½cup(125ml)cold tap water + extra 1-2 tablespoons as needed
For The Samosa Filling
350gboiled and peeled potatoesroughly mashed
1/3cupfrozen green peasthawed
1tablespoonolive oil
1teaspoonfennel seeds
1teaspooncoriander seeds
½teaspooncumin seeds
1tablespoongrated ginger
1tablespoonchopped green cayenne chilli
1teaspoonamchur or chat masala *
½teaspoongaram masala
¼teaspoonred chilli powder
¼teaspoonground turmeric
¼teaspoonasafoetida or garlic powder **
¼teaspooncrushed black pepper
½teaspoonsea salt flakesor to taste
1tablespoonchopped fresh coriander leaves
Oil for brushing
Instructions
To Make Samosa Pastry Dough
Add flour, oil, carom seeds and salt to a bowl. Mix lightly with your fingertips for a few minutes until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add half a cup of cold water and knead into a stiff dough. If the dough is too hard to knead, add a tablespoon or two of water to increase pliability of the dough. The dough should be firm and not soft. Cover with a tea towel and set aside for 30 minutes.
To Make Samosa Filling
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan on medium. Crush fennel seed, coriander seed and cumin seed using a mortar and pestle. Add to the frying pan along with ginger and green chilli. Sauté for a few seconds.
Add mashed potato, peas, amchur, garam masala, chilli powder, turmeric, asafoetida, black pepper and salt. Sauté for a minute or two until spices are fragrant and everything is combined thoroughly. Remove from heat and add coriander leaves. Mix well. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
To Make Samosas
Divide the dough into 6 equal sections. Roll each portion into a round ball. Flatten it in the palm of your hand. Place the disc on a stone benchtop/pastry marble board. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into an oblong shape (thin oval with long straight edges). Make sure it is about 2mm in thickness. It is important to roll on stone/pastry marble board. If you do not have these, then roll the dough between two pieces of parchment/baking paper. Do not use extra flour when rolling.
Cut the oblong shape horizontally down the middle to get two semi-circle shapes. Place the semi-circle with the flat edge on top. Dip your fingers in water and wet the top straight edge of the semi-circle. Grab the two ends of the straight edge and bring them together overlapping slightly to create a hollow cone. Pinch and seal the edge from the pointy end of the cone down to the wide opening.
Bring the tip of your forefinger and thumb together to form an “O”. Rest the tip of the cone in the hollow “O” and the rest of the pastry in your palm. Fill this pastry pocket with 2 tablespoons of the potato mixture. Wet your fingertips with water and run them along the lower rim of the pastry pocket. Pinch the ends together to seal the samosa. Place the samosa wide side down on a flat surface and pinch the corners of the wide bottom to seal completely. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling to get approximately 12 samosas.
Brush the airfryer tray lightly with olive oil. Place samosas on the brushed tray with the pointy top facing up. Lightly brush the samosas with olive oil using a pastry brush.
Preheat the Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer at 180°C. When it beeps and asks for the food to be put in, slide in the samosa tray and air fry at 180°C for 18 minutes. Remove when done.
Serve hot with tomato ketchup, a date-tamarind chutney or your favourite hot sauce.
Notes
* Amchur - Amchur is dried mango powder. It adds a distinct tang and sourness to the samosa mix and is widely used in Punjabi (North Indian cuisine). Amchur can be substituted with Chat Masala (a spice mix that contains amchur amongst others things) which has a similar sour and tangy flavour profile. Both can be sourced at speciality spice shops or Indian grocers.** Asafoetida - Asafoetida also known as hing is a pungent digestive powder used in a lot of Indian dishes to make them easier to digest, especially the fried ones. It adds another layer of unique savouriness to the dish. When not easily available, it can be replaced by garlic powder for a similar taste.