Samosas (jaffrey)
10 Servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | cups | Whole wheat flour |
| 3 | tablespoons | Vegetable oil |
| ½ | teaspoon | Salt |
| Vegetable oil to deep fry | ||
| 7 | mediums | Boiled potatoes |
| 10 | tablespoons | Vegetable oil |
| ⅛ | teaspoon | Asafetida |
| 1 | teaspoon | Whole fennel seeds |
| 1 | teaspoon | Whole cumin seeds |
| 1 | teaspoon | Whole black mustard seeds |
| 12 | Whole fenugreek seeds | |
| 3 | Whole dried red chilies | |
| ½ | teaspoon | Turmeric |
| 1½ | teaspoon | Salt |
| 1 | tablespoon | Lemon juice |
Directions
To make the pastry, combine the 2 c of flour with 3 tb oil. Add salt & mix. Add 1 cup of water a little at a time until you have a firm dough. Knead the dough well for 10 minutes or until the dough is elasticy & smooth. Form inot a ball, brush with a little oil, cover with a damp towel & set aside.
To make the filling:
Boil the potatoes & let them cool. You may peel them if you like,I choose not to. Dice them into bite-sized pieces.
In a wok or very large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. When very hot, drop in the asafetida. 5 seconds later, add the fennel & cumin seeds. A few seconds later add in rapid succession the mustard seeds & fenugreek. As they begin to change colour & pop, add the chilies.
As soon as the chilies swell & darken, add the potatoes, turmeric & salt. Fry gently, carefully turning the potatoes so as not to break them. Fry for 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes are unevenly browned. Add lemon juice & mix well. Check the salt. Remove potatoes from the wok, place in a serving dish & crush coarsely with the back of a slotted spoon.
Divide the dough into 28 to 30 equal balls. Flatten each ball & roll it out on a floured surface until it is approximately 4 inches in diameter. Cut each round in half.
Taking one semicircle at a time, moisten half the length of the cut edge with a finger dipped in water. Form a wide cone with the semi-circle, using the moist section to overlap ¼ inch & hold it closed. Fill samosa ¾ full with stuffing. Moisten the inside edges of the opening & press it shut. Seal this end by pressing down on it with a fork as you would a pie crust. Do all the samosas this way, keeping them moist in a plastic wrap or under a damp towel until you are ready to fry. (I find that I save a lot of time & anguish by frying them as I go).
Heat the oil for deep frying in a wok. When the oil is hot, slide in 3 or 4 samosas, be careful not to overcrowd. Fry until the samosas are brown on all sides, about 2 or 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon & drain on paper towels. Repeat until you have 60 samosas. The oil should be hot, but do not use a high heat otherwise they will burn.
Serve samosas hot with a sweet chutney or tamarind paste. They can be frozen & re-heated in a 300F oven.
Madhur Jaffrey, "An Invitation to Indian Cooking"