Samosas are one of my favourite Indian snacks. You can find them all around the world and it would be hard to find someone who has never eaten one. They are best eaten warm and crispy… I like them so much that I had to learn how to make them at home, as I believe that home-made food always tastes better. I make them with 3 different fillings: with potatoes and peas, with minced lamb and with both fillings mixed together (which is my family’s favourite). I am going to give you the recipe of both fillings, so you can chose which ever one you prefer to make. Serve them hot with some sweet and sour tamarind chutney (imli ki chutney) on the side.
FILLINGS:
LAMB FILLING
Ingredients:
250 gms lamb mince
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
½ tbsp ginger paste (or 1 inch piece of freshly grated ginger)
4-5 garlic cloves, pressed with a garlic press
1 green chilli, very finely chopped
¼ tsp red chilli powder
¼ tsp turmeric
½ tsp garam masala
Fresh coriander leaves
Salt to taste
Put the chopped onions and the vegetable oil in a frying pan and sauté until lightly browned. Add the ginger, garlic and green chilli and sauté for a couple of minutes.
Now add the lamb mince and brown it well.
When the meat is brown, add the turmeric, chilli powder and salt and let it cook on a medium flame until the juices dry.
Add the garam masala and some fresh coriander leaves. Stir, put the fire off and let it cool down.
POTATO FILLING
Ingredients:
4-5 medium potatoes, cubed into 1.5×1.5 cm pieces
½ cup baby peas, frozen
½ tbsp ginger paste (or 1 inch piece of freshly grated ginger)
½ green chilly, very finely chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp mustard oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp red chilli powder
¼ tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
Fresh coriander leaves
Salt to taste
Start by chopping and cooking the potatoes. I usually cut them and put them in a microwave safe container and cook them in the microwave with a little water until they are soft. You can also boil them, but it is going to take a little more time.
When the potatoes are ready, keep them aside.
Put the cumin seeds, vegetable oil and mustard oil in a frying pan and let them fry until they start popping.
Now add the ginger and green chilli and stir well.
Add the cooked chopped potatoes (including the water they have accumulated while cooking), chilli powder, turmeric, peas, garam masala and salt to taste.
Stir well and cook the mixture until dry. Add the coriander leaves, stir, put the fire off and let it cool down.
SAMOSA DOUGH
Ingredients (makes 8 samosas):
1 cup flour
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
½ cup lukewarm water (to add little by little as required)
½ tbsp ajwain/carom seeds or cumin seeds (optional)
Put all the ingredients in a mixer with a dough hook and knead the dough adding the lukewarm water little by little until the dough comes together. You can knead this by hand as well.
Keep the dough to rest for 10-15 minutes.
HOW TO ASSEMBLE THE SAMOSAS
You can stuff the samosa with either the meat or the potato filling, or you can also mix the 2 stuffings together (this is the way we usually eat it at home).
Take the dough, make 4 balls and roll them into ovals.
Cut these ovals in half and fold them to make cones, as shown in the pictures. Seal the edge with some water and press it to close it tight. Hold the cone in your left hand and fill it with the stuffing. Close it by folding the open part on the top and seal it with a little water.
Here is a short video showing you how to assemble a samosa… you can hear my girls playing and dancing to some hindi music (hehehe):
Deep fry the samosas in hot vegetable oil. When brown, take them out with a slotted spoon and put them on a plate covered with kitchen paper to get rid of the excess oil.
Serve warm with some sweet and sour tamarind chutney (imli ki chutney).
Katherine says
June 11, 2011 at 9:13 pmI love samosas! These look absolutely amazing. I usually just make potato but you’ve inspired me to branch out 🙂
Giulietta @ Alterkitchen says
June 11, 2011 at 10:10 pmI never ate samosas, but they looks amazing! 🙂
Jay says
June 11, 2011 at 10:15 pmthat looks super tempting…
first time here…fascinating space you have…love your presentation..
Am your FB fan now..:)
do stop by mine sometime..
Treat and Trick says
June 12, 2011 at 12:01 amThese are perfect and yummy! Your clicks make me crave for them now…
meme says
July 26, 2012 at 8:38 pmme to im sooo hungry
Parsley Sage says
June 12, 2011 at 12:32 amWhen my husband sees this, he’ll be demanding samosas every week! They’re his favorite. Thanks for sharing! Especially the veggie one 🙂
Amy @ Gastronome Tart says
June 12, 2011 at 1:04 amOooooh…. I LOVE samosas! Delicious!
Liz says
June 12, 2011 at 1:09 amI made my first samosas this fall, but yours are so much more tempting! The fried dough makes an incredible crust…mmmmmmm. Happy weekend, Manu!
[email protected] in disguise says
June 12, 2011 at 5:11 amI love samosas..my favorite stuffing is cheese with mint or parsley..yum!
I have never my own dough..thank you for the recipe and for the step bu step pictures
kankana says
June 12, 2011 at 6:52 amYou made my fav samosa and you made them perfect! I too love samosa specially with evening tea
Ryan says
June 12, 2011 at 10:05 amOh I love samosas and my mouth is watering after looking at your spectacular tutorial! I feel like I could just reach into my computer and grab one. Why can’t someone develop that technology??? 🙂 They look delicious!
chandrabali says
June 12, 2011 at 11:27 amLove samosa…n this one looks perfect
Samah says
June 12, 2011 at 2:59 pmI love samosas too… and i like it with both the meat and veggies, thanks Manu for the steps and the recipe.
Lilla says
June 12, 2011 at 5:30 pmAnche io amo i samosas, che ho provato solo vegetariani. Qui il tocco in più è dato dalla sfoglia esterna fatta in casa, mentre di solito vengono fatti con un impasto congelato già pronto… ma non c’è confronto!!
Medeja says
June 12, 2011 at 8:18 pmGreat job! I love vegetarian samosas!
Peggy says
June 13, 2011 at 1:28 amI just love getting the samosa appetizer at our favorite local Indian joint. And now I have a detailed post to look up when I have that craving at home =)
sarah says
June 13, 2011 at 2:31 amOh Manu these look just wonderful! And your step by step photos are perfect! I’ll be trying the lamb recipe soon!!
Rinku Naveen says
June 13, 2011 at 3:54 amWow..crisp samosas!
[email protected] says
June 13, 2011 at 5:44 amWOW! Your samosas are perfect! How do you stop at one? I would eat up all of them.
Elyse says
June 13, 2011 at 7:47 amHey Manu! I know it has been awhile since I posted but I finally got around to posting new recipes and gave you a shout out!
Beautiful recipe as always… I love when you can have bite size treats like this!
Sandra's Easy Cooking says
June 13, 2011 at 11:32 amI never tried samosas but it does look very tempting and delicious!!! Awesome video!!!!
Anna @The Littlest Anchovy says
June 13, 2011 at 8:24 pmI love samosas and yours look amazing. Thank you for the step by step guide to making these too!
daksha says
June 13, 2011 at 10:01 pmHi! manu i like samosa too. but if some one say plz make for me samosas i’m say no….no..no… it’s take a time but u r make so perfectly brilliant. great job i’m sure ur hubby is happy:).
Beth Michelle says
June 13, 2011 at 10:45 pmI love samosas. Yours look so amazing. YUM
Nami @ Just One Cookbook says
June 14, 2011 at 4:24 amManu, I love this post more than your regular posts because of the video clip with Indian music with your girls’ voice!!!! THE BEST EVER. I was smiling while you trying to concentrate on making this with fun background noise. LOL. I am amazed how much effort to make samosa, from scratch…everything from scratch. It must be SUPER good.
BestOodles says
June 14, 2011 at 4:50 amManu, great to see beginning to end process. It’s great tip to show in video clip where as I drew on my samosa pictures to show folding process since I could not hold camcorder and folding the dough at the same time.
Dumpling Girl says
June 14, 2011 at 8:37 amSamosa’s are one of my fave Indian snacks too. Thanks for sharing this recipe, you make it look so easy and they look fantastic.
[email protected] says
June 14, 2011 at 9:09 amOooh I have never tried to make samosas. Great tutorial Manu!
Gopika says
June 15, 2011 at 6:11 amWoww.. the samosas are soo mouth-watering. Cant wait to have them 🙂
Tiffany says
June 15, 2011 at 10:35 amWe are synced once again… you’re going to flip your lid when you see my Friday post! And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the video! 😀
Ma What's For Dinner says
June 15, 2011 at 10:51 amYou know I love samosas but I’ve never actually attempted to make them…. I want to try your lamb ones! Sound delish!
Lots of yummy love,
Alex aka Ma What’s For Dinner
http://www.mawhats4dinner.com
Lyn says
June 20, 2011 at 8:55 pmYummy samosas me and my elder girl love! We always buy samosa outside but the fillings are always so little with the so thick ‘skin’ 🙁
Now I can do my own samosa with lots of lots of fillings! 😀
Asiya says
June 28, 2011 at 2:11 amThese looks sooooo good!! I’m definitely going to try your potato filling. Have you ever tried to bake these instead of frying? Tutorial for how to make them was very handy…and I haven’t heard the song in the background for a long time! 🙂
Spicie Foodie says
July 1, 2011 at 5:38 amHi Manu, I too love Samosa. But I’ve never made them at home. You make it sound easy. Loved the video and background music 🙂 Thanks for participating in the YBR & Have a great weekend!
Hester Casey - Alchemy says
July 1, 2011 at 10:53 pmHow did I miss this post? I LOVE samosas. I’ve even attempted them a few times. The folding gets better with practice, so my first one is always rubbish and the final few actually look like samosas. I love your recipe, Manu, and that you’ve added extra flavour to the dough with the cumin seeds.
Praseetha says
May 16, 2012 at 9:12 pmHi Manuela,
I am regular visitor of your face book page and a big fan of Italian cuisine.As i am an Indian i would like to give you a suggestion that you missed one important ingredient in your samosa recipe.Chaat masala. it will give an incredible authentic aroma and taste to your samosa.Do try and feel the difference in taste. Add a pinch of chaat masala to your filling.You may get it in any Indian store.
Manu says
May 16, 2012 at 9:16 pmHi Praseetha! THANK you sooo much for this message! I will definitely try it the next time I make samosas! I actually have some chaat masala at home 🙂 I will let you know how it comes out!!! 🙂 Thank you again for the suggestion, I am sure it will taste delicious!
Praseetha says
May 16, 2012 at 9:22 pmMy pleasure dear Manu 🙂 <3 Trust me,it will taste divine 🙂
plasterer bristol says
May 12, 2015 at 6:32 pmThis sounds really delicious. Thanks for putting this up…
Simon