Vegetable samosas with mint chutney
Crisp homemade pastry pockets filled with chunky potatoes, peas and warm spices, served with fresh mint–coriander chutney. Makes 12 samosas, serving 6. Allow approximately 2 hours 45 minutes, including resting, cooling and three frying batches; smaller batches or slower cooling will take longer.
Advert
Let’s get cooking.
Cook mode
Scale servings, tick off ingredients, and run step timers without losing your place.
Servings
Originally developed for 6 servings.
Ingredient checklist
Method
- 40:00
Mix the 300 g pastry flour and 5 g pastry salt. Rub in the 60 g pastry oil for 3–4 minutes until evenly sandy and a squeezed handful briefly holds together. Add 125 ml water and knead for 3–4 minutes until firm and cohesive, adding up to 10 ml more only if dry flour will not incorporate. The dough should be stiff, not soft or sticky. Cover and rest at room temperature for 40 minutes; prepare the filling during this rest.
- 12:00
Peel enough potatoes to give 450 g peeled weight and cut into 2 cm pieces. Put in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil, allowing about 6 minutes. Simmer for 12–15 minutes, until a knife enters easily but the pieces are not falling apart. While they simmer, carry out step 3. Drain thoroughly, return to the warm empty pan and steam-dry for 2 minutes off the heat. Coarsely crush, leaving pieces roughly 5–10 mm across.
- No timer needed
While the potatoes simmer, cook the 100 g frozen peas according to their packet directions, then drain thoroughly. The schedule allows about 4 minutes of microwave cooking, plus setup and draining; follow the packet's water, power, stirring and standing instructions, allowing longer if required. If using the hob, also allow time to bring the water to the boil. Finely chop the ginger and filling coriander, and measure the filling spices. Roughly chop the chutney herbs and chilli, keeping them separate from the filling ingredients.
- 20:00
Heat the 15 g filling oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Sizzle the cumin seeds for 30–45 seconds, add the ginger for 30 seconds, then stir in the ground coriander and chilli powder for 10 seconds without scorching. Fold in the potatoes, peas, 5 g filling salt, garam masala and amchur. Cook for 2–3 minutes, until the filling mounds without leaving liquid in the pan. Stir in the chopped filling coriander and taste. Spread in a shallow layer on a clean tray and cool for about 20 minutes, until no longer warm. Make the chutney while it cools.
- No timer needed
Blend the prepared mint, chutney coriander and green chilli with the 20 ml lemon juice, 25 ml cold water, 4 g sugar, 1 g ground cumin and 2 g chutney salt until finely chopped and spoonable. Scrape down as needed; add up to 15 ml extra water a little at a time only if needed for blending. Taste, then cover and refrigerate until serving.
- No timer needed
Once the dough has rested and the filling is cool, divide the dough into 6 equal pieces, about 82–83 g each, and the filling into 12 equal portions, approximately 45–50 g each. Keep unused dough covered. Working one piece at a time, roll into an 18–19 cm circle, about 2–3 mm thick, using the dusting flour sparingly; cut in half. Lightly wet half of each semicircle's straight edge with the sealing water. Bring the two halves of that edge together with a 1 cm overlap and press firmly to form a cone, closing its pointed tip. Add one portion of filling, leaving a clean 1.5 cm rim. Lightly moisten the rim and pinch firmly closed along the whole seam. Keep the shaped samosas under a clean cloth without stacking them. Allow about 30 minutes for shaping all 12.
- No timer needed
Only when all samosas are shaped, add the frying oil to the deep pan: aim for 4–5 cm depth, never more than one-third of the pan's capacity. Heat to 150°C, allowing approximately 10 minutes, and set a wire rack over a tray nearby. Stay by the pan while it heats; no oven is needed. Use dry utensils, keep the pan handle away from the hob edge and keep water away from the oil. If the oil smokes, turn off the heat and let it cool. Never use water on an oil fire.
- 09:00
Fry in three batches of four, or smaller batches if they cannot move and turn freely. Lower each samosa into the oil with a slotted spoon. Keep the oil at 150–155°C for 8–10 minutes, turning carefully as the pastry firms; check after 9 minutes. Then increase it to 160–165°C and fry for another 5–8 minutes, until evenly golden, rigid and crisp, including the seams. A batch usually takes 13–18 minutes of frying. Lift onto the rack and leave uncovered. Let the oil return to 150°C before adding the next batch, allowing about 2 minutes if needed. Stay with the pan throughout; do not shape more pastry while frying. Turn off the heat after lifting out the final batch.
- 05:00
Let each batch drain and rest for at least 5 minutes before eating: the filling stays very hot. Serve with the chilled mint chutney. If serving all 12 together, keep earlier batches uncovered on their rack while the later ones fry.
Chef tips
- If the rested dough still cracks, knead in 5 ml water and rest covered for another 10 minutes before trying again. This adds time to the schedule.
- Keep the filling dry and cool before shaping. If it leaves moisture in the pan, cook it a little longer before spreading it out to cool.
- Remove filling caught in a seam before sealing. Wet the pastry lightly rather than soaking it, and check the cone tip as well as the final seam.
- If the pastry colours too quickly, lower the heat: a dark exterior can conceal an undercooked seam. Maintain the initial gentle frying stage.
- Drain on a rack and never cover hot samosas; trapped steam softens the pastry.
- The schedule assumes four samosas per batch and approximately four minutes of microwave pea cooking. Follow the pea packet directions; longer cooking, smaller frying batches or slower cooling extend the schedule.
Equipment check
- Mixing bowl, scales and measuring jug
- Approximately 2-litre saucepan for potatoes
- Microwave and microwave-safe bowl with a vented cover, or a small saucepan for peas
- Frying pan for filling
- Shallow tray for cooling the filling
- Rolling pin, knife and clean covering cloth
- Small blender or mini food processor
- Stable, deep, heavy saucepan, approximately 6 litres capacity and 24 cm internal diameter
- Oil-compatible cooking thermometer
- Long-handled slotted spoon
- Wire rack over a tray
Tags
Behind the dish.
Overview
These samosas have firm, crisp pastry and a tender, chunky potato-and-pea filling, sharpened with amchur. Rubbing oil thoroughly into a stiff dough creates the short texture; cooling the filling and starting the frying gently help prevent leaks and doughy seams. Shape all 12 before heating the frying oil. Allow approximately 2 hours 45 minutes for one cook, longer if the filling cools slowly or your pan needs smaller batches.
Ingredient notes
Maris Piper or another floury or all-round potato works well. Crush the cooked potatoes rather than puréeing them. Amchur is dried green mango powder, not mango chutney: if unavailable, replace the 3 g with 10 ml lemon juice and cook away any free moisture. Use mild chilli powder unless you want more heat. A small blender handles the chutney better than a large jug blender; alternatively, finely chop the herbs and pound them in a pestle and mortar.
The pastry contains wheat and gluten. The listed ingredients are vegan; check spice blends for additional ingredients and allergen declarations. A simple gluten-free flour swap is not a reliable substitute for this dough. The frying oil is a cooking bath, not an amount expected to be eaten.
Serving & storage
Serve two samosas per person with the chilled chutney. Keep earlier batches uncovered on a rack while the remaining batches fry, or serve each batch after its five-minute rest. Earlier batches will be less freshly crisp when serving all 12 together.
Cool leftover samosas promptly in shallow portions and refrigerate within two hours of cooking. Keep the chutney refrigerated except while serving, and store it separately. Keep both at 5°C or colder and use within 48 hours, or freeze the samosas sooner. Thaw frozen cooked samosas in the fridge. Reheat only once, on a tray in an oven preheated to 200°C conventional / 180°C fan, for approximately 15–20 minutes, until steaming hot throughout; check the centre of one.
Related recipes
Tandoori cauliflower with mint yoghurt and lentils
◷ 57 mineasy
High-heat roasted cauliflower with a tangy, warmly spiced yoghurt coating, served with cumin-seasoned lentils and cooling mint yoghurt. Allow about 1 hour.
Oct 18
Butter chicken with creamy tomato sauce
◷ 120 minmedium
Yoghurt-marinated chicken with lightly charred edges in a smooth tomato, butter and cream sauce, finished with garam masala and dried fenugreek. Served with warm naan; allow at least 1 hour for refrigerated marinating.
Oct 15
Keema curry with peas
◷ 58 mineasy
Browned minced lamb, sweet peas and warming spices in a thick onion-and-tomato sauce, finished with garam masala and fresh coriander. Serve with warm chapatis; allow about an hour, longer if the sauce needs extra reduction.
Oct 12