Punjabi Samosa

Making of Samosa

To cook the potatoes On top of the potatoes (pressure cooker-safe ) bowl with ½ cup green peas. Pressure cook for 5 to 6 whistles or 7 to 8 minutes on medium to medium-high flame.

To a small frying pan over low heat add ½ inch cinnamon stick, 1 clove (optional), 1 green cardamom, 3 black peppercorns, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon fennel seeds and 2 teaspoon coriander seeds.

Remove the spices from the heat and allow to cool completely. Then, put them in a spice grinder or small mixer-grinder jar.

Grind the toasted spices to a semi-fine powder, and set aside.

Mix 2 teaspoons ground coriander (coriander powder), ½ teaspoon ground cumin (cumin powder), ½ teaspoon ground fennel (fennel powder) and ½ teaspoon garam masala powder in a small bowl.

Peel the skin off of the cooked potatoes, chop them in ½ to 1 inch cubes. Add peas.

In a small skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil. When the oil becomes medium hot then reduce the heat to low.

Crackle ½ teaspoon cumin seeds until fragrant.

Keep the heat on low and add 1 teaspoon finely chopped or minced ginger and 2 teaspoons finely chopped green chillies. Sauté for a few seconds until the raw aroma of ginger goes away.Now you can switch off the flame or keep flame to a low. Then add the cooked green peas, ½ teaspoon red chilli powder, 1 pinch of asafoetida (hing), the dry ground spice mix that we made and 1 to 2 teaspoons dry mango powder (amchur).

Next add potato cubes, salt as required and 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves (also known as cilantro) to the skillet. Mix very well and sauté for a minute

For The Dough:

In a large mixing bowl combine 2 cups all-purpose flour (250 grams), 1 teaspoon carom seeds, 1 teaspoon salt and 6 tablespoons ghee (50 grams).

add in 7 to 8 tablespoons water in parts and knead. You can add 1 to 2 tablespoons extra water if needed if the dough looks floury or dry.

Continue kneading to form a firm, tight dough. It should not be soft or sticky. Cover the samosa dough with a moist kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Roll it with a rolling pin, being mindful to keep the thickness even at 1 mm and not too thin.

Cut the with a knife or a pastry cutter, right through the center of the samosa pastry.

Carefully spoon and lightly pack the prepared potato and pea stuffing into the samosa cone. Make sure to not over or under-fill to prevent the samosa from bursting during the frying process. Heat the oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. Test the oil by adding a small piece of dough – it should come up quickly if the oil is hot enough for frying. or else use Air fryer which i did !

If you have an air fryer then do try making samosa in it. You will be pleasantly surprised with the texture of the air fried samosa. They do taste similar to the fried samosa, minus the extra oil. For air-frying, preheat air fryer at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. Brush aloo samosa with oil and air fry at 180 degrees Celsius till the samosa are golden.