Happy Labor Day, let’s Americanize some food!…

When I first saw this recipe, I was excited because I thought these samosas looked good. I told my Indian friend I was going to make samosas, and she immediately asked to see the recipe to tell me if it was “authentic.” Obviously, they are not. I never thought they were, but honestly…that’s ok. If you’re here for authentic Indian food, this is very much the wrong blog, as I don’t tend to like it. If you just want some tasty filling in a flaky dough, you’re in luck!

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, chilled
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Filling:

• 2 cups cooked potatoes, drained and cubed
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cumin, to taste
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce, to taste (optional)
• salt, pepper to taste
• egg wash for brushing pastries – one egg mixed with one teaspoon water

To make the dough, combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in half of the butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles granola. Do this quickly so the butter stays cold. I didn’t think mine looked quite as clumpy as ‘granola’ implies, but it came out ok in the end.

Dice the remaining butter and add it, working it in until the size of dried cranberries. (What a weird size description!) Flatten the butter chunks a bit with your fingers in the flour, so they are like thin leaves of butter, coated in flour.

Sprinkle half the ice water over the flour and combine, adding enough of the remaining water to make it all stick together as a rough blob. Knead briefly (just 30 seconds will do), and then divide in half. You want to still be able to see bits of butter in the dough, so don’t worry about kneading too thoroughly.

Press each half into a disc, wrap in saran wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least half an hour, or up to overnight. If you’re going to make them after half an hour of chilling, take out the peas to thaw now.

While the dough chills, you can make the filling!

Melt the butter in over medium heat on the stove. Add the onions, then the garlic, cooking until the onions turn translucent.

Add the curry powder and cumin and saute for saute for another minute.

Add the potatoes and stir them to coat in the spices. Break up the potatoes over the heat, cooking for a few more minutes. It’s up to you if you want to mash entirely smooth or leave a small chunks.

Taste, and add salt, pepper, and Sriracha to taste. I added just a pinch of pepper, probably a third of a teaspoon of salt, and a teaspoon of Sriracha. Remove from the heat and stir in the peas without crushing them.

Leave the filling to the side to cool slightly, preheat the oven to 400, and start rolling out the dough.

Roll out the dough, one disk at a time, to 1/8″ thick. Cut circles of dough with a 3″ cutter.

Mix together the egg wash and brush over each circle. Place two tablespoons of filling onto each and fold the dough into half moons. Personally…this seemed like way too much filling for me, I ended up just using two per samosa, one as top and one as bottom. Crimp the edges with a fork, and brush the tops with egg wash.

Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until deep golden brown.

You can serve them with yogurt or sour cream for dipping, I thought they were good as-is.

PEAS

I had a small tupperware of filling left. If you do too, it’s pretty good for a quick lunch later heated up in a tortilla.

Samosas

From King Arthur.

Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, chilled
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Filling:

• 2 cups cooked potatoes, drained and cubed
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cumin, to taste
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce, to taste (optional)
• salt, pepper to taste
• egg wash for brushing pastries – one egg mixed with one teaspoon water

Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in one stick of butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles granola, working quickly to keep the butter cool.

Dice the remaining butter and work into flour until it is the size of dried cranberries. Flatten the butter pieces slightly with your fingers as you go along, creating leaves of butter coated in flour.

Sprinkle about half of the ice water over the flour mixture and work gently, adding more water as needed until the dough forms a rough mass. Knead briefly and divide dough in half. Press into two disks and wrap each in saran wrap. Chill in the fridge two hours or up to overnight.

While the dough chills, prepare the filling. Melt the butter on the stove over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, cooking for two to three minutes until they turn translucent. Add the curry powder and cumin and cook an additional minute. Add the potatoes and turn to coat well in the spices. Mash the potatoes, leaving some chunks if desired.

Taste the filling for seasoning, adding salt, pepper, and Sriracha as desired. Remove from the heat and stir in the peas without crushing them. Set the filling aside to cool as you roll out the dough.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment.

Working with one dough-disc at a time, roll the chilled dough to 1/8″ thick. Cut out circles with a 3″ cutter. Brush each with egg wash.

Place two tablespoons of filling on each circle and fold each to a half moon. Crimp the open edge with a fork and brush the tops with more egg wash.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until deep golden brown.