Potato Samoosas
You should know by now I don’t like making finicky little treats that requires effort. But my hubby has asked for these samoosas a few times already so I had to make these Potato Samoosas.
Potato Samoosas
He said they were the best Potato Samoosas he ate, see he knows what’s good for him…haha! They were good and I only made a few so it was gobbled up in a few seconds.
This recipes is for a small batch but you can easily double the recipe. Next time I will have to make more.
We love everything hot so I did put a little too much chilli but you can adjust the chilli according to your taste.
This is how my mum made her samoosas so this is her recipe. My mum loves using fresh herbs in her cooking.
Its where I get my love for fresh herbs. I think it definitely elevates dishes to a whole new level.
Of course, you cannot use fresh herbs in everything but I use it in almost all my samoosa recipes. For me it’s a must.
Ingredients required
To make potato samoosas you need basic pantry ingredients. Of course, you can make your own samoosa pastry too but that’s a no for me.
Why would I make it if I can make life easy by using store bought pastry.
I just feel some things are really not worth stressing over. I did try making samoosa pastry a couple of times and it stresses me out.
For this recipe you will need potatoes, onion, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, curry leaf, chillies, fresh coriander and mint.
How to make the samoosas
Up here in Johannesburg everything takes forever to cook due to the high altitude. I therefore parboil my potatoes before cooking them in the spices for these samoosas.
If you are living elsewhere and confident your potatoes will cook well in limited time you can omit this step.
Boiling the potatoes takes about 30 minutes on a gas cooker. If you wish you can also use a pressure cooker.
I have learnt to fold samoosas from my mum and I do it the old-fashioned way that works for me. I get my samoosas to all look the same and they are really neat.
The one thing that does put me off is when samoosas look untidy. This is something you may have to practice a bit but it will feel like an accomplishment once you get it right.
I will post a video for this recipe. If you are on Instagram and Tiktok do follow me as I do a lot more videos there than I post on my blog.
Frying the Samoosas
I know this sounds crazy but I prefer frying my samoosas when frozen rather than fresh. Yes, this is the crazy bit I fry the frozen ones in cold oil.
When you frying them you add the samoosas in the oil and they both heat up at the same time. Trust me on this, it works like a charm.
No more cold fillings and you have perfect oil free pastries too. If you are frying large batches then you will have to adjust the temperature from time to time.
You don’t want your samoosas frying too quickly, especially if frozen as the insides will still be cold.
If you frying them fresh then you don’t need to worry about the insides not heating up, therefore in this instance you can start with hot oil.
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do. If you do try them please drop me a comment and a star rating. It is always appreciated.
More Recipes to try:
Roast Sweet Potato Onion and Feta Tart
Potato Samoosa
Ingredients
- 16 samoosa strips
- 5 potatoes about 500gram
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 onion diced
- 1 sprig curry leaf
- 2-3 green chillies finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 cup water
- salt
- 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon fresh coriander leaves finely chopped
Flour Paste to seal samoosas
- 1 tablespoon cake wheat or all purpose flour
- enough water to make a smooth paste
Instructions
- Peel and chop the potatoes into cubes. Cover with cold water and allow to boil on medium heat until soft and tender. This takes about 30 minutes at high altitude. Drain and set aside
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil in a pan. And the cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Once it starts to burst add the onion, curry leaf and green chillies. Fry until the onion is translucent.
- Add the turmeric and potatoes. You can press them down with a fork to mash them or you can mash them before adding it to the pan. If you have some chunky bits it's ok provided your potatoes are soft.
- Season with salt. Add 1/2 cup water and allow to cook for about 5 minutes. There shouldn't be too much liquid remaining in the pan but the curry should be moist and not too dry.
- Allow the potatoes to cool and add in the chopped mint and coriander.
- Fill each samoosa with 2 tablespoons of filling. You can freeze them but do separate with some wax paper or cling wrap.
- Fry them in hot oil if frying from fresh or if frozen start by frying them in cold oil.
Notes
- I find that frying samoosas from frozen works better in terms of a crisp, smooth pastry. I also start frying my samoosas in cold oil. As the oil heats up the samoosa filling also starts heating up gradually giving you perfectly fried samoosas.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I love Samoosas so much and miss indulging in them, since I’ve moved from Durban. Could you please advise where I can purchase the Samoosa pastry around the joburg and Centurion area ????
Hi Fathima! You’re most welcome. I am not sure where exactly you can get them in other parts of JHB as I get mine from the Edenvale area. Most of our Pick n Pay supermarkets stock it. Alternatively you may find it at spice shops, if you have any in your area.
I tried this for the first time today and it was absolutely amazing, thank you so much. I love that your recipes are simple, practical and pantry based.
I love to have this .