Samosa - Take Two

This is my second samosa recipe post, you can find the first here. This is similar to the first, however a couple of changes to the ingredients make a huge difference in the resulting taste. You can try both and decide which one you like better. After some experimenting, I think this recipe comes closest to the store bought one that I used to enjoy while growing up. They key is to make them and serve them fresh while still piping hot. I have provided some tips in the tips section on how you can always have samosas on hand.

It is just great to come home and have hot samosas with a nice cup of chai after a long day at work. You can always make this as an appetizer or snack when guests come over and wow them.

Ingredients
See the previous samosa recipe for the ingredients needed to prepare the outer covering of the samosa.
Alternately, you can use readymade spring roll covers or puff pastry if you do not want to make the outer covering

For the stuffing
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2-3 potatoes - boiled and cut into small cubes
1/2 cup peas (fresh/frozen and thawed)
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp saunf/ fennel seed
1 tsp kalonji/onion seed
1 tsp corriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala (this can be reduced if you dont want it too spicy)
green chillies to taste - chopped fine
1 tsp mango powder/amchur
salt to taste

Method
To prepare the outer covering for the samosa, see the directions here.

For the stuffing
Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds to it. Once the seeds start to crackle, add the kalonji, saunf, and green chillies. Add the onion and the garlic ginger paste. Fry the onion till its transluscent and add the corriander powder and garam masala. Fry this for a couple of minutes then add the potaotes and the peas. Add the salt and mango powder. Mix this and let it cook for about 5 minutes. The stuffing is ready.

Assembling the samosa
Create the cones using the half circle pastry shells as described here. Put enough stuffing in the samosa, so that you can seal the open end without the samosa bursting at the seams. Assemble all your samosas before starting the frying process.

Cooking the samosa
Heat the oil, test it with a small piece of the dough. If it comes up almost immediately after you put it in the oil, the oil is hot enough to fry your samosas. Fry a few samosas at a time. If you want to go with the lower calorie option, assemble all your samosas on a cookie sheet/ baking sheet and you can brush them/spray them with some oil. Even if oil is not used, the samosas turn out very crispy.

Enjoy them hot with some mint and tamarind chutney.

Tips
What I generally do is, create a large batch of uncooked samosas and freeze them. Whenever we feel like eating samosas, I bake these directly without thawing at 350 F for 30 minutes. These turn out crisp and ready to eat. It is great to be able to make samosas on demand and on short notice.