Samosacrisp pastry, spiced potato
Two moves: the filling (potato, peas, the tadka bloomed through it) and the pastry (a dough that's folded, cut, and deep-fried). The deep-fry is the move that does the section's heat work — the pastry's browning edge is the sign of the oil temperature, and the biryani's sealed pot reads the same stock the other way: the bloomed spice underneath, the butter on top.
Equipment
- A rolling pin and a flat work surface, for the dough
- A deep, heavy pot or a deep fryer, for the deep-fry
Ingredients
- 250 g all-purpose flour, and a 30 g scatter of ghee (or butter), for the dough
- 400 g potatoes, boiled and roughly mashed (the body of the filling)
- 100 g green peas, for the filling
- 15 ml ghee, for the tadka that blooms through the filling
- 2 g whole cumin, and a scatter of chili powder, for the tadka
- 500 ml neutral oil, for the deep-fry
Method
- The dough. Mix the 250 g of flour with the 30 g of ghee and a 120 ml of cold water, and bring it together to a dough. Let it rest for 30 min under a cloth — the gluten in the flour needs the rest to relax, and that's what lets the pastry thin and hold its wrapper shape.
- The filling. In a small pan, heat the 15 ml of ghee and bloom the cumin and the chili powder for seconds — the tadka. Add the potato, the peas, and a pinch of salt, and heat through until the whole thing is one mix. The blooming does the flavor work before the rest of the plate arrives.
- The pastry. Roll a 80 g piece of dough thin, and cut it into 6 wrappers (rough 12 cm circles). Fold each into a crescent, and press the edges sealed. The wrapper logic: the flour and the water doing the structure, the dough's rest doing the thinness.
- The filling goes in. A 30 g scoop of the filling to each crescent, and press the edges sealed again. The samosa logic: the dough underneath, the filling on top.
- The deep-fry. Heat the 500 ml of oil to 170 °C — a drop of dough should sizzle, not scream. Drop the samosas in, a few at a time, and fry until deep gold, turning once, about 4 min. The oil temperature is the rule: the pastry's browning edge is the sign of the heat, and that's the section's flavor logic, on a dough body.
Common failures
- Soft, greasy, no crisp. The oil was too cool, so the pastry soaked the oil instead of frying it off. The heat is the rule: the sizzle, not the scream, is the sign of the right temperature.
- Leaking edges, the filling came out. The pastry was too thin in the cutting, or the edges weren't pressed sealed. The wrapper is the move: the edges are the seal, and the dough's rest is what lets the seal hold.
- Bland centre, the tadka did nothing. The ghee was too cool, so the cumin's oils never came off. The tadka is the move; the blooming is the whole point of the section's flavor logic.
Variations
- The paneer. A 150 g scatter of paneer, cubed, into the filling, and the samosa reads a little richer. The potato underneath is the body, the tadka on top is the finish.
- The vegetable. Carrot and onion, in place of the peas, and the filling reads a little sweeter. The sauce logic is the same, on a potato body.