Aktar Islam is the chef-owner of Michelin-starred Opheem restaurant in Birmingham, and has launched Aktar at Home, a successful finish-at-home dining experience.
See more of Aktar Islam’s recipes
Aktar Islam
Aktar Islam is the chef-owner of Michelin-starred Opheem restaurant in Birmingham, and has launched Aktar at Home, a successful finish-at-home dining experience.
See more of Aktar Islam’s recipes
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Ingredients
2 large potatoes (375-400g total weight)
1 litre rapeseed oil, to fry
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 green chilli, finely chopped
2.5cm root ginger, grated
200g frozen peas
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp chilli powder
⅛ tsp asafoetida (optional)
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
handful of coriander, chopped
For the pastry
50g butter
300g plain flour
½ tsp fine salt
½ tsp sugar (any kind)
2 tsp nigella seeds
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Step by step
For the pastry, melt the butter in a small pan then add 90ml cold water and set aside. Mix the flour, salt, sugar and nigella seeds in a large bowl, then pour in the butter mixture and mix to a soft dough, adding more water if needed. Knead briefly then cover and chill for at least 30 minutes. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before assembling the samosas.
For the filling, put the unpeeled potatoes in a pan of cold salted water. Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes; drain. When cool enough to handle, peel off the skins and cut into 1cm dice. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds, allowing them to splutter.
Add the onion, green chilli and ginger and sauté until the onions become translucent; 10-12 minutes. Mix in the potatoes and peas, reduce the heat and sprinkle in the spices and salt. Stir to coat and cook for 20 minutes until the potato crumbles easily. Cool, then add the lemon juice and coriander; season to taste.
Take a golf ball-size dough ball (about 50g) and roll out to a circle about 15cm wide. Cut the disc in half and make cones with each half, stuffing with 1 heaped tablespoon of the potato mixture. Dab a little water inside the open end and pinch the excess dough to seal. Use scissors to neaten the curved rough edge if you like. Keep covered while you shape and fill the rest; you should make about 9 circles and 18 samosas.
Heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan to 180°C (use a cooks’ thermometer or drop in a few breadcrumbs and check if they start to sizzle). Deep-fry the samosas in batches until golden; about 5 minutes. Move the samosas around to allow for even cooking. Drain on kitchen paper before serving.
They're also an excellent Indian vegetarian dish, as in this recipe, which includes cubed potatoes, peas, carrots, and onions. A good vegetable samosa often contains garam masala, which is a combination of several spices: coriander, cumin, cloves, pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, and bay leaves.
Samosas are great because of the combination of the crispy outside, which forms during frying, and the flavourful filling on the inside. There are a lot of different samosa fillings out there and really, you can make whatever you like.
The most common way to serve a samosa is with a dip called chutney. Green chutney is something that gives samosa a whole new dimension, and they pair so well together. This chutney is mainly comprised of two common Indian herbs—cilantro and mint.
Samosas should never be taken as a healthy food. Despite the nutritional benefits offered by vegetables, a vegetarian samosa made with lots of butter or oil can be high in cholesterol and saturated fats.
Make Samosa Dough (or use frozen puff pastry sheets)
Mix together flour, carom seeds, salt and oil in a mixing bowl. Rub the flour well with your fingers or in between your palms for 3 to 4 mins to incorporate the oil. It should look like breadcrumbs and this is very important to make flaky samosa.
Despite the fact that they do contain some veggies, the refined flour and high-fat content usually outweighs them. Constipation, bloating, and other digestive problems may result from the high fat and low fibre content of samosas, which can slow down digestion and cause these problems.
Did you know that eating a samosa is healthier than eating a burger? At least, the Centre for Science and Environment says so. Dieticians argue that more than the ingredients in a samosa, it's the oil it is cooked in that causes more harm to the body. It is especially when fried by roadside vendors.
Although many think the samosa originated in South Asia, its roots can be traced back to Central Asia & the Middle East. In Arab cookbooks dating from the 10th to 13th centuries, pastries were referred to as 'sanbusak,' derived from the Persian term 'Sanbosag.
Green sauce: Usually a mint cilantro chutney, cilantro chutney, or hari chutney. Brown sauce: This sauce is usually a tamarind chutney or imli ki chutney and tastes sweet and sour.
Most of the samosa chutneys can easily be typically grouped into colours as they are made with varying fresh ingredients: Red samosa dipping sauce – this is a sweet and sour sauce. Green samosa dipping sauce – based on cilantro and mint and taste fresh. Variations include green yogurt chutneys.
Samoosas can be kept frozen up to 3 months. Thawing is not needed before deep frying. Origin of the humble samoosa. The deep-fried,triangular pastry is India's great contribution to the world of fast food, the product of a thousand years of culinary heritage.
The samosa is prepared with an all-purpose flour (locally known as maida) and stuffed with a filling, often a mixture of diced and cooked or mashed boiled potato, onions, green peas, lentils, ginger, spices and green chili. A samosa can be vegetarian or non-vegetarian, depending on the filling.
Samosa, a crispy and spicy deep fried snack that has an crisp and flaky outer layer made of maida and rich filling of mashed potato, peas and spices is a popular street food of India.
Introduction: My name is Allyn Kozey, I am a outstanding, colorful, adventurous, encouraging, zealous, tender, helpful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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Prep time: 1 hr 10 mins
