Samosas

A few weeks ago, an unexpected package arrived on our front porch. When my grandma came to visit us in August, we ate at a wonderful little empanada restaurant near us which inspired her to send me this adorable set of empanada makers and a cookbook full of delicious-looking recipes for pocket pies from all over the world.  I'd been thinking about making samosas for a while, but the filling and crimping was deterring me.  Problem solved. I was a little skeptical about them staying closed, but it was no problem at all.

How cute is that little tiny one? The opening is about the size of a quarter.

 I diverged in many, many ways from a proper samosa, but the root - veggies flavored with ginger, garam masala, and cilantro - was still intact.  Rather than making the thinner wrapper common for samosas, I used a naan-inspired dough recipe from the book which resulted in a chewy and crispy crust.  So good!

For the filling, I decided to skip the potatoes (I was already frying them, after all) in favor of cauliflower.  Since I only wanted a small amount each of cauliflower, carrots, and peas, I found a frozen mix.  Thawing and chopping took less time that softening the onions, garlic, ginger, and garam masala in just a bit of oil.  I tossed in the vegetables and when everything was tender-crisp, I pulled it off the heat and stirred in a dollop of yogurt to add some body to the filling.  I think the starch from the potato would have served that purpose.

The back of the cutters can be used to cut out the perfect-sized disk of dough.  A bit of egg wash around the edge made sure that the seal was solid before the samosa was dropped into 350 degree oil until golden brown.  You could certainly bake these, I just happened to have a pot of oil from the doughnuts I made earlier in the day.  Once drained and cooled slightly (seriously, resist, they are lava inside) they were delicious with mango chutney and a salad.