SAMOSAS – INDIAN DUMPLINGS

By Linh Nguyen

INGREDIENTS (for 12 samosas)

For the dough:

4 tbsp sunflower oil

1 pinch of salt

250 g flour (type 405)

For the filling:

3 potatoes (approx. 300 g)

50 g frozen peas 

1 small onion 

1 clove of garlic

1 small piece of ginger (approx. 2 cm)

2 tbsp sunflower oil

3 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ground cumin 

salt

Also:

Flour to work with

Oil for the bowl

2 tbsp soya or oat drink for coating

PREPARATION:

1. For the filling, peel the potatoes and cook in water for approx. 25 mins.
2. For the dough, mix the oil with 120 ml water and ½ tsp salt in a bowl. Slowly stir in the flour. Knead the dough by hand or in a food processor with dough hook for approx. 10 mins. If the dough is sticky, work in a little more flour. Cover and leave to rest in an oiled bowl for at least 15 minutes.
3. Roughly crush the potatoes with a fork or crumble them with your hands. Defrost the peas.
4. Peel and finely chop the onion, garlic and ginger.
5. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onion over a medium heat for approx. 3 mins. Sauté the garlic and ginger for approx. 1 min. Stir in the garam masala and cumin. Deglaze with 100 ml water. Add the potatoes and peas, season with approx. ½ tsp salt and mix everything together. Allow the mixture to simmer briefly over a low heat, then remove from the heat. It should taste savoury and have a mushy, rather dry consistency. This makes it easier to fill later.
6. Shape the dough into 6 balls. Roll out one ball of dough on a floured work surface into a circle 16-17 cm in diameter. Cover the remaining balls. Cut the circle in half with a knife.  Place 1 tbsp of filling on one side of the semi-circle, fold the other side over and press the seams firmly. Shape 12 samosas in this way. Preheat the oven to 180° top/bottom heat.
7. Place the samosas on a baking tray lined with baking paper and brush with soya or vegetable drink. Bake in the oven (centre) for approx. 25 mins. until golden brown. (Every oven heats differently, so the baking time may vary by 5-10 minutes depending on the oven). Enjoy the samosas with tomato chutney as desired.

TIP: If you like, you can season the filling with ½ tsp ground coriander and ½ tsp cayenne pepper to make it even more flavourful.

TOMATO CHUTNEY

INGREDIENTS (For approx. 600 g chutney)

1 tin of peeled tomatoes

60 g pitted soft dates 

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 piece of ginger (approx. 2 cm long)

3 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tbsp brown sugar

25 ml apple cider vinegar

salt

Lime juice (to taste)

PREPARATION

1. Peel and finely dice or chop the onion, garlic and ginger. Finely dice the dates too.
2. Heat the oil in a pan. Sauté the onion, garlic and ginger in it. Add the garam masala and chilli powder and fry briefly. Add the tomatoes, dates, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar and 100 ml water, bring to the boil and simmer uncovered over a medium heat for approx. 20 mins. until the mixture thickens. Stir regularly.
3. Flavour the chutney with salt and lime juice or sugar to taste. Pour immediately into a clean screw-top jar and seal tightly. Once cooled, place in the fridge, where the chutney will keep for approx. 1 week.

translated by Joeline O‘Reilly