Samosas (gluten free and non gluten free)

Makes - 16 Samosas

Prep: Filling 30 - 40 minutes. Making samosa 30 minutes. Frying: 25 minutes

Vegetarians, Vegans, Gluten Free. Gluten free variations shown in bold and italics

Serve with my Mint & Coriander Chutney or any other chutney

Gluten Free Samosas using White Gluten Free Chapati Flour from Eurostar Foods

Traditional Samosas using Plain Flour

Ingredients:

Filling:

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

1 small onions, finely chopped

100g frozen peas, defrosted

100g frozen sweetcorn, defrosted

250g new potatoes (or any other waxy variety), peeled, diced and rinsed.

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 green chillies, chopped finely

1 level teaspoons salt

¼ level teaspoon garam masala

1 tables

Handful of chopped fresh coriander leaves

Pastry:

150g plain flour, plus extra for rolling out and for the edible glue)/150g gluten free white chapati flour

½ level teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice (15ml)

1 teaspoon of vegetable oil/1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

75 ml cold water

Edible Glue:

20g plain flour/20g gluten free chapati flour

Cold water

Additional Ingredients:

flour for dusting

oil for deep fat frying

Method:

Filling:

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the cumin seeds and stir until they splutter (30 seconds)

2. Add the chopped onion and fry gently on low/medium heat stirring occasionally until they soften.

3. Add the peas and sweetcorn, stir and cook gently with the lid on for 5 minutes.

4. Add the diced potatoes, mix into the peas and sweetcorn mixture, cover the pan and allow to cook gently stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes or so.

5. Add the lemon juice and chopped coriander, mix into the filling and remove from heat. Set aside.

Pastry:

1. Sift the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the lemon juice and oil

2. Using your finger tips, mix the contents to form a breadcrumb like mixture

3. Add water gradually to form a dough like consistency which can be rolled out.

4. Cover the bowl with either cling film or a damp cloth and allow to rest for 10 minutes

Edible Glue:

1. Place the sifted flour into a small bowl and mix with water to form a glue like consistency. Set aside

Rolling out the Pastry:

1. Heat a tawa or frying pan, the turn it down to a low heat setting

2. Divide the pastry dough into 8 portions of equal size.

3. Roll out two balls into a circle each about 2 inches in diameter. Brush one side of each circle lightly with oil then spread a thin layer of sifted plain/gluten free chapati flour on one of the oiled circles.

4. Place the second oiled circle onto the oiled/floured circle, oil side against the flour. Pinch the circumference all round to seal the two circles together

5. Dust each side with dry flour and roll out to a circle with a diameter of about 8 inches.

6. Place on the heated tawa and heat for 15 - 30 seconds on each side - should just be warm enough so that they can be split into two again.

7. Remove from the tawa, cut the circular pastry in two to form two semi circles.

8. Whilst still warm, open each semi circle to give two semi circles of pastry (four in total from one rolled out circular pastry). Each of these semi circles of pastry will form one samosa. Place in-between a folded tea cloth (to keep them moist) until ready to make the samosa pockets.

9. Repeat this process until 16 semi-circles have been achieved

Making the Samosa Pockets:

Illustrations by Chantal at C For Design

1. Taking one of the semi-circles of pastry with the unheated side up, apply edible glue to the outside curved upper edge as shown in the first illustration above (glued areas shown in orange) .

2. Lift up the unglued portion closest to you and fold over loosely as depicted in illustration 2 so the outside edge is closest the ‘glued’ area. Then fold the glued area towards you and seal to form a cone shaped pocket when turned over as shown in illustration 3.

3. Fill the pocket with the samosa filling.

4. Apply edible glue to the flap as shown in orange in illustration 3

5. Fold the flap over the filled pocket gently and seal the edges and there you have your samosa ready to fry and enjoy. Pinch all corners of the samosa gentlyto seal if there are any gaps.

Frying the samosas:

1. Heat the oil in a karahi or wok/deep fat fryer on medium to high heat.  To test when hot enough, drop a very small amount of the pastry into the hot oil, it should rise within a second or two

2. Gently slide the samosas into the oil (in batches depending on the diameter of the karahi).

3. Fry on medium to high heat.  When the samosas rise in the oil, turn them over.  Turn them over every occasionally until they are golden brown in colour on both sides.

4. Drain, remove from the oil and place on absorbent kitchen paper.

5. Repeat the frying process until all the samosas have been fried.

6. Enjoy piping hot on their own or with a chutney.