Vegetable Samosas
Crispy fried pastry parcels filled with spiced potatoes and peas — found across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal alike, tracing back to the Persian/Central Asian sanbosag centuries before it reached South Asia.
Vegan
⚠ Contains: Gluten, Dairy. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
How this varies: Bengali-style shingara typically includes cauliflower and sometimes a touch of sugar in the filling, with a thinner, crisper shell shaped into a more pointed cone — a legitimate regional cousin rather than a deviation from a single "correct" samosa.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (maida)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ajwain (carom seeds), lightly crushed between fingers
- 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) ghee or oil, for the dough (moyan), plus more for frying
- 3 potatoes, boiled and roughly crushed by hand
- 1/2 cup peas
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
- 1 tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
- 1 tsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp amchur (dried mango powder), 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp ginger, minced
- 1 green chili, chopped
- Cilantro, chopped
- Salt to taste
Steps
- Combine flour, salt, and ajwain; rub in the ghee/oil thoroughly with your fingers until the mixture holds together when pressed into a clump (this fat-rubbing stage, moyan, is what makes the shell flaky and blister when fried — don't skimp on it).
- Add water gradually and knead into a firm, stiff dough (firmer than roti dough). Cover and rest 20-30 minutes.
- Heat a little oil, sizzle cumin, fennel, and coriander seeds, add ginger and green chili.
- Add potatoes and peas, mashing lightly but keeping some texture; stir in garam masala, amchur, and chili powder, cook 5 minutes. Stir in cilantro and salt. Cool completely — a warm filling will make the dough soggy.
- Divide dough into balls, roll each into an oval about 1/8 inch thick, cut in half, and shape each half into a cone, sealing the seam with a dab of water.
- Fill cones about 3/4 full with cooled potato mixture, press gently, and seal the top edge with water, pleating slightly.
- Deep-fry samosas in oil starting no hotter than 150-160C (300-325F), turning occasionally, for 12-15 minutes total, until deep golden and crisp — low, slow frying is what gives real flakiness; a hotter oil browns the outside before the layers set.
- Serve with tamarind or mint chutney.