It’s been a while – hello!
I’ve been up to lots in life, away from this blog, for some time now but I am back today with a recipe I have hinted at since the day I shared the one for Blueberry Lavender Pop Tarts. Does that mean the procrastination has been almost 5 years in progress? Why, yes, it does. So please allow me to use the excuse of better late than never for this recipe for Samosa Puffs, as it is a very, very good one.
This little website of mine is no stranger to moreish snacks to have leisurely in the afternoon alongside copious amounts of tea. It’s recently come to my mind that I could build a list of recipes to have together on an occasion of afternoon tea with your family and friends, but I will hold off on making promises for the moment. We all know how that went last time. But for now, allow me to refer you to some that I’ve shared in the past: Yogurt Citrus Cake, Sweet Cherry Buns, and the delicious Paneer Sandwich. These could be sized and shaped to be served as you may find them at an afternoon tea – how cute! And today’s recipe of Samosa Puffs is so flavoursome and buttery that it fits in beautifully on any spread.
These Samosa Puffs are flaky and bursting with a spiced and satisfying samosa filling. The pastry takes essentially the same dough from the Blueberry Lavender Pop Tarts, but is adapted to be eggless and mouthwateringly savoury with a couple of extra bits. One being maize flour (proper yellow-coloured flour from corn, not corn starch). I originally used this to give the dough a yellow tinge but it didn’t have much of an effect; I did find, however, that it provided a tenderness to the dough that made it taste great but also made it easier to work with while assembling. The other being turmeric for a proper punch of yellow. I’ve also sprinkled the tops with kalonji, or nigella seeds, which could be optional but they give a beautiful bit of onion flavour.
These yummy bites are great to assemble fully and freeze as they bake well straight from frozen. I did this when we had family visiting last month and they worked a treat!
Lastly, I must squeeze in my dilemma of naming these. Are they samosa patties, puffs, pies, hand pies, or something else entirely? I was leaning on the first option because a local bakery that we would get something similar from when I was growing up called them patties. My version use a kind of pie dough but it would, for some reason, feel wrong to just call them pies (I am sure my ancestors would judge me). They are like puffs but do not use puff pastry dough and so I was against this for a while, but, a poll I held on Instagram convinced me otherwise. They supposedly look like puffs and so that’s what we’ll go with!
Now, enough babbling – onto the recipe.
Samosa Puffs
Makes 16 puffs with some extra
Samosa Filling
Ingredients:
- 560 grams (4 medium) potatoes, boiled, peeled, cooled and cut into small cubes
- Few TBSP vegetable oil
- 1 heaping TSP cumin seeds
- 100 grams (3/4 cup) frozen peas
- 1-2 green chilies, chopped
- 2 TSP salt, or to taste
- 1.5 heaping TSP crushed coriander seeds
- Juice of 1/2 a lemon, or as needed
- Crushed red chili flakes, to taste
- Water
- Handful of cilantro, chopped
Method:
- Start by preparing your potatoes. Boil whole, with the skin on, so they don’t risk getting too mushy. Boil until a knife can be inserted easily, but not so much that the potatoes start absorbing the water and lose their structure. Let cool. *This is a great time to prepare and chill the pastry dough to save time*. Once cool, peel and cut into small cubes.
- In a large frying pan on medium-high heat, warm the oil then add cumin seeds to brown.
- Add the cubed potatoes, frozen peas and chilies. Turn the heat down to medium and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add salt, coriander seeds, juice of 1/2 a lemon and some crushed red chili flakes. Mix through.
- Sprinkle the mixture with a couple TBSP of water, turn the heat to low and cover for about 5 minutes to heat through. Stir occasionally.
- As you stir every so often, you can break the cubes of potatoes a bit to create some different textures and help the flavours absorb. There are no rules for this!
- Top with cilantro, mix and adjust for any seasonings like salt, lemon and spice.
- Turn off the heat and keep aside to cool for assembly.
Pastry Dough
Ingredients:
- 2 & 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 2 TBSP maize (corn) flour (optional, but adds tenderness to the pastry)
- 1 TSP turmeric
- 1 TSP white sugar
- 1 & 1/4 TSP salt
- 1 cup cold butter, cubed
- 8-10 TBSP cold milk, as needed
Method:
- Either in a large bowl or food processor, add both the flours, turmeric, sugar, salt and mix through.
- Add the cubes of butter and either work into the flour with your hands/pastry cutter or pulse the food processor.
- Starting with 8 TBSP of milk, add to the dough and mix/pulse through. Add more as needed, one tablespoon at a time, until it all comes together. If you squeeze some dough in your hand it should stay together rather than crumble.
- Shape the dough into a flattened disc, wrap with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Samosa Puffs Assembly
You’ll need:
- Flour, for rolling out
- Water in a small bowl, for sealing the dough
- Milk in a small bowl, for brushing
- Nigella seeds (kalonji), for sprinkling
Method:
- Remove pastry dough from fridge and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a square that is a bit bigger than 16 x 16 inches. It helps to roll it bigger so you can cut away any wonky sides. This will leave you with straighter edges, but don’t worry if it’s not perfect!
- Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut 16 squares that are each 4 inches x 4 inches.
- Dust off excess flour from each side of the pastry square prior to filling, and fill with about 1 heaping TBSP of the cooled samosa mixture. It is easiest to place the filling towards one corner of the square, leaving some border room to seal it. You are aiming to create a triangle shape.
- Fill as much as what allows you to easily close the pastry, keeping enough filling for all of them.
- Dip your finger in water and run along the edges of the square. Fold over the empty corner (opposite to the filled corner) and pinch down all the sides.
- Seal the sides further by gently pressing a fork along the edges to create a crimped design. Poke holes with the fork on the top of the pastry; this will allow steam to escape while baking.
- Repeat until all 16 samosa puffs are complete, and refrigerate on a parchment lined baking tray for 30 minutes to help chill the butter in the dough again so the end pastry remains flaky.
- Preheat oven to 400°F in the meantime.
- Once chilled, remove samosa puffs from fridge, brush with milk and top with nigella (kalonji) seeds for garnish.
- Bake, in batches if needed, for about 25 minutes or until golden brown on top and around the edges.
- Serve with chutney, if you wish. They are lovely fresh and warm, but are great to take on picnics at room temperature too!
Notes:
- Please note that maize flour is not the same as corn starch used to thicken sauces, but rather a proper yellow-coloured flour. If you cannot find it (try Indian grocery stores, it’s called ‘makki da atta’) feel free to skip it.
- The yellow colour of the dough will not be apparent until the liquid is added and the dough is mixed. Be careful of adding more turmeric since you won’t see the end colour right away – the taste may become too strong and bitter if you add too much.
- It helps to place the cut squares of pastry on a parchment lined or floured surface so they don’t stick to the counter or to each other.
- The Samosa Puffs don’t expand while baking, but be sure not to over crowd the tray either.
- You may be left with extra pastry dough and samosa filling, which you can use to make more puffs. The samosa filling also works great in a toastie!
- The Samosa Puffs can be kept in the fridge once baked, and can be reheated in the microwave, or the air-fryer/oven (best for some crispiness).
- You can additionally assemble them fully before baking, and place in a Ziploc in a single layer. They can be baked straight from frozen as and when you need them. They may require a couple extra minutes of baking if frozen, but are perfect to have on hand while entertaining.