kenya samosas recipes

Samosas are originally from the Indian sub continent. There are many samosa (sambusa) recipes that you can use. Vegetarian samosa are an option for those who do not eat meat. If you are a meat lover on the other hand, you can choose to use chicken, lamb or just plain beef. When making samosa's, you need to first make the pastry and then the filling and then you combine the two together in hot oil. Ok, so lets us start with the pastry.


The Pastry!

Ok. I will be honest, I googled this bit on 'google images', and found a site called MoodFood.com and they had this wonderful picture above. This show you how to fold the pastry up.


Ingredients that you need for the pastry side of things

• 250g/9oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting 
• 1 tablespoon of salt 
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil 
• 1 egg, separated 
• 135ml/4¾fl oz warm water 

For the pastry, mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Add the oil and egg yolk and mix until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Gradually mix in the warm water, until the mixture forms a smooth and elastic dough (you may not need all of the water). Roll the dough into a ball, cover with cling film and chill in the fridge until needed.

For the Filling side of things:

• 2 large potatoes, peeled
• 2 large carrots, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for deep-frying
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 green chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
• 10 curry leaves, finely chopped
• 75g/3oz frozen peas, defrosted
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• handful fresh coriander leaves

Preparation method

For the pastry, mix the flour and salt together in a bowl then pour in the oil and egg yolk and mix together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Gradually stir in enough warm water to form a smooth dough (you may not need all the water). Roll the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for least half an hour

For the filling, boil the potatoes in a saucepan of salted water for 15-20 minutes, or until just tender, then drain. When cool enough to handle cut into 0.5cm/¼in cubes and set aside. Boil the carrots in a saucepan of salted water for 10-12 minutes, or until tender, then drain. Set aside.

Heat the two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat then add the onion, turmeric, garam masala, mustard seeds, salt and black pepper and fry for about 8 minutes until the onions are softened and translucent and the spices aromatic.

Stir in the garlic, chilli, curry leaves, potato and carrot and cook for a further ten minutes then stir in the peas and cook for 2-3 minutes until heated through. Season with the lemon juice, stir in the coriander leaves and set aside to cool.

To make the samosas, cut the dough into six even-sized pieces and roll into balls. Use a rolling pin to roll each ball into a thin circle, about 15cm/6in diameter. Cut each circle in half to form two semicircles.

Take a semicircle and fold into a cone, brushing the edges with the reserved egg white to seal. Fill the cone about half-full with the samosa filling then brush the top edges with egg white and press tightly to seal. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.

To cook the samosas half-fill a deep, heavy-based pan with vegetable oil and heat until a cube of bread dropped in sizzles and turns golden-brown in 30 seconds (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended). Fry the samosas in small batches for 4-5 minutes, or until golden-brown and crisp. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.



Serve Happily.