Samosas (jaffrey)

Yield: 10 Servings

Measure Ingredient
2 cups Whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons Vegetable oil
½ teaspoon Salt
\N \N Vegetable oil to deep fry
7 mediums Boiled potatoes
10 tablespoons Vegetable oil
⅛ teaspoon Asafetida
1 teaspoon Whole fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon Whole black mustard seeds
12 \N Whole fenugreek seeds
3 \N Whole dried red chilies
½ teaspoon Turmeric
1½ teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Lemon juice

To make the pastry, combine the 2 c of flour with 3 tb oil. Add salt & mix. Add 1 cup of water a little at a time until you have a firm dough. Knead the dough well for 10 minutes or until the dough is elasticy & smooth. Form inot a ball, brush with a little oil, cover with a damp towel & set aside.

To make the filling:

Boil the potatoes & let them cool. You may peel them if you like,I choose not to. Dice them into bite-sized pieces.

In a wok or very large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. When very hot, drop in the asafetida. 5 seconds later, add the fennel & cumin seeds. A few seconds later add in rapid succession the mustard seeds & fenugreek. As they begin to change colour & pop, add the chilies.

As soon as the chilies swell & darken, add the potatoes, turmeric & salt. Fry gently, carefully turning the potatoes so as not to break them. Fry for 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes are unevenly browned. Add lemon juice & mix well. Check the salt. Remove potatoes from the wok, place in a serving dish & crush coarsely with the back of a slotted spoon.

Divide the dough into 28 to 30 equal balls. Flatten each ball & roll it out on a floured surface until it is approximately 4 inches in diameter. Cut each round in half.

Taking one semicircle at a time, moisten half the length of the cut edge with a finger dipped in water. Form a wide cone with the semi-circle, using the moist section to overlap ¼ inch & hold it closed. Fill samosa ¾ full with stuffing. Moisten the inside edges of the opening & press it shut. Seal this end by pressing down on it with a fork as you would a pie crust. Do all the samosas this way, keeping them moist in a plastic wrap or under a damp towel until you are ready to fry. (I find that I save a lot of time & anguish by frying them as I go).

Heat the oil for deep frying in a wok. When the oil is hot, slide in 3 or 4 samosas, be careful not to overcrowd. Fry until the samosas are brown on all sides, about 2 or 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon & drain on paper towels. Repeat until you have 60 samosas. The oil should be hot, but do not use a high heat otherwise they will burn.

Serve samosas hot with a sweet chutney or tamarind paste. They can be frozen & re-heated in a 300F oven.

Madhur Jaffrey, "An Invitation to Indian Cooking"

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