Oh yes! We are still in a pandemic. I find it is hard to find activities to do with friends right now that feel safe and fun. A close friend of mine suggested I try virtual Airbnb experiences.
These make the perfect flaky and crispy Samosas at home! I like to think homemade Samosas are a little healthier than the restaurant Samosas because you can use less oil for the deep frying.
I took an online cooking class through Airbnb with my friends hosted by a chef in India! It was a lot of fun and I would highly recommend taking an online cooking class. There are many options online and Airbnb has made these classes affordable. So if you are looking for an activity to do at home with friends check out Airbnb experiences! This class I took was amazing because I learned how to cook authentic Indian food from a professional right in his kitchen. Also, the instructor gave the group many ingredient substitutions as there are ingredients that I could not find in my local grocery store. I am a big fan of substitutions because for me it is always hard to find the exact ingredient for a recipe. There are many times I have run out of an ingredient in my kitchen and instead of going to the supermarket I just find a substitution. This is the fun part about cooking for me where you get to experiment and try different ideas! In India, you would use ajwain seeds (aka carom seeds) for the dough however, I couldn't find this at my local store so I used dried thyme.
Airbnb experiences is great service offered by Airbnb because it allows a host in country to treat a visiting guest to an authentic experience. Now, Airbnb is offering online experiences and one of those offerings are cooking classes!
A few tips:
Mixing the oil with flour - when you make the dough rub the oil and flour between your hands for a few minutes. This will make sure the oil is well incorporated into the dough mixture.
Don't overwork the dough - you only need to bring the dough together. There is no kneading necessary for this dough. If you do overwork it, the dough will become too hard to roll out.
Having stiff dough is the best kind - the dough should feel stiff to the touch. If the dough is too soft dough it won't fry well and the samosas won't come out crispy.
Deep frying - when heating up the oil in a pot you want to keep the temperature on high heat. Once the oil is very hot you can lower the temperature for frying. If you keep the oil too hot it will end up burning your Samosa's.
Storage - these samosas will store well in an air-tight container in your fridge for about a week. I like to re-heat mine in the oven at 350 degrees but they also can be microwaved.
Did you know Aloo means potato in Hindi? When I traveled to India, I would eat so many meals with Aloo in it. Aloo Gobi, Aloo Samosas, Aloo Curry and so on...
These samosas taste so good! I have made them three times since I had this class because I am obsessed. I can eat these for a snack or for my dinner. The samosas are very spicy so use less cayenne pepper if you do not like spice. While I can eat these without a dipping sauce, they do taste better if you have a sauce like a cilantro mint chutney.
Potato Samosas
Serving size: 4
Total Time: 1 hour
Source: adapted from Food Tours Delhi.
Dough:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup water
oil for frying
Filling:
3-4 medium potatoes, cubed
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1-inch ginger, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon garam masala spice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
Step 1: To make the dough, in a large bowl, add flour, dried thyme, salt and mix well. Add the melted butter and then start mixing with your fingers. Once incorporated, the mixture resembles crumbs.
Step 2: Next, add water, little by little, and mix to form a stiff dough. Make sure not to make the dough too wet and don’t overwork the dough.
Step 3: Cover the dough with a moist towel and let it rest for 10 or 20 minutes.
Step 4: To make the filling, boil potatoes until soft. A fork should easily slide through the potato, about 10 minutes. Drain and mash the potatoes. Set aside.
Step 5: Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a saute pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds. Let the cumin seeds sizzle for few seconds and then add the chopped ginger and cook for 40 secs. Next, add the coriander powder, garam masala, and salt. Cook for 45 secs. Then add the mashed potatoes to the pan with extra olive oil. Mix everything together, cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Step 6: To assemble, take out the dough knead it briefly. Then divide the dough into 8 equal parts of round pieces. Start working on a piece of dough, keep the remaining dough balls covered at all times with a moist towel so the dough won't dry out.
Step 7: Roll one dough ball into a circle-oval kind of shape, around 6-7 inches in diameter, and then cut it into two parts.
Step 8: Take one part and apply water on the straight edge side, so that it forms a nice glue. Now bring the two ends of the straight edge together and pinch them to form a cone. Pinch the pointed ends to make it a perfect cone shape.
Step 9: Fill the samosa with the potato filling, around 1 to 2 tablespoons. Don’t overfill the samosa. Now again apply water all around the circumference of the cone to seal it. Pinch the opposite side (the side opposite to where you pinched to form the cone) to form a plate. Now pinch the edges and seal the samosa. Your samosa is now ready. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Step 10: To fry the samosa, heat oil over high heat in a deep pan or pot. I prefer to use a deep pot so that I can use less oil and the samosas can be fully submerged in oil. To check if the oil is ready, drop a small piece of dough into the oil. The dough piece should take a few seconds to come up to the surface. That means the oil is ready.
Step 11: Once the oil is hot lower the heat and drop the shaped samosas into the oil. After around 10-12 minutes, the samosa will become firm and light brown in color. This took a shorter period of time once my oil was very hot. I worked in small batches to ensure the samosas were cooking well. Once the samosa has turned golden brown remove it from the pot and place it on a place with a paper towel. Serve warm and enjoy!
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