Aarti Paarti Ep. 30: Baked Samosas
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November 4th, 2009 . Filed under:
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Pronouncement of the day: food is proof that we’re all connected more deeply than we know.
Take the samosa, the quintessential Indian snack: deep fried triangular pastries, stuffed with a savory concoction of potato, vegetables and sometimes, meat. Nothing says 4 o’clock in an Indian house quite like a steaming cup of tea, and a plate of fresh samosas. Oh dear, now I’ve done it. Excuse me whilst I get glassy-eyed and drool all over the keyboard.
Ahem, back to my “pronouncement”… doesn’t the samosa bear a striking resemblance to the Cornish pasty?
To the empanada?
To the calzone? The knish? The chinese baked dumplings?
Funny, huh?
When I decided to make my own samosas, I faced quite a quandary: heat up a messy, dangerous vat of oil to deep-fry the buggers, OR come up with a flaky, crispy baked samosa dough that mimics its deep-fried cousin. I chose the latter. I don’t know why. I’m not a baker. I don’t knead. I don’t roll out dough. Call me crazy, but dough intimidates me!
And yet, I’m crazy soooo… last week, I tried out 6 different kinds of dough.
SIX.
Everything from readymade filo/phyllo sheets, to crescent roll dough… from simple flour and water, to intricate shortcrust pastry.
And that is why I can tell you in full confidence that this is the best baked samosa dough you’ll find. ‘Cos I looked guys. And nothing compared to this one. It’s simple: flour, buttermilk, vegetable oil. It comes together in a flash, and I promise, you can’t mess it up. With a little effort, you get a beautiful soft, fair pastry, flecked with tiny ajwain seeds (akin to oregano in flavour, and available at your Indian market. You can sub with cumin, or forgo it altogether), which flakes just so, and crusts up just wonderfully in the oven. Plus, if you make your own dough, you know what’s going in there, unlike the list of ingredients in the ready-made dough, which left me dizzy.
Oh, and the filling. The FILLING!
Potato, chicken, mango, chipotle, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cilantro and lime.
This filling makes you grateful that you have taste buds.
Plus, when you throw a tea party to show off your baked goodies, it also makes you incredibly grateful for goofy, warm, generous friends who will show up at your party even if you’ve only given them a couple of days notice…
Here are the links I promised you in this video:
- The easy way to poach a chicken breast
- My Fresh & Fancy-Free Mint Chutney recipe
Baked Samosas
For pastry:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour (you can use 1 cup all-purpose flour if you prefer)
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable/canola oil
Big pinch salt
1/2 tsp. ajwain seeds (optional)
For filling:
1 big russet potato, boiled until soft
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, poached and shredded
1 mango, finely diced
Zest of 1 lime, plus juice of half of it
5 tbsp chipotle sauce
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Big handful cilantro, minced
Salt and pepper
1) To make pastry: In large bowl, combine flours, buttermilk, oil, salt and ajwain seeds. Bring ingredients together into a dough. Knead for 5 minutes until it has softened a bit. Allow to rest, at room temperature, for 15 minutes. You can put this in the fridge too, but make sure you let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes or so, in order for it to soften.
2) Make filling: Combine all ingredients with your hands until it’s well mixed up. Taste for seasoning. Set aside.
3) When it’s rolling time, preheat oven to 425 degrees f.
4) Roll the dough into a short cylinder. Slice into two. Slice each half into two, so you have 4 bits. Roll each bit into a ball. Flatten ball into a disc, then, on floured surface, roll into a 1/8″ thick, 7″ wide circle. Cut into two semi-circles.
5) Place a tablespoon or so of filling in the center of one of the semi-circles. Have a small bowl of water handy. Dip your finger in the water and run it along the edges of the semi-circle. Arrange semi-circle so the flat side is facing away from you. Grab the left corner and fold it over dough in a triangular motion, so that this corner lands on the bottom right side of the filling. Do the same with the other corner. (see video for better illustration!). Squeeze bottom shut, and fold over, sealing with water. If you like, seal using a fork. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Repeat, until you have 8 big samosas ready for baking!
6) Bake for 15 minutes at 425, then turn heat down to 375 and bake 10 more minutes. You can flip them over just before you turn the heat down if you like.
7) Serve hot, with the chutney… and bask in gratitude for the great ideas we all come up with, for our sensitive tastebuds and for the blessing of good friends!
November 5th, 2009 at 9:44 am
I love it… and the samosas look PERFECT… as did the hats.
November 5th, 2009 at 9:53 am
I love samosas and I love that yours are not fried. I wonder how crispy the baked ones are. They looked so yum. I like how your videos always have something extra, like a dancer, musician or random tea party. Nice hat.
November 5th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
hi
i watched all ur videos…the music and the food blends well in ur video..u r rocking in youtube..i am happy to know u r an indian at last..pls check my blog ,i am also crazy of food..u can try recipe from my blog for butter paneer masala
Bye
November 6th, 2009 at 12:16 am
Oh wow! My girlfriend and I recently got hooked on indian food and I was trying to look up recipes, and then I found your blog. I recall meeting a cool girl named Aarti on a plane ride back from London back in the late 90’s. It’s been so long that I have no idea if that was you, but either way thanks for the samosa recipe!
November 6th, 2009 at 12:50 am
Hi Aarti !
I made your samosas yesterday and they turned out just PERFECT !!!
Making the dough is indeed really simple and the filling ist so yummy, it’s a great recipe again !!! The only tricky part for me, was getting those little yummy things into a good shape…..some of them turned out a little odd….but isn’t this a good reason for making them again and again…just for training
November 6th, 2009 at 1:12 am
Oh, I almost forgot: Made your samosas in my brandnew oven I got yesterday. It was actually “le premiere”, so it was somehow more than a coincidence that you posted a recipe for baked samosas…and I thought it would be a good start for me and my oven…
November 6th, 2009 at 9:29 am
holy crap! are you really robert montjoy? i totally remember you! did we write letters to each other for a while? did you have long hair? did we meet on the plane ride? or did we meet at camp? my lord i can’t believe it! this is CRAZY!
November 6th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Lina! I’m so glad! Phew! I love it when people try out my recipes… then I know the recipe is good. Phew! I’m so glad! Yes, the shaping is a little tricky; I saw another tutorial where after you make that first fold, you kinda roll it back on top of itself. Does that make sense? So rather than fold the other side over, you roll it over the flat piece of dough on the right… i don’t know if that makes sense. In any case, yes, practice makes perfect (and not at all piggy!). What a great comment to wake up to! (Where are you btw?)
November 6th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Yes! We wrote emails for a little while, I think! It was the plane ride, we were seated next to each other. And I still have long hair. I’m glad to see you’re doing well! I’ll definitely have to keep up with your blog and try out a few recipes!
November 6th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Hi Aarti, I live in Berlin, Germany. I’m your “far-away-fan” and your wonderful recipes and videos travel around the world
November 6th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
holy crap this is amazing! i am going to email you to catch up. HOLY CRAP! what are the chances?!
November 6th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
WOW! will wonders never cease? that’s amazing! germany! how the heck did you find lil’ ol’ me????
November 6th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
thanks doris! yeah, bren and i try to come up with new ideas for every show. well, bren does really. i cannot take any credit for the “variety” portion of the show, but we both love that part of it! sometimes, more than the cooking part!!
November 7th, 2009 at 2:04 am
I’ve started reading foodblogs from around the world half a year ago, and I saw you at goodbites.com…I guess…
November 7th, 2009 at 7:39 am
Season finale?! Sad face
Anyway, you’ve done it again…the samosas call to me. Do you know, I’ve probably cooked more from your blog than any other (even Orangette!) You and Brendan (loved the video – especially the part where he kicks at the tree in “The Woodsy Guy”) are enormously talented. I can’t help but feel that there have to be good things on the horizon for you both.
November 8th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
thank you so much! that is such a nice thing to hear!!!
November 9th, 2009 at 10:00 am
The samosas were amazing! I made a batch on Saturday and my husband liked them so much that I had to go back to the store and make a double batch on Sunday– now that’s a compliment! Your blog and videos are awesome– keep it up!
November 30th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
I made these as an appetizer for my supper club and everyone loved it. The fresh sauce just made it perfect. Thank you Aarti!
December 1st, 2009 at 10:12 pm
I baked some of these last night, quite a bit of a different recipe but I just didn’t wanna get grease all over the range so I baked mine too. I used my pie crust for the doe (super flaky) My wife and kids loved them. Mixed potatoes with some ground beef added a bunch of spices wrapped up mmmm I just needed to know if someone else out there had baked them and what they cooked them at. Thanks for being the pioneer ; )~
By the way. Whats the name of the song at the end of your video? I was jamming to it while preparing the samosas… I had to was my hands so I could rewind the video LOL
December 1st, 2009 at 11:13 pm
hey casper! so glad you tried them, and added your own twist. yes, i much prefer baking them to frying ‘em — so much less to clean up. the song was “the vice and virtue ministry” by the happy bullets. i love that song!
December 1st, 2009 at 11:52 pm
YAY!!! Great song. Thanks a bunch ; )~
December 1st, 2009 at 11:59 pm
The vice and virtue ministry video reminds me of Modest Mouse “Float On” Another great song check it out here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLkC8l3nJro
Just thought I would return the favor Cheers!
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:28 am
Yes, I love Modest Mouse and I love Float On! It used to be my ringtone!