Vegetarian Samosas

I recently tried my hand at making Vegetarian Samosas.  Samosas are among the most delicious things on the face of God's green Earth.  They once flaky and light, but rich and filling.  I first discovered Samosas when the Veggie Dad (then the Veggie Boyfriend) first discovered an all vegetarian Indian restaurant in Atlanta, GA, called Udipi Cafe.  For those living in the Atlanta area or for those who might be visiting Atlanta, Udipi Cafe is actually in Duluth, Ga, to connect to their website simply click on the restaurant name.  Since that first meal at Udipi Cafe I have been smitten with the Samosa and with Indian food in general.  In short, it's like a party in my mouth every time I eat Indian food. 

I would never suggest that the Samosas I made were as good as those one would find at a Indian restaurant, so you should still check out your town's local Indian cuisine, but these Samosas will surely get you through those dry spells between visits. 

First, I wanted something rather easy, but still authentic.  And I wanted something that did not need to be deep fried.  Health issues aside, I just don't know how to deep fry anything.  I know!  A Southern Girl not knowing how to fry, it's just plain crazy, but it's true.  Sure, I could learn how to fry, but then I would still be stuck with gallons of leftover oil.  Ewww, old oil. 

I tried several cookbook and looked around the internet, but in the end I decided to check and see if them had a recipe for at least the dough on the King Arthur website.  Low and behold, they not only had a recipe for the dough, but for the filling, too!  I must say, the more I use King Arthur's site, the more I love it.  Their bread recipes have thus far always worked out, and I love that they give you non-machine baking instructions for their bread machine recipes. Now, I am discovering that their other recipes are also amazing. 

As always, I made a few changes to reflect our personal tastes and to reflect the type of yeast I use.  The only other change I made was to how I shaped the Samosas.  The original recipe had you cut the dough in circles, but in the end I chose to do my Samosas in more of a pyramid shape like you would find at an Indian restaurant.  Above I have pictured both shapes.  You will get a larger yield of Samosas is you follow the King Arthur instructions. 

Ingredients for the Dough
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into squares
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water


Tools for the Dough
bowl
whisk
pastry cutter (or two forks)
plastic wrap

The Making of the Dough

Use a whisk to combine the all purpose flour and the salt

Cut half the chilled butter into the flour with the pasty cutter

Cut the rest of the butter in with the pastry cutter until the flour/butter clumps are the size of cranberries. 

Add the ice cold water a little at a time

Using your hand, gently work the flour/butter and ice cold water together.  Add more ice cold water until a dough is formed.

You should still see clumps of butter in the formed dough. 

Form the dough into two discs, wrap the discs in plastic wrap and chill them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. 

While the dough chills, prepare the filling.

Ingredients for the Filling
2 cups cooked potatoes, drained and cubed
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon garam masrala
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
pepper to taste

Tools for the Filling/ for the baking of the Samosas
large sauce pan
silicone baking mat for rolling out dough
parchment paper
baking sheet


The Cooking for the Filling and the Samosas

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan for medium heat.

Add the onion and garlic.  Saute until the onions and garlic turn translucent.Take care not to burn the garlic.

Add the curry powder and the garam marsala.  Stir and cook until fragrant. 

Add the potatoes

Stir gently to coat the potatoes with the spice/onion mixture.

Add pepper to taste

Turn off the heat and add the peas.

Stir gently until the peas are well incorporated and set aside while you roll out the dough. Preheat the oven to 400° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using a clean floured surface or a silicone baking mat, roll the dough out. 

Roll the dough out to a thickness of 1/8 of an inch.

Place about 2 tablespoons of filling into the center of the dough (cut into circles, squares or rectangles).  Brush water onto the edges of the dough to bind the edges together.

Pull the dough into the desired shape and place the Samosa on the lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the outside of the Samosas are golden brown. 

Serve with the dip of your choice and enjoy!


Recipe source: kingarthur.com


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