and mint (if using). Keep aside and cool to room temperature.
5. Make large lemon sized balls of the dough. It will be difficult to make a perfectly rounded ball, but don’t worry. Dust the dough with flour and roll it out thin, about 1/8 inch in thickness, into an ellipse as shown here. (Don’t roll the sheets too thin, as it may be difficult to handle it afterwards and it may tear). Using a knife cut the ellipse to make two equal portions.
6. Now place one of these sheets on the working board or on your hand with the circular portion facing you. Wet the edges and make a cone, so you can stuff in the filling. Now fill the cone with the stuffing and press it slightly. Seal the cone to make a triangle, that can sit on its bottom. (Remember that the circular portion always faces you, only then the samosa will stand as shown, please refer to this link for detailed pics, http://ambikaskitchen.com/?p=188).
7. Deep fry the samosa till they turn golden all over. Please note that the oil should not be too hot and fry them on medium high heat. Serve with tamarind chutney and green chutney.