What is a samosa?
Samosa (samoosa) is a small, triangular pastry of sorts fried until golden brown and crispy. The pastry is filled with a curried filling (often vegetables, potato, chicken, lamb or lentils) spiced with fragrant Indian spices.
How to make chicken samosas
Start by making the spicy chicken filling. Fry ground chicken (chicken mince) in a hot frying pan until golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside. Fry an onion, garlic and ginger until soft and translucent then add the spices and cook for another 30 seconds. Add the chicken back into the pan with all of its resting juices and add the stock. Season with salt, pepper and sugar (optional) and turn down the heat. Allow to simmer until the chicken is cooked and the liquid has reduced. You want the filling to be moist but not wet as that will prevent the samosa pastry to crisp up. Allow the filling to cool before making the samosas.
How to fold a samosa
Using samosa pastry sheets (you can also use phyllo pastry or spring roll pastry if you can’t find samosa pastry at your local ethnic/Indian market), place one lengthwise in front of you on a chopping board. Cover the rest with a damp towel to prevent them from drying out. Place a tablespoon of chicken filling onto the bottom left corner of the pastry sheet. Fold the bottom left corner up into a triangular shape, then continue to fold into a triangle. My video for Greek feta pies demonstrates this method. There are other ways to fold samosas on YouTube that also work very well. Mix together a few tablespoons of flour with water to make a paste. Spread a little of the flour paste along the edges of the samosa to seal the open edge and set aside while you continue with the remaining ingredients. Heat vegetable or canola oil in a pot over high heat and once hot, deep fry the samosas until golden brown and crispy. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on paper towels before serving with chutney or dipping sauce of your choice.
What pastry to use for samosas
Samosas are made with different kinds of pastry and dough around India. Traditionally, samosa dough is made with Maida flour but all purpose flour can be substituted. I prefer using shop-bought samosa wrappers and similar wrappers can be found at Indian or ethnic markets. You can use spring roll wrappers or phyllo pastry sliced into strips with similar results.
Indian recipes
