• Maida / Refined flour – 3/4 cup and some more for dusting
• Ghee / Clarified butter – 4 tbsp
• Salt – 1/2 tsp or to taste
• Ajwain / Carom seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Water – 100 ml or as needed, some more for sealing the samosas

For Making the Filling

• Boiled potatoes – 4 large, cut into small dices
• Green peas – 1/3 cup
• Green chilies – 5, finely crushed
• Ginger – 1 tbsp, finely crushed
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
• Amchur / Dried mango powder – 1 tsp or to taste
• Coriander powder – 1 tsp
• Jeera Powder – 1/2 tsp
• Saunf / Fennel seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Whole coriander seeds – 1 tsp
• Dried pomegranate seeds – 1 tsp, finely crushed
• Garam Masala – 3/4 tsp
• Red chili powder – 1 tsp
• Salt – To taste
• Oil – 3 tbsp
• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
• Cilantro – A handful, finely chopped

For Frying the Samosas

Oil – Sufficient enough to deep frying the samosas

How to Make Punabi Samosas

Kneading the Pastry Dough

• First, we will knead the dough for the pastry of the samosa. Take the maida / refined flour, ajwain, salt and ghee in a bowl. Mix it well with your finger so that the ghee is well incorporated evenly throughout the flour. The fat that is added to the dough while kneading it ensures a crispy pastry.

• Now add water little by little as you knead the dough. Add the water, knead the dough. Take turns. We need the dough to be stiff yet pliable. It should be a bit stiffer than the regular chapatti dough.

• Now make the bowl of the dough. Apply a few drops of oil on the top of the dough ball to prevent it from drying up. Cover the dough and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.

Making the Stuffing

• In the meanwhile, let us make the potato stuffing. Lightly crush the whole coriander seeds. Finely crush the ginger in the mortar and pestle. Then separately crush the green chilies finely as well using the mortar and pestle. Set them aside.

• Boil the green peas if using the fresh green peas.

• Heat oil in a pan or skillet. Add in the cumin seeds and allow them to sizzle. Add in the ginger and green chilies and sauté for a minute.

• Add in the green peas, a pinch of salt and fry for a minute. Now toss in the coarsely grounded coriander seeds and fennel seeds and sauté them on the low flame for a few seconds, stirring constantly.

• Add in the turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, dried pomegranate powder and sauté it for 5 to 6 seconds. Toss in the diced potatoes, some salt and mix well.

• Now add in the jeera powder, amchur / dried mango powder and garam masala and mix well again.

• Add in the chopped cilantro and give it a final mix. You have to mash the potato a bit as you mix it. We don’t want big chunks of potato. Allow the mixture to cool and reach the room temperature.

Assembling and Frying the Samosas

• Take the dough out of the bowl onto the rolling surface and knead it again for a minute using a few drops of oil.

• Divide the dough into about 5 portions.  Each portion will make up for pastry of two samosas.

• Take a portion of the dough and roll it out into 7 inches of circle, using the rolling pin. Try using minimal amount of dry flour for dusting so that the pastry doesn’t stick to the rolling surface. Too much flour for dusting will cause the oil to turn black when you fry the samosas. The pastry should be rolled out optimally thin. Too thick pastry means raw and soggy samosas.

• Now cut the pastry into two semicircles. One semicircle for each samosa.

• The circular edge of the semicircle will form the base of the samosa. Apply some water with your fingertip on the straight edge of the semicircle. It will help the edges to stick together when you form the cone out of the pastry.

• Now hold the semicircle pastry in your palm and form cone by bringing in the two distal edges of the straighter side together in the center. Seal the edges together with your fingers using a little pressure.

• Now we have a hollow cone. Fill in the stuffing of the potato using your hand. Stuff it nicely with a light hand.

• Apply a little water with your fingertip along the edge of the open side of the cone. Seal the samosa by pinching it together with your fingers. Keep the samosa on a plate.

• Prepare all the samosas in the same way and fry them together. Heat sufficient oil in a skillet and drop in a piece of pastry to check the temperature of the oil. The pastry should sizzle and float up to the top immediately.

• Turn the flame to low and add in about 2 to 4 samosas at a time, depending upon the size of the skillet. Deep fry the samosas turning them over after a few seconds. Fry them till they turn crispy and golden.

• Take the fried samosas onto the kitchen towel and allow the excess oil to drain off. Heat the oil to the optimal temperature and fry rest of the samosas.

• Place the samosas into a serving plate and serve hot with tamarind chutney. I often serve them with hot sambhar. You can find the sambhar recipe here -> How to Make Sambhar

How to Bake the Samosas

• You can also bake the samosas instead of deep frying them. They will be equally delicious. But the pastry of the fried samosa tastes better. Preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius.

• Place the samosas on a greased baking tray. Bake the samosas at 200 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Then flip them over. Bake them for another 10 minutes till they are golden and crispy. Enjoy the samosas hot!

I hope you will try this recipe and that it comes out well for you.