Onion Samosa

Samosa, the deep fried pastry is a famous snack in south Asian cuisine. These days, fried and baked samosas are available in almost all Indian/Pakistani grocery shops in US! Our American friends just drool over fried hot samosas 🙂

For those who wonder what samosa is –

A Samosa is a fried or baked pastry with a savory filling such as spiced potatoes, onions, peas, lentils. The size, shape and consistency may vary, but many versions are triangular. Samosas are often accompanied by chutney. They are a popular appetizer or snack in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean, the Horn of Africa, North Africa, and South Africa. [Source: Wikipedia]

Though there are different varieties of samosas, this post is about the spicy tasty ONION samosas or fondly called hyderabadi samosas. I never knew they have another name too – Irani samosas!!

Onion samosas remind me of my college days. I used to take suburban trains (in Chennai) to commute to my college. The mesmerising aroma of the delicious samosas from the vendors (in the train) would get the better of me and I would end up buying the samosas almost every day 😉

I was searching for the recipe and found at vahrehvah.com. Thanks to the chef, Sanjay thumma, his video tutorial on preparing onion samosa is very easy to follow and tempts us to give a try!

While trying the recipe, I followed his exact measurements and intructions. Final verdict – Amazing and awesome!! Apart from the lip smacking taste, I was very happy that I could make perfect triangular onion samosas 🙂

Ingredients:

Wheat Flour (atta): 1 cup
All purpose flour (maida): 1 cup + 1-2 tsp
Water: as needed

for onion filling:
Onion: 1 cup (chopped)
Beaten rice (Poha/aval): 1 cup
Chat masala: 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder: 1 tsp
Cilantro: 1 bunch (chopped finely)
Mint leaves: few (chopped well, optinal)
Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp
Green chillis: 3-4 (chopped finely)

Cooking oil: for deep frying
Salt: to taste

Few things that I learnt from the video tutorial:

• Adding poha with onions helps in absorbing the moisture which onion leaves while frying samosas. Hence the onion filling still remains crunchy and super tasty.
• Double fry the samosas. First put one batch (say 4-5 samosas) in oil and fry till half done. Remove from stove and put the second batch. After 3-5 minutes, fry the first batch of samosas again till golden brown. Double frying makes the samosas crispy and crunchy!

Preparation Method:

• Mix wheat flour, all purpose flour (1 cup), salt, 1 tsp of oil and water and knead into soft dough (just as we do for chapathi/roti)
• Allow the dough to rest for 10-15 mins.
• Meanwhile mix 1-2 tsp of all purpose flour with some water, make a paste and keep it aside.
• In a separate bowl, mix onions, green chillies, poha, cumin powder, chat masala, cilantro, mint and chilli powder.
• Take a small ball of dough and roll into thin roti/chapathi.
• Heat a pan and slightly fry the chapathis on both the sides. DO NOT OVER COOK. Slightly heating should be enough.

  

• Remove from the pan and cut the chapathi lengh wise in to thin strips (ribbons).

  

• Apply the all purpose flour paste on one side of the chapathi strip and fold it into cone shape.
• Stuff the onion filling and close the other end of the cone and seal its edges.
• Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the samosas until half done.
• Remove from oil and deep fry again after 4-5 mins till they turn golden brown in color. Double frying gives the cripiness.
• Drain excess oil and serve samosas with mint chutney!

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