Vegetable Samosa Ideas- Pea, Leek and Mint Recipe

These tasty little vegetable samosa are a bit fiddly and take a bit of time BUT they are completely worth the effort and when you get hang of them you can make them quite quickly. Why not have a go?

Ingredients (makes 22 mini vegetable samosa): 

For the dough:

• 150g plain flour
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

For the filling: 

• 500g leeks cut shredded
• 1 whole onion finely sliced
• a handful of mint leaves finely chopped
• 200g peas (frozen or fresh)
• 2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil
• a knob of butter
• 1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
• 4cm of fresh ginger (peeled and grated)
• 2 teaspoons of garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 1/2 -1 teaspoon of chili powder (depending how warm you would like the spice)
• 1/2 teaspoon of tumeric
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Method:

1. First make the samosa dough(in a mixer or by hand) by mixing the flour with a pinch of salt. Add the oil to the mix by rubbing it to make a sandy texture. Gradually mix in 60ml of cold water to form a dough and knead the dough for 5 minutes until it is smooth. Cover and store in an oiled bowl for at least 30 minutes.

The filling:

1. In a pan heat the rapeseed oil and butter. When hot, add the mustard seeds. When they begin to crackle add the onion and fry until  soft and golden (approximately 10 minutes). Add the grated ginger and fry for another minute.
2. Add the leeks and cook for a further 10 minutes until they are soft.
3. Next, add the spices (garam masala, ground cumin, chili powder, tumeric  and salt) and lemon juice and cook for a further 2 minutes. Take off the heat and allow to cool a little before adding the mint.

Assembling the vegetable samosa:

OK, so here is the fiddly bit- bear with it!

1.  Divide the dough in to 11 even balls. On a lightly oiled board,  roll each ball out to create a 12cm diameter circle (approximately). Cut the circle in half to create 2 semi-circles. *At this point you can choose to make larger samosas of course in which case divide the dough less.
2. Place the semi circle of dough on a small piece of greaseproof paper (this will make the filling part easier).
3. Spoon about 2 teaspoons (or more if you are making larger samosas) of filling in to one side of the semi-circle avoiding the edges. Dab a small amount of water around the perimeter of the dough and then press and pinch the edges to seal.

* The paper will allow you to turn the vegetable samosa to do this which makes it easier. Put your samosa to one side and repeat will the rest of the dough until you have made all of your samosas.

Cooking:

To cook, in a fryer (or a large heavy-bottomed pan), heat 7-8 cm of vegetable oil to 180*C. Fry the samosas in batches for 5-6 minutes until golden. Carefully remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and put on kitchen paper to drain.

Serve hot or cold with some delicious raita or mango chutney. Yum!

More vegetarian recipes here