Pan-Fried Samosas

No Indian party is complete without samosas. It is a staple in almost every fun gathering. Crunchy, buttery pockets of pastry hold a delicately spiced stuffing of potatoes and peas. The soft stuffing perfectly complements the crispy shell.

Obviously, deep frying is the best method of preparing samosas. Nothing beats it. However, in the interest of making them less oily, I have pan fried them. In the past, I have tried baking the samosas instead of pan frying, but they didn't come out well. The samosas didn't cook evenly and the shell was hard. So, pan frying is the second best option. 

And, of course, this is just my version of making samosas - mini samosas. The original version of folding the dough to make the pockets to hold the stuffing is different from my "short cut" version. But, this is a decent short-cut. If you prefer, please deep fry and enjoy a better tasting samosa!

The steps (makes about 15-16 samosas, depending on the size of the samosas)

The dough:

1. 1.5 cups maida / all purpose flour
2. 1.5 tablespoons ghee / clarified butter (or use butter)
3. 1/2 cup buttermilk / diluted yogurt
4. 1 teaspoon salt or as needed

In a wide bowl, mix salt and all-purpose flour. Add ghee and mix it in. Slowly add the buttermilk / diluted yogurt and knead the dough until it comes together as a soft and pliable mass. If needed, sprinkle a little water. I usually add buttermilk/yogurt/whey to make rotis and I find a distinct difference in how soft the rotis turn out. Since the samosas are not deep fried, it is important that they turn out soft and not hard and brittle while pan frying. And yogurt comes to the rescue to ensure the samosas are soft. If you prefer, add 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup yogurt/buttermilk. Cover the prepared dough with a damp cloth and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.

the prepared dough

The filling (some filling - up to 1/2 cup will be left over):

1. 2 potatoes, boiled, peeled, and crumbled 
2. 1 onion, sliced
3. 2 tablespoons oil
4. 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
5. 1/2 teaspoon jeera / cumin seeds
6. 2 green chillies, chopped
7. 3 cloves of garlic, minced
8. 1 teaspoon minced ginger
9. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
10. 1.5 teaspoons garam masala / vegetable sabzi masala 
11. 1/3 cup peas (thawed, if using frozen)
12. 1 teaspoon salt
13. 2 teaspoons dried mint leaves (optional)
14. 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
15. 1/4 cup coriander leaves / cilantro

Preparing the filling:

1. Heat oil in a pan. When hot, splutter mustard seeds, and add jeera. When jeera begins to sizzle, add ginger, green chillies, and onion and saute until onion begins to brown slightly. 
2. Add garlic and fry for 1 minute. 
3. Add turmeric powder and mix
4. Add the crumbled potatoes and mix them well. Fry for 5 minutes. 
5. Add garam masala and peas and give a mix
6. When peas are cooked, remove from heat.
7. Throw in dried mint leaves, coriander leaves and lemon juice and mix. Let filling cool.

 Making the samosas:

1. Pinch out and make about 7-8 balls from the prepared dough. Cover the balls/dough with a damp cloth or paper towel, so that they remain soft and don't form a crust. 
2. Roll out each ball into an evenly thin circle, so that the samosa cooks evenly (dust the rolling board/pin with all-purpose flour to avoid the dough from sticking). Cut the circle in the middle to make two semi-circles. 
3. Gently roll each semicircle along the curve to connect either sides and make a wide conical shape (just as you would roll a piece of paper to make a cone). Use water to seal the edges. Fill the pocket/the "cone" with the stuffing. Gently push the stuffing to the bottom using your finger and continue filling until the top. Then fold down the "flap" at the top to cover the filling. Use water to seal the flap. Hopefully the pictures below help visualize the process. If you don't want to go through all the trouble to make these pockets, just place the filling in the corner of a small circle of rolled out dough and close to make a crescent. Otherwise, cut out squares of the rolled out dough, place filling on one side, and connect the diagonals to form triangles. My samosas are anyway distant cousins to triangles and cones, so the shapes don't really matter! Just stuff any which way and fry!

Once all the "samosas" are stuffed, pan fry them. Cover all the prepared stuffed samosas with a damp cloth. For each batch, use about a teaspoon of oil in a pan and fry the samosas on both sides until golden brown. 

Things to keep in mind while frying:

1. First heat the oil on medium heat. When hot, start frying the samosas. Soon the pan would get too hot, causing the outside of the samosas to crisp up fast, leaving the insides of the dough raw. So, reduce the heat slightly in about 10 minutes time to ensure the samosas cook through and crisp up.

2. Gently press down on the samosas to help all the edges fry and cook evenly. Otherwise, the center of the samosas will brown and crisp, while the edges wouldn't even touch the pan and will remain raw.

Serve hot with ketchup or spicy mint-coriander chutney.