Samosas made with uncooked flour tortillas

Everyone likes samosas – right?  I mean  - what's not to like?  Crispy flaky crust filled with a spicy potato filling - especially on a cold or rainy day - served with a steaming cup of ginger chai - can't ask for anything more!

I don’t think I have ever tried making samosas at home.  If we feel like having samosas, we either buy them from the Indian store or at the local restaurant.  It seems like such a chore to make the dough, then make the filling, then roll out the dough, fill it, and fry it.  The toughest part for me is to make the dough and roll it out.  I make a lot of dishes from scratch – some a lot more elaborate than samosas, but I have this aversion to rolling out dough.  I don’t make rotis or phulkas also for the same reason.  If I feel like having homemade rotis, I rely on my good friend to invite me over for some.

Anyway, when we went on our ski trip in December with five families, my friend suggested that we make samosas.  I was really apprehensive, but she kept assuring me that with a few helping hands, it will get done very quickly.  Her trick was to use uncooked flour tortillas (from Costco) for the covering.

We recruited a couple of helpers - my husband was one – and it did go very quickly.  We had garama-garam samosas and chai after a cold day on the mountains.

My husband became very confident after this and thinks of himself as the samosa-making expert in our house.  We were having a few people over for dinner recently, and when I suggested that we make samosas – he was ready to help!  We made the samosas the night before the party and warmed them up in the oven just before our guests arrived. 

It really does get done quickly when you have a couple of helpers.  My mom is visiting us.  She and my husband made the samosas and I did the frying.  We were done making about 40 samosas in less than an hour.

Here is what you need:

For the filling:

• 8 – 10 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled, and diced
• 3 tsp. oil
• ½ tsp. cumin seeds
• ½ tsp. hing (asafetida)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 – 4 green chilies, diced
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp. red chili powder
• ¼ tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• 1 tsp. cumin powder
• 1 tsp. amchur (dried mango) powder
• chopped cilantro

For the samosas:

• uncooked flour tortillas
• a thick paste of flour and water to seal the edges
• oil for deep-frying

Here is how we made it:

To make the filling:

1. Heat oil in a deep pan.  Add cumin seeds and hing.
2. When the cumin seeds change color, add the onions and green chilies.
3. Fry till the onions start turning slightly brown.  Now add the potatoes and all the dry powders – including salt.  Mix well.
4. Let this cook for a few minutes.  Add the chopped cilantro.  Mix well and turn off the heat.  Set aside.

To make the samosas:

Heat oil for deep-frying in a kadai or pot with deep sides.
Take the flour tortillas.  You can take a few at a time - I am showing one here to give you an idea.

Cut the flour tortillas into thirds.

Make a cone – as shown in the pictures below.  Smear a little bit of the flour paste along the edges and press to seal.

Fill the cone with enough potato mixture, making sure that you can close it without the filling overflowing.

Again smear a little bit of the flour paste and seal the edges.

Once you have a few ready, put them gently into the hot oil and fry till they are golden brown, gently turning them to make sure that all sides are cooked.

Serve hot with cilantro chutney and chai