Samosa recipe – Samosa is a potato stuffed deep fried tea time snack that is very popular not only in India but also across Asian countries and the middle east. It is believed that they originated from the middle east and was brought to India by the Merchants. Most commonly they are made with potato stuffing but can also be made of keema/ meat.
Samosa is one of the most commonly eaten snack across India. They are very special during the month of ramadan and are eaten as a Iftar snack.
Samosas make their appearance everywhere as a street food, party snack, restaurants and even in cafes.
I am sharing the samosa recipe with potato stuffing, you can also make keema samosa using this keema recipe for the stuffing. This Punjabi samosa recipe is roughly adapted from Chef Harpal singh.
For more similar snacks, you may like to check
Spring rolls
Bread rolls
Pakora
Sandwiches
Tips for making the perfect samosa dough crust.
This is useful in case you like to double or triple the recipe.
1. For every one kg of flour, you can use up to 200 grams of fat (oil or ghee). Anything more than this may break the crust. Using too little fats in the dough may lead to tiny air bubbles over the samosa.
Can I bake these samosas?
Yes they can be baked. But fried samosas taste the best. I have tried baking these after brushing them generously with oil at 170 to 180 C in a preheated oven for 35 to 40 mins. The results were fine but not as good as the fried ones.
If you are keen to bake them then use ready store bought frozen puff pastry sheets. Roll each sheet to a square. Cut each sheet to 4 to 5 roundels with the help of a round cutter. Then cut each one to half. Then use them as mentioned in the recipe below.
Can I use whole wheat flour / atta?
Yes you can. But for best results I would suggest all-purpose flour or maida. Samosas made with wheat flour have a nutty aroma and are dense. Read on to know the details.
Samosa recipe
Samosa recipe | How to make samosa
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
For samosa covering
- 2 cups all-purpose flour or organic maida (250 grams )
- ¼ cup oil or melted ghee (or 50 grams)
- ¼ cup water (+ 2 tbsp )
- 1 teaspoon ajwain or carom seeds
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Potato filling for samosa
- 4 potatoes (or 450 grams or 1 lb)
- ½ cup green peas
- 8 cashews (optional)
- 2 teaspoons raisins (optional)
- 1 tablespoon ghee or oil
- 1 teaspoon ginger minced or paste
- 2 green chilies chopped (optional)
- 1 pinch hing or asafoetida
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice (or ½ tsp amchur)
- 1 teaspoon anardana (optional) (dry pomegranate seeds)
- 4 tablespoons coriander leaves chopped finely
Spices for samosa
- ¾ teaspoon cumin or jeera
- ¾ teaspoon garam masala
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon red chilli powder
How to make the recipe
- Boil potatoes just until done without making mushy. You can either boil them in a steamer, pot or a cooker. Crumble them, do not mash them up. Set aside.
Make samosa covering (or use frozen puff pastry sheets)
- Mix together ajwain, salt, flour and ghee in a mixing bowl. Rub the flour well for 2 to 3 mins in between the palms to incorporate the ghee well.
- Add water little by little and mix the flour to dough kneading lightly. Cover and set aside until the filling is ready.
Make potato filling for samosa
- Heat a pan with oil. Add cumin. When it begins to sizzle, add ginger & fry until it smells good. Next add cashews and raisins if using. Fry for a while.
- Add in potatoes, chili powder, garam masala, amchur, anardana and salt. Mix and saute for 3 to 5 mins. Mix in coriander leaves & set aside to cool.
How to make samosa
- Lightly knead the dough to smoothen a bit. Make 6 to 7 portions and roll to balls. Cover the dough.
- Grease the rolling area and then flatten a ball.
- Begin to roll to a oblong or oval shape of 6 to 7 inches disc. It should be neither too thick or too thin.
- Cut it to two. If the edges are too thick, gently roll it to thin down.
- Smear water over the straight edge. Join the edges to make a cone. Press gently to seal the cone.
- Fill the cone with potato masala and smear water on the edges.
- Bring the edges together and make a pleat on one side. Bring back the pleat and seal it. Make sure the samosa has been sealed well. Finish making all the samosas.
Deep frying samosa
- Heat oil in a pan until medium hot. A piece of dough dropped in the hot oil must rise gently not immediately. This is the right temperature.
- Add the samosas to the oil and deep fry them until golden.
- When they are half fried you can increase the flame to little high and fry until crusty. Drain them on to a kitchen tissue. Fry all of them in batches.
Baking samosa in oven
- Preheat the oven at 170 C for about 20 mins.
- Brush each samosa generously with oil all over and place them on a prepared tray.
- Bake these for about 35 to 40 mins.
- Serve samosa with mint chutney or tomato sauce.
NUTRITION
Preparation
1. Wash and boil potatoes in whatever way you like. I washed peeled, halved and pressure cooked them for 1 whistle on a medium flame. The potatoes should not turn mushy but must be fully cooked.
2. Cool and crumble them. Set aside.
samosa covering or pastry
3. Wheat flour or plain flour? Which is better for samosa? I have tried with wheat flour too but the results are not extraordinary. If you are into healthy eating and have completely stopped eating maida, then you can make with wheat flour.
You can also use half wheat flour and half maida but all wheat flour does yield hard not very good samosa.
I used organic plain flour / maida. For health reasons prefer organic flour or at least unbromated flour. Add flour / maida, ajwain / carom seeds, salt and ghee to a large mixing bowl. You can also use half ghee and half oil.
4. Mix everything very well. Rub the flour in between your palms to incorporate the ghee well.
5. Add water little by little as needed. Knead it gently and make a dough.
6. Dough has to be firm and not sticky. Cover and set aside until the filling is ready.
Making potato stuffing
7. Heat ghee or oil in a pan. Next add cumin/ jeera and allow them to crackle.
8. Add minced ginger, green chili and saute until nice aroma comes out. Sprinkle hing. You can also use some cashews and raisins if you like. Saute until the nuts turn lightly golden.
9. Transfer crumbled potatoes, green peas (optional), red chili powder, garam masala,salt, amchur powder and anardana (if you like). I prefer to add the spices in the oil. Saute everything well for 3 to 5 mins.
10. Add chopped coriander leaves and switch off the stove. Set aside to cool.
How to make samosa
11. The recipe given below can make 12 samosas depending on the size. Knead lightly to smoothen the dough and then make 6 balls.
12. Oil the platform or the rolling board. Place the ball.
13. Roll it to a oblong or oval shaped even layer.
14. Cut it in the center to make 2 parts.
15. I prefer to roll the edges slightly to reduce the thickness.
16. Apply water with your finger to the edge.
17. Make a cone shape like you see in the picture. Stick the edges well.
18. Stick the edge from inside the cone as well. Fill the cone with potato masala.
19. Apply water on the edge.
20. Stick the edges. On one of the sides, make a pleat as shown in the image.
21. Bring the pleat to a side and stick it up. Make sure your samosa is sealed well.
22. They will stand perfectly. Finish making all your samosas. If you prefer to bake them, preheat the oven at 170 C in fan forced oven, at 180 C in regular oven for 20 mins. Brush oil generously and bake them for 30 to 40 minutes, flipping them after 15 minutes.
Frying samosa
23. Heat a pan with oil for deep frying. The oil should not be very hot or smoky hot. It must be medium hot. When it is just getting hot, add a small portion of dough in the oil.
It should not come up immediately and turn the dough golden. It must raise slowly up. This is the right temperature.
24. Add them one by one slowly. After you add them to the hot oil, you must see bubbles rising slowly. You should not be hearing any sizzling noise as it happens with the regular deep fried snacks. Keep stirring and fry them evenly until golden.
Half way thru, I increased the heat. Drain them on a kitchen tissue when they are golden fried. For the next batch, reduce the heat completely and add them. Adjust the flame as needed.
Serve samosa with mint chutney or tomato sauce.
Sonam Sharma says
Great receipe.I ddnt knew how to make the scones .Now I have learnt.I fried and refregrate and fry on hot oil later.It doesnt go bad.Thanks
swasthi says
Hi Sonam,
You are welcome. Thanks for trying the recipe. Glad you liked the samosas. Yes you can refry them later.
🙂
Lesle says
Hi Swasthi,
I tried the samosa recipe today. They turned out very good. Just a note – my 3 potatoes weighed around 450 grams. Did I use a lot of potatoes? I used up all of them for the samosa. Had no leftovers. I wasn’t sure of the size of the pastry roll. Please any inputs? To what size each must be rolled. I rolled to 6 inches the same as frozen sheets. Am I right? Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
swasthi says
Hi Lesle,
Thanks for trying. Glad you liked them. Each medium potato can weigh about 110 to 120 grams. So yes 4 potatoes will be about 1 lb or 450 grams. I have updated the recipe card. Thanks for the mention. Yes 6 to 7 inches size is fine.
Daniel Bellefleur says
Hello Swasthi,
I am looking forward to making this tomorrow. Is it possible to have the recipe such that I may print just the recipe out? Perhaps I am missing something?
Other Indian fare I have tried my hand at include curried chicken, naan, and aloo gobi (a personal favorite!!). I will look at your other postings to see what other delicious and healthy dishes you so helpfully illustrate.
swasthi says
Hi Daniel Bellefleur,
Thank you! Yes you have tried quite a lot of Indian dishes. You can print the recipe from the browser option by choosing the page you wish to print. I have mailed you the screenshots hoping it helps.
Milton Bonginkosi Ndhlovu says
samosa recipe and how to make samosa plus the pictures please
Vijaya says
Samosas really look yummy.i would like to try baking them keeping health in mind.
Thank you.I am definitely gonna try this recipe .
swasthi says
Welcome Vijaya
Yes do try. Actually these samosas do not turn out oily even if you fry them. But sure for healthy option they can be baked.
Kavita Kumbhar says
Your all recipes are delicious. Thankyou
swasthi says
Hi Kavita,
You are welcome. Thank you so much!
Aparna Srinivasan says
Nice pictures
swasthi says
Thank you
M. Poonawala says
Highly appreciated thanks for your help. Great work
swasthi says
Welcome & thank you
Nisha says
Hi Swasthi,
Thank you so much for all your recipes and your detailed instructions are really helpful expecially for people like me who are 0 in cooking and learning everything from scratch. Tried many of your recipes from gravys, snacks & sweets all are really good
Pls enlighten me for this samosa recipe if you don’t mind. I need to make this for 100 pax and how do i measure the maida & oil please?
Thanking you in advance.
God Bless .
Kind Regards,
Nisha
Nisha says
Dear Swasthi,
Please also advise if i can make the samosa’s in advance and freeze them overnight before frying the next day? Bcz i need to make them early morning for serving at 7am.
Thank you.
Kind Regards,
Nisha
swasthi says
Hi Nisha
You are welcome. Thank you so much for the wishes. Happy to know the recipes turned out good. Firstly I am not sure if you can freeze these and use. I haven’t tried them that way. The simplest way to make 100 samosas would be to use the pastry sheets or spring rolls from the frozen section.
Making 100 samosas with uniform results is a hard task unless you have a group of well experienced cooks who can assist you. You can make the filling 2 days ahead and store it in the fridge. If using pastry sheets or spring roll sheets, then you can surely make the samosas 1 day ahead and refrigerate. Bring down to room temperature before frying. Hope this helps
🙂
Nisha says
Hi Swasthi,
Thank you so much for your advise.
I don’t have anyone here with me to help in the samosa making. Hence, i would follow your suggestion on the pastry sheets.
So, if i were to use the pastry sheets, i can make the filling and do the stuffing ( make the samosa) and freeze them 1 day in advance and just need to tke them out and thaw before frying the mext day? Is that correct?
Kind Regards,
Nisha
swasthi says
You are welcome Nisha,
Yes you are right.
Sulata Coelho says
Hello dear Swasthi,
I am an experienced cook but behave like a novice and follow you blindly and am always successful, thanks to your excellent instructions. God bless you for sharing your time and knowledge.
Today I tried this samosa recipe and now I am sure I will be making this every week. My family loved it and I have been asked to make double the quantity tomorrow.
Lots of love to you and God bless.
swasthi says
Hi Sulata,
You are welcome. Thanks a lot for the wishes & love. So glad to know the samosas turned out good.
🙂
Thanks again!
Deepu says
Hi Swasthi,
Whenever I have to cook something new, youand your receipt is the key to my cooking. I really love your way of writing the whole recipe and you make the whole dish look easy and doable. Anyone and everyone can make it. Till now all my attempts have been successful. And this is all because of you. Great job! Keep up the good work!
Warm Regards
Deepu
swasthi says
Hi Deepu,
Thank you so much! I am so happy to read your comment. Thanks again
🙂
Mpnarang says
Really too very good help by your side I admire your cooking and helping people I sincerely wishing you a commendable HEIGHT OF SUCCESS IN FUTURE THANKS
swasthi says
WElcome Mpnarang Sir,
Thanks a lot for the wishes. So happy reading your comment!
🙂
AnSo says
Just made them and the whole family loved them ! Thanks for the recipe !
swasthi says
Welcome Anso,
Thanks for trying. Happy to know samosas were loved by all.
🙂
Maria Abraham says
I have made a few of your recipes. They were easy to follow and very tasty.
Thank you.
Maria.
swasthi says
Welcome Maria
Thank you so much for trying
kavipriya, tiruvannamalai says
Hai ! samosa preparation is very simple. I will try and eat. thanking you !
swasthi says
Hi Kavipriya
Thanks. Yes do try it
Monika says
Hi swasthi, today m going to try making samosas on my daughter’s demand. Just want to know that what is te difference between fried and baked samosas? If there is no taste difference I want to try baked one. Give your tips for baking.
Thanks in advance
Monika says
Swasthi,
Want to try baked one if there is no taste difference. How many samosas can be baked at a time ? And how much oil to be brushed ? Pl guide
Planning to make it today on my daughter’s demand. So your prompt response will be helpful.
Thanks in advance dear
swasthi says
Hi Monika,
Since samosa is not something we make often I would suggest making the fried ones. Yes there is a difference between the baked ones and fried ones. Samosas are best when fried. If you eat fried foods daily and want to cut down that then you may want to bake them.. You will have to brush them generously. For the entire recipe you may need about 3 tbsp oil. Hope your little one will love them.
🙂
Monika says
Yes, samosas turned yummy on that day. Prisha and others relished it thoroughly. And I loved the crust , it was very crispy and store bought taste. Only it was little thick. Next time I will try to make it thin. Many thanks ,😆
swasthi says
Hi Monika
you are welcome. Thank you so much for trying. Glad to know Prisha enjoyed the samosas.
🙂
Daniel says
Monika,
Is it possible you accidentally gave a one star review here? If so, it seems to be clearly an accident, looking at your 5 star review later. I have not tried the recipe but cannot wait!!
Anna says
I always wanted to make samosa with a good thick flaky crust and this recipe helped me the best. Thank you for the good work.
swasthi says
You are welcome Anna
Thanks for trying
Priya says
Hi Swasthi,
Samosas came out good. My kids loved them a lot. I was looking for samosa chaat. Couldn’t find it. Can you pls direct me to the post
swasthi says
Hi Priya
Sorry somehow forgot to reply you. Glad to know the samosas turned out good. I haven’t posted a samosa chaat yet. Will try to share it some time. Thanks for trying
Krishna Singh says
Thanks for this great recipe ….
Helped a lot 😊
swasthi says
You are welcome Krishna Singh
Thanks for trying
Hina says
Hi swasthi
My samosas turned out very good but the first batch were a bit hard though crispy. Where did I go wrong
swasthi says
Hi Hina
Thanks for trying. I guess frying them on a very low flame for long makes them hard.
Swapna says
Hi mam can you share egg puf without oven
swasthi says
Hi Swapna,
Yes I can share the recipe. I just need some time.