Hola ! Idriss here, coming to you with a twist on one of my favourite dishes of all time: samosas ! These are not your old deep fried, dripping-with-oil samosas; or samosas that are geometrically impossible to uniformly dip… These are custom made to pick up as much dip and flavour as you want: introducing my baked vegan samosas !
Little side story
First time I had samosas I thought: meh … Another deep fried thing what’s the big deal. Then comes this old friend/Coworker and she says: “Nah, you just didn’t have the real deal stuff yet” . She showed me this place, and said, the best samosas are right here and they will sell 6 of them for only 4 bucks.
Not only were those babies incredibly delicious, they were also different than the rest. They had this buttery short crust and the filling was just divine. It was very simple, potatoes, peas and onions and their own spice blend.
I was hooked.
The inevitable regret
Here is the problem with samosas. They are heavy. It takes only few minutes to feel them starting to set in, and for you to start feeling like a bear going into hibernation. We are talking here about butter short crust, wrapped around potatoes and peas, all deep fried. DEEEEP FRIEEED.
Do you see the problem ?
It goes something like this: Idriss goes into the store, buys six samosas, eats 2-3, collapses on his couch. Then the feeling of guilt starts crawling in and a general feeling of bleh settling in. Now he know that was a bad idea, but they taste so good, damn it !
That story is about me, I’m Idriss in case you didn’t know …
Gaining back control
While Indian cuisine might look intimidating, or just mysterious to many of you, I can tell you this with confidence: pretty much everything in it is very straightforward. All you need is the right ingredients – the beauty of this wonderful cuisine is that it there is so much room for improvisation and change – it will alleviate all anxiety and doubt you have about the said cuisine.
I therefore attempted to make them myself, except not deep fried, and vegan. While making them, I thought about how annoying it is to try to dip triangular samosas in sauce – and I like my sauce. Samosas are shaped like pyramids, and the sauce will it comes in a little ROUND dipping container. Yeah… Good luck with that. The filling goes everywhere, and only one little bit actually has sauce on it. Not cool.
That’s where I decided to mess with decades of tradition and roll those samosas into cigars. I know all you traditionalists out there are probably not happy with it.
Don’t be hating because you see me rollin’! Nawm sayin’ ?
In my kitchen, practicality trumps tradition, every time.
The result
The result is this awesome flaky pastry, nicely filled, and doesn’t have that oily feeling that samosas usually have. It’s truly the perfect way to impress your guests. I know my friends were happy with it, watching the NFL playoffs.
Which reminds me to tell you, this is my Super Bowl recipe 3 ! Only one more to go !
If you have missed the first 2 ones, here they are:
Pin it !
Hope you will give this a go, and as always if you like what we do, then please subscribe to our blog and help us grow it. You can also be a part, by suggesting recipes, or asking me to make vegan version of your favourite things to eat by writing me at idriss@brokefoodies.com or by leaving a comment below.
Enjoy,
Idriss
Baked Vegan Samosas
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 1 Cup of Vegan butter. I use earth balance.
- 2 Cups flour plus some for dusting.
- 2 Flax Egg
- 1/4 cup of water
- 1/2 Tsp of turmeric. Optional but highly recommended
- Pinch of salt.
Filling:
- 2 Tbsp of canola oil to cook.
Spices
- 1/2 Tsp Coriander seeds.
- 1 Tsp cumin seeds
- 1 Tsp mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp curry powder. I use Patak’s tikka masala curry paste.
Veggie mix:
- 3 Large potatoes
- 1 Cup of frozen green peas
- 1 Large onion
Barbecue dipping sauce:
- 1/4 tsp of liquid smoke
- 2 Tbsp of ketchup.
- 1/2 Tbsp of Sriracha.
- 1/4 tsp of sesame oil.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions
- Start by peeling your potatoes and dicing them and then chop very finely your onion.
- Warm up your oil in the pan and add the coriander, mustard, and cumin seeds. Cook until they start sizzling
- Add your onion and the rest of the spices and stir.
- Now add your potatoes and peas. Cook for about 2 minutes then add about a cup of hot water.
- Cover and let cook until the potatoes become very soft and mushy. If your filling still has liquid, crank up the heat on it and let all the water evaporate. Keep an eye on it so it won’t burn.
- Now take off the heat and start making your pastry.
- Put all ingredients in a food processor and mix until it gets consistent. You dont have to knead.
- Dust your working surface with some flour and take your dough out. Bring it together with your hands and form a ball.
- Wrap your dough in plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
- Take some time to clean your kitchen while both your dough and filling is cooling off.
- Warm up your oven to 375.
- Take your dough out and roll it until it gets to about 1/4 inch thick.
- Cut into large squares, add 2 Tbsp of your filling and roll it into a cigar shape by tucking in the sides and folding very carefully. It’s basically the same thing as rolling small burritos !
- Cover a cookie sheet with some parchemin paper and place your samosas in there.
- Using a toothpick, poke some holes in your samosas to let the steam out.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes.
- While it’s baking, make your dipping sauce by mixing all ingredients together in a bowl.
- Take your samosas out and let them cool on a rack before your serve.
- Enjoy !
Notes
Cost per Samosa : 0.60 $CA The cost of my recipes is based on the average cost of ingredients I use. It's mostly provided as a guideline for you to understand the true savings you can make when you choose to cook at home.
I absolutely love samosas! I’ll definitely be giving his recipe a try. Thanks for sharing!
xo, Helene
http://www.circleskirtsandpetticoats.wordpress.com
My pleasure Helene !
I’ve never tried samosas before, but I totally hear you on the bear going into hibernation. I always feel like that after fried food, but it is SO GOOD! I love the idea that these are baked. I’ll have to try them.
Thank you Karyl ! Baked is the way to go hehe
These looks delicious! I want to try this out for sure. Doesn’t look that hard either 😀 Thanks for sharing.
It really is not ! I hope you will give it a go 🙂
Wow these look absolutely delicious. I don’t think I’ve ever had these either!
Thanks for sharing <3
You’re welcome Jacqueline !
These look amazeballs! I totally get what you mean with the heaviness and the pyramid shape…. roll in’? GENIUS! Will definitely be trying these!
Thank you Sally !