Samosas live and die by their outer shells, and unfortunately through either convenience or poor taste people are crapping out on the pastry.
Have you ever eaten a samosa wrapped in filo-pastry? You have? Well that wasn't a samosa. I'm sorry to break it to you like this but there you have it.
Samosas need to have thick, crispy, well seasoned pastry to work with the soft potato filling. The filo pastry is far too papery, doesn't give the right crunch and frankly doesn't look all that great.
What do you get when you use filo pastry to make a samosa? A glorified spring roll.
The thing is making the pastry for samosa is dead easy. Anyone can do it. Almost anyone... I'm sure you can.
All you need is:
200g flour
3 tablespoons oil
seasoning
water
Things I added:
Onion seeds
Cumin seeds
Put your flour, oil, seasoning, onion seeds and cumin in a bowl and mix. Once its combined keep mixing while adding water a little at a time. Stop once the dough has formed.
Wasn't that easy?
Oh you want it easier? Well just use a food processor or mixer.
Wrap your dough in clingfilm and leave it in the fridge for about an hour or until you are ready to use it.
Next up is your filling.
Traditional filling is potato-based with onions, peas, carrots, seasoning and chilli. I'm not one for onions or carrots so I left those out.
You will need to peel and cook your potatoes until they are soft enough to mash. I used a pressure cooker but apparently English people are scared of them. Feel free to be a loser and use a pot filled with simmering water.
Once the potatoes are ready you will need to roughly smash them. You will want to leave enough body there, so try not to make it into mashed potatoes.
Someone people prefer to dice their potatoes and parboil them. It all depends on the sort of consistency you are going for.
Once your potatoes are ready combine the rest of your ingredients together and taste. Add whatever else you need to to get the right taste.
Put your filling aside and pull out your dough. Shape it into a long sausage and slice them into equally sized round pieces. Ball each one up and roll the out into disks.
Cut a disk in half, cup the crescent in your in your hand and fold it into a cone. Stuff it with filling, but do not over-stuff. When you come to fry your samosa, the filling will burst out and you'll be left with a mess.
Seal up your cone. If your dough is sticky enough that's all you need to do. If it's a bit dry mix some flour with water to make a paste and use that to seal your samosas.
Once you've made all your samosas are ready fill a deep pot with oil, vegetable or otherwise, and whack on the heat. You will need to get it nice and hot. If you have some dough left drop it into the oil when you think it's ready. If the dough rises to the top and starts to fry you're set to cook.
Now all you have to do is pop a few samosa, one at a time, into the oil and let them fry. After about five minutes or so flip the samosas over and let the other side fry. Once your samosas are golden brown rescue them from the oil, place them on a few sheets of kitchen towel and soak up the excess oil.
And there you have it. Freshly cooked samosas done the right way. Serve them up with imli (tamarind) chutney and you may just win over those parents who think you're not good enough for their daughter. Probably not.
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