North India Street Food: Potato Samosas [Aloo Samosas]

Warm earthy spices, potatoes, & peas wrapped in a tender, flaky crust. Served with a Cilantro Chutney. These easy potato samosas [aloo samosas] make the perfect appetizer, snack, or even lunch on the go.

What are potato samosas?

Indian potato samosas, also called Aloo Samosas, are my favorite Indian street foods. These savory snacks are spiced and wrapped in flaky pastry dough. Samosas are usually fried, but you can also find them baked, and they come in various sizes and shapes. This snack is most commonly found in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

Traditional Punjabi-style samosas include ajwain seeds in the pastry crust. These, however, are optional as they have a rather aggressive flavor.

Ajwain seeds contain a healthy essential oil called thymol, the same ingredient used in the original Listerine mouthwash. So as you can imagine, they are a bit of an acquired taste.

If you decide to include the ajwain seeds, always toast or dry roast them first and never grind them. Use them sparingly as a little goes a long way.

What should I use for my samosa dough?

For the dough, today we are starting with an easy homemade dough that comes together in minutes but phyllo dough, puff pastry, and wonton wrappers can also be used to make these easier to prepare.

For the filling, we are using a traditional vegetarian potato and pea filling but ground chicken, beef, turkey, or fish can also be included in the filling if you choose.

What type of potatoes do I use for samosas?

Medium-starch potatoes are round white potatoes and yellow potatoes like Yukon Gold. They are a great all-purpose potato easily found in the grocery store or farmer’s market.

They are quite versatile and can be used in almost any dish, whether roasting, grilling, mashing, or boiling making them a great choice for samosas.

How do I cook samosas?

Samosas can be cooked in a number of ways namely, baked, pan-fried, deep-fried, or air fried. Traditionally samosas are deep-fried and in my testing, this proved to be the best method for this dough. Although they can be baked or air fried, the tradeoff comes in the flakiness of the pastry crust.

Can samosas be frozen?

This recipe makes quite a few samosas, and if you are not serving a crowd, the extra samosas can easily be frozen.
Samosas can be frozen either raw or cooked; it’s up to you.

To do this, place the samosas on a sheet of parchment paper, wax paper, or a silicone liner on a rimmed cookie sheet making sure they don’t touch. Place the tray in the freezer. Once they are fully frozen, transfer them to a zip-top freezer bag or freezer-safe storage container and store them for up to 3 months.

How do I cook frozen samosas?

Frozen samosas can be cooked from their frozen state without the need for defrosting. The timing will depend on the size of your samosas.

Uncooked Frozen Samosas:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Arrange frozen Samosas out on a rimmed baking sheet lined with a sheet of parchment paper or silicone baking mat to keep them from sticking to the tray.
Lightly brush or spray both sides of Samosas with cooking oil, ghee, or non-stick cooking spray. This encourages browning.
Place in oven middle rack and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Turning halfway through the cooking time.
If the samosas begin to darken too quickly, reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and finish cooking.
Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Re-Heating Pre-Fried Frozen Samosas (optimal)
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F.
Arrange frozen Samosas on a rimmed baking sheet lined with a sheet of parchment paper or silicone baking mat to keep them from sticking to the tray.
Place in the oven middle rack and bake for 20 – 25 minutes, turning the Samosas about halfway through the cooking time.
Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Want To Try This Indian Street Food Recipe?

Potato Samosas

Warm earthy spices, potatoes, & peas wrapped in a tender, flaky crust. Served with a Cilantro Chutney. These easy potato samosas make the perfect appetizer, snack, or even lunch on the go.

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 50 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Appetizers, snacks

Cuisine Indian

Servings 6 servings

Calories 344 kcal

Ingredients

  

For the Samosa Dough:

• 2 cups 250 grams all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup 50 grams clarified butter or canola oil
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp ajwain carom seeds (optional) [See Note 1]
• 3/4 tsp salt sea, fine

Samosa Filling:

• 1/2 pound 250 grams potatoes, yellow, small, peeled, whole (about 4)
• 1 tbsp clarified butter or canola oil
• 3/4 tsp cumin seeds jeera seeds
• 1 tsp minced ginger root raw
• 2 small peppers hot (optional) [See Note 2]
• 8 cashews chopped
• 2 tbsp raisins chopped
• 1/2 cup peas green, frozen or thawed, raw
• 3/4 tsp garam masala
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 to 3/4 tsp hot chili powder cayenne
• 1 tbsp cilantro coriander leaves, minced

For the Cilantro Chutney:

• 1 bunch of fresh cilantro about 3 ounces
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper ground
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• water as needed to thin chutney

Instructions

 

• For the Potatoes: Place whole peeled potatoes into a medium sauce pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender. [See Note 3] Drain and set aside to cool slightly before dicing, mashing, crumbling, or putting through a potato ricer. The method used here is your personal preference. I put mine through a potato ricer.
• For the Dough: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine flour, oil (or clarified butter), salt and ajwain seeds. Mix well to incorporate the oil. Then slowly add the water and knead the dough between each addition. Cover and set aside.
• Prepare the Cilantro Chutney: Use a small food processor, or mortar and pestle to combine all ingredients until well blended and pureed. Pour into a serving bowl, cover and refrigerate until needed.
• For the Filling: Over medium-high heat, add 1 tbsp oil into a medium-sized skillet. When the oil is hot add the cumin seeds until they sizzle and become fragrant. Next, add the minced ginger and diced green chili peppers (if using). Cook for 2 minutes. Then add the cashews, raisins, and peas. Cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add the potatoes, garam masala, onion powder, garlic powder, lemon juice, and hot red chili powder (cayenne). Stir well to combine. Add chopped cilantro leaves, stir to incorporate, remove from heat and set aside.
• Heat the oil for frying: In a medium-sized heavy bottom pot (like a Dutch oven) or a fryer, heat about 3-inches of oil. the perfect frying temperature is 360 degrees F – I use a candy thermometer fitted with a clip to attach to the side of the pot to monitor the oil temperature. While the oil heats, prepare the samosas.
• To prepare the samosas: Divide the dough into 6 smaller dough balls. Each ball will make 2 samosas. Oil the rolling area to prevent dough from sticking (I used a silicone baking mat which I also oiled). Roll the dough out into a circle about 5 inches in diameter. It’s okay if the circle is not perfect – it can be trimmed up. With a pastry cutter or knife, cut the circle in half through the center. On the straight edge, dab on a little water and press gently to seal creating a cone. If desired, trim up any uneven edges. Place the cone pointy end down into your hand creating a pocket and fill the cone with potato filling. Lightly wet the top edge of the dough and press together to seal. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Frying the Samosas: Frying in batches, add 3-4 samosas to the oil and deep-fry until golden brown; about 5-7 minutes. Turn the samosas about halfway through the frying for even color. Remove samosas from the oil and drain on paper towels. Serve with cilantro chutney.

Notes

1. Ajwain (carom) seeds can be found at any local Indian grocery, Whole Foods, World Market, or online at Amazon.com
2. Hot chili peppers may be omitted altogether or replaced with a mild pepper like poblano or bell pepper.
3. Starting the potatoes in cold water helps them cook evenly. Choose potatoes that are roughly the same size so they cook in the same amount of time. Alternatively, you could dice the potatoes to a similar size small dice for a quicker cooking time.

Keyword aloo, Indian, potato, samosas