Aloo samosa

Samosa is a classic and popular Indian snack stuffed with spiced potato peas filling.

Homemade samosa if made correctly are always the best. This Punjabi samosa recipe will give you one of the best samosa you can make at home. These fried samosa are flaky and crispy from outside with a tasty potato and peas stuffing.

If you have time and patience to make samosa at home then you won’t feel like buying them from outside after trying this recipe. Homemade samosa are not only hygienic but delicious as well. This recipe is a proper North Indian Punjabi samosa recipe which you are going to love.

To get the right texture and flakiness in the samosa pastry cover, the dough has to be kneaded correctly and the right technique should be used for frying. There are two ways they are fried. Apart from frying, they can be baked too for a low fat version. I experimented with all three different methods and have mentioned the points below.

How To Get The Perfect Samosa Crust

Few points to remember are

1. Proportion of fat: The amount of fat which we also call as “moyen or moyan” in hindi has to be in the right proportion in a samosa dough. One of my friends mentioned to add ⅕ of fat to 1 part of flour in weight. Eg. If you use 1 kilogram of flour, then you have to add 200 grams of fat. In this samosa recipe, I have slightly reduced the amount of fat.

2. Quantity of water: A samosa crust dough has to be kneaded to a tight and firm dough. The dough should not be soft like a roti or chapati dough. So less water is added when kneading the dough. The amount of water to be added depends on the quality of the flour. So remember to add water in parts and knead the dough.

3. Rolling samosa crust: While rolling the crust, roll evenly. The crust has to be even all over. Don’t roll the samosa crust too thick otherwise it will take too much time to fry. Thus the samosa will become hard while frying on low heat. Also don’t roll the dough too thin. It won’t be able to contain the potato stuffing and break in oil. So remember these points while rolling the dough. You need some practice to gauge the right thickness.

             Two Ways To Fry Samosa

There are two frying techniques for that perfect crispy flaky crust in a samosa:

1. Frying samosa at a low temperature

In this method, first the oil is heated to a high temperature. Then the samosa are added in the hot oil. As soon as the samosa are placed in the hot oil, the flame is reduced to a low and then the samosa are fried on a low flame. This ensures that they do not absorb too much oil. If you directly put the samosa on a low temperature oil and fry in sim, then it will absorb too much oil. If you fry in hot oil, then there are chances of tiny air bubble pockets forming outside. The samosa are also not cooked from inside when fried in very hot oil.

2. Double frying the samosa

This is a little lengthy method and the one which I will suggest you to try while making samosa at home if you have time. In this method the samosa are very lightly fried not allowing them to become golden. Just that the dough cooks and thats it. Add the samosa in hot oil and remove them when the crust has become opaque and creamish white. Just enough fried that if you remove it from oil then it will not break. Drain the oil & keep them aside. Do this with all the samosa. Later lower the flame and then fry the once fried samosa again till they are golden.

With both the methods, the final samosa will be crisp & flaky from outside and cooked well from inside – like the one you get in the markets and there will be no tiny air bubbles on the crust. A photo below of the samosa fried twice.

             How To Make Samosa In An Air Fryer

If you have an air fryer then do try making samosa in it. You will be pleasantly surprised with the texture of the air fried samosa. They do taste similar to the fried samosa, minus the extra oil. For air-frying, preheat air fryer at 180 degrees celsius for 10 minutes. Brush samosa with oil and air fry at 180 degrees celsius till the samosa are golden.

Frequently Asked Questions For Samosa

I have compiled below answers to questions based on the queries asked by readers in the comments.

1. Can samosa be made with whole wheat flour?

Most Indian recipes using maida (all purpose flour) can be easily made with whole wheat flour. Just remember to add more water while kneading as whole wheat flour absorbs more water.

2. Can samosa be frozen?

You can freeze the samosa. Either shape them and then freeze or you can first fry them till the crust becomes opaque and then freeze them. This way the samosa will stay better for a longer time. Before frying, let the samosa come to room temperature and then fry. If fried when they are still cold, then they absorb more oil.

3. Can samosa be made with puff pastry sheets or spring roll wrappers or phyllo sheets?

• If using puff pastry sheets, then bake samosa. You can even air fry.
• For spring roll wrappers, you can either fry or bake them.
• With phyllo dough sheets bake the samosa.

4. Can onions be added in the samosa stuffing?

Usually in a proper Punjabi samosa, onions and garlic are never added. But we can always make our own variations and be creative. So you can add onions and garlic if you prefer.

5. Why has samosa turned soft after frying?

It can become soft due to two reasons. Either the dough is soft or the oil is at a too low temperature while frying. When you knead the dough, make sure that dough is tight and stiff. It should not be soft like chapati dough.

6. Why there are air pockets on the fried samosa?

A few air pockets are fine, but the samosa should not be covered with a lot of air pockets. If the samosa dough is soft, then the air pockets occur on the crust. Too much moisture in the dough makes the crust soft as well as gives it plenty of air pockets. While frying, if the oil is too hot, air pockets appear on the crust.

7. What is the recipe for the fried green chilly which they serve with Punjabi samosa?

1. One recipe is to slit the green chillies keeping them whole. Shallow fry or deep fry them till you see a few light golden blisters on them. Later sprinkle some salt on the fried green chilies and mix. You can also sprinkle some chaat masala or amchur powder.
2. Second recipe is to stuff a mixture of amchur powder (dry mango powder) and salt in slit green chilies. Shallow fry them and then serve.

8. Can samosa be stored and for how many days?

You can easily store it for a couple of hours at room temperature. If you don’t plan to eat them at all, then store them in an air-tight box (dabba) in the fridge. When serving you can warm them on a tawa or in an oven.

9. What to do with leftover samosa?

You can warm it on a tawa (griddle) or oven and have them with bread, pav (dinner rolls) or phulka. You can also check these awesome street food recipes with leftover samosa.

• Samosa Pav – Crispy, flaky samosa sandwiched in bread rolls with cilantro dip (green chutney) and sweet tamarind chutney.
• Samosa Chaat – Sweet, sour, tangy and spicy chaat snack with samosa, chana masala, chutneys.
• Samosa Sandwich – Veggies and samosa sandwiched in bread slices and then grilled or toasted.

10: Can a vegan samosa be made?

To make a vegan samosa, use oil instead of ghee (clarified butter) while making the dough crust.

11. Can samosa be baked or air fried?

Yes of course you can bake or air fry samosa. Please do read the air frying part I have described above. 

                      How To Make Samosa

Making samosa pastry

1. Take the all purpose flour (maida), carom seeds (ajwain), salt in a bowl. Mix well and add ghee or oil.

2. With your fingertips rub the ghee in the flour to get a breadcrumb like consistency. The whole mixture should lump together when gathered.

3. Add 1 or 2 tbsp water.

4. Begin to knead adding water as required.

5. Knead to a firm dough. cover the dough with a moistened napkin and keep aside for 30 mins.

Making Samosa Stuffing

6. Dry roast the spices till aromatic in a pan stirring often. Let them cool.

7. In a dry grinder or coffee grinder, powder the roasted spices.

8. Steam or boil the potatoes and peas till they are cooked.

9. Peel and chop the potatoes in small cubes.

10. In a pan, heat oil. Splutter the cumin. Add the ginger-green chili paste. Saute for some seconds.

11. Add the peas, asafoetida, red chili powder & the freshly ground spice powder. Saute for 1-2 mins on a low flame.

12: add the cubed potatoes and salt. Stir and saute for 2-3 mins more.

13: Keep the stuffing aside covered with a lid. Check the taste and add more red chili powder or salt if required.

               Making Samosa

14: The dough after 30 mins. Knead the dough lightly again.

15: Divide the dough into 6-7 pieces.

16: Take each piece and roll in your palms first. Then roll it with a rolling pin keeping the thickness neither thin nor thick.

17: Cut with a knife or a pastry cutter through the center of the samosa pastry.

18: With a brush or with your finger tips, on the straight edge of the sliced dough, apply some water.

19:  Join the two ends bringing the watered edge on top of the plain edge as shown in pic below.

20: Press the edges well, so that they get sealed. It will look like a cone. The samosa cone is ready to be stuffed with the potato-peas stuffing.

21. Stuff the prepared samosa cone with the prepared potato-peas stuffing.

22: Apply or brush some water on the top cone edge. Pinch a part in the edge as shown in pic below. This helps the samosa to stand.

23: Press both the edges. Be sure there are no cracks. The edges should be joined very well so that the stuffing does not come out while frying.

24: Prepare all the samosa this way and keep covered with a moist kitchen napkin.

Frying Samosa

25: Now heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. Once the oil becomes hot (test by adding a small piece of dough – it should come up quickly once added to the hot oil) gently slide 3-4 of the prepared stuffed samosa & then reduce the flame to low.

26: Turn over in between and fry till golden on a low flame.

27: Drain the fried samosa on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Serve Punjabi samosa hot or warm with coriander chutney or tamarind chutney or tomato sauce. In north India, they also serve chole masala with it. It is called as samosa chaat.

The combo of samosa with masala chai is irresistible. North Indian samosa are much bigger in size than what you see in below photo. I think almost double the size :-).

Variations You Can Make In Samosa Stuffing

There are many variations of stuffing depending on the region and state in India. We always prefer the classic authentic Punjabi stuffing of peas and potatoes. The following are the samosa stuffing variations:

1. In Delhi and Punjab, potatoes alone or a combination of peas and potatoes is used. Here the filling is not crushed to a smoothness. The aloo or potato pieces are soft but intact and there are few green chili pieces also in the filing. There is a slight sourness in this stuffing as dry mango powder or dry pomegranate powder is added. A few more spices are added as well.
2. In some variations, raisins are also added in the filling which gives the samosa a little sweet taste in between. Sometimes cashews are also added.
3. In some places, the filling is totally mashed unlike the Punjabi samosa.
4. If the green chilies are not added in the filling then fried green chilies are usually served separately.
5. Some people also add ginger-garlic paste and on few rare occasions, I have found chopped carrots pieces also in the filling.
6. A variation with mix vegetables is also made. Veggies like peas, carrots, cauliflower and potatoes are added.
7. Onion samosa is another variation where a spiced mixture of onions and poha (flattened rice) is filled in the samosa.
8. Sweet samosa is also made with a stuffing of khoya (mawa) and dry fruits. This is made usually during festivals like Diwali or Holi. These samosa are also known as khoya samosa or dry fruits samosa.
9. A variation is also made with paneer.
10. Cocktail samosa is a small sized samosa stuffed with a dry filling of spices, nuts and dry fruits.

My personal choice will always be a Punjabi samosa. the filling for a Punjabi samosa also has to be equally good. The stuffing used in this recipe is adapted from my home science notes.

I have also made a video which shows the shaping, stuffing and deep frying the samosa. You can have a look at the video in the recipe card below, if the pics don’t help.

STEP BY STEP PHOTOS ABOVEMany of my recipes have detailed step by step photos and useful tips to help you make it easily and perfectly.

Best Punjabi Samosa

4.79 from 73 votes

Punjabi samosa is a classic and popular Indian snack stuffed with spiced potato peas filling.

  PREP TIME:45 MINS

 COOK TIME:45 MINS

 TOTAL TIME:1 HR 30 MINS

 COURSE:SNACKS,STARTERS

 CUISINE:NORTH INDIAN,PUNJABI

 SERVINGS (CHANGE THE NUMBER TO SCALE): SAMOSA

RECIPE VIDEO

(1 CUP = 250 ML)

Ingredients

for making samosa pastry

• 2 cups maida or all purpose flour, 250 grams
• 4 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter) or oil
• 5 to 6 tablespoons water, i added 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon water
• 1 teaspoon carom seeds
• salt as required, i added ¾ teaspoon salt
• oil for deep frying

for the samosa stuffing

• 3 medium sized potatoes
• ¾ to 1 cup green peas - fresh or frozen
• 1 green chili + ½ inch ginger, crushed to a coarse paste in a mortar and pestle
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
• ½ tablespoon oil
• salt as required

whole spices to be ground for samosa stuffing

• ¼ inch cinnamon (dalchini)
• 2 black peppercorns
• 1 green cardamom
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 2 teaspoons dry pomegranate seeds or 1 teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur) * check notes for mango powder

Instructions

making samosa pastry

• Take the flour, carom seeds, salt in a bowl. Mix well and add ghee or oil.
• With your fingertips rub the ghee or oil in the flour to get a breadcrumb like consistency.
• The whole mixture should clamp together when joined.
• Add 1 or 2 tbsp water. begin to knead adding water as required.
• Knead to a firm dough. Cover the dough with a moistened napkin and keep aside for 30-40 mins.

making samosa stuffing

• Steam or boil the potatoes and peas till are cooked completely.
• Peel the boiled potatoes and chop them into small cubes
• Dry roast all the whole spices mentioned in the above list till fragrant.
• Once cooled, grind them in a dry grinder or coffee grinder to a fine powder.
• Heat oil in a pan. add the cumin seeds and crackle them.
• Add the ginger-green chili paste. saute till the raw aroma of ginger goes away.
• Add the peas, red chili powder, the freshly ground spice powder and asafoetida.
• Stir and saute on a low flame for 1-2 minutes
• Add the potato cubes and saute for 2-3 minutes with frequent stirring.
• Keep the filling aside to cool.

shaping and making samosa

• After keeping the dough for 30-40 mins. Knead the dough lightly again.
• Divided the dough 6 equal pieces.
• Take each piece and roll in your palms first to make a smooth ball.
• Then roll it with a rolling pin keeping the thickness neither thin nor thick.
• Cut with a knife or a pastry cutter through the center of the samosa pastry.
• With a brush or with your finger tips, on the straight edge of the sliced pastry, apply some water.
• Join the two ends bringing the watered edge on top of the plain edge.
• Press the edges so that they get sealed well.
• Stuff the prepared samosa cone with the prepared potato-peas stuffing.
• Apply some water with your fingertips or brush on the round samosa cone circumference.
• Pinch a part on the edge (check the video & pics). This helps the samosa to stand.
• Press both the edges. Be sure there are no cracks.
• Prepare all the samosa this way and keep covered with a moist kitchen napkin.

frying samosa

• Now heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. Once the oil becomes hot (test by adding a small piece of dough – it should come up quickly once added to the hot oil) gently slide the prepared stuffed samosa & quickly reduce the flame to low.
• You can also fry the samosa twice as I have mentioned above in the post.
• Turn over in between and fry till golden. Drain the fried samosa on paper towels to remove excess oil.
• Fry them in batches. For frying the second batch, again increase the temperature of the oil.
• Add the samosa and then lower the flame, thereby decreasing the temperature of oil.
• This way fry all the samosa in batches.

serving samosa

• Serve them hot or warm with coriander chutney, saunth (tamarind chutney), tamarind-dates chutney or tomato sauce.
• They can also be served with a yogurt dip or plain raita. Another way is to serve it with punjabi chole (a spiced chickpea curry).
• A chaat can also be made with it. We usually have samosa with masala chai or ginger chai.
• Even bread or pav (indian bread rolls) can be served with it.
• Whatever you serve samosa with, remember to have hot masala chai along.

Notes

• * If using mango powder, then add directly when adding peas. No need to roast and grind the mango powder with the other whole spices.
• Many times samosa is served with fried green chilies. Slit the green chilies keeping it whole. Shallow fry them and later sprinkle some salt and mix. You can also sprinkle some chaat masala or amchur powder.