Samosas—filled with a savory mix of potatoes, peas, chiles, and spices—are always a hit at any party, or even just for snack time. The outer pastry crust is deep fried to a heavenly golden brown crisp.
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Indian Samosas and Pakistani Samosas make a great appetizer for a South Asian meal. Or you can make mini samosas for snacking or a game day or appetizer spread.
I love to serve these as an appetizer before an Indian meal that includes curries and other dishes. They also make a great appetizer for parties and a satisfying after-school snack!
I always serve these Samosas with a dipping sauce or two (or three!). Some perfect matches are Cilantro Mint Chutney aka Green Chutney, Tamarind Chutney, Cucumber Raita, and Garlic Chutney.
You can make any type of filling you like for your Samosas. Some Samosas contain savory meat mixtures, others are all veggie like this recipe.
This samosa recipe uses a classic mix of cooked potatoes, peas, onion, garlic, chile peppers, and spices. It’s the same samosa filling that I use in my Air Fryer Samosas. If you love these, try my Onion Samosas, as well!
I also use the same Samosa Dough Recipe for this recipe and my Air Fryer Samosas. It’s such a simple dough to make and really easy to handle, too.
The easy-to-make oil-based samosa dough can be made with or without ajwain seeds. It’s easy to handle and fries up light, flaky, and beautifully golden brown.
Why you’ll love this samosa recipe
These deep fried Samosas turn out beautifully golden brown and perfectly crisp. The pastry shell is light and flaky, but still sturdy enough to stand up to the hearty filling.
This recipe is vegetarian and vegan so you can make your vegetarian guests happy (but I promise the meat-eaters will love these, too!)
This samosa recipe turns out samosas that are crispy, golden brown, and full of flavor.
These scrumptious pastry pockets will fly off the plate and you’ll get rave reviews!
Ingredients you need to make samosas
For the complete list of ingredients with quantities and detailed prep and cooking instructions, please see the recipe card that appears at the end of this post.
This Samosa recipe uses ingredients that you can find in any supermarket (the optional ajwain seeds are available at Indian grocery stores or online). Here’s what you need for this samosa recipe:
- All-purpose flour: You’ll need flour to make the samosa dough. Just regular all-purpose flour, the kind you most likely have in your pantry already, is what you need here.
- Oil: Any neutral-flavored oil or vegetable oil will do. I often use safflower oil, canola oil, or peanut oil. You will need oil for the samosa dough, oil for sauteing the vegetables in the filling, and oil for deep frying.
- Potatoes: Yukon Gold or other thin-skinned potatoes are best here because you don’t need to peel them. Russet potatoes or Idaho potatoes are a find substitute, but you’ll want to peel them first.
- Aromatics: Ginger, chiles, and onion add flavor.
- Spices: I use ground coriander, ground cumin, garam masala, and salt. You can start with whole cumin seeds and coriander seeds if you like. Roast them in a skillet until they are aromatic and then grind them in a spice grinder. You can also add a teaspoon or so of garam masala or chaat masala or 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper if you like. For the dough, you can add ajwain seeds if you like.
- Peas: Green peas are traditional in samosa filling. I love them because they add a nice pop of color and a bit of textural variation to the filling. I use frozen peas right from the freezer.
- Lemon juice and cilantro: These add a bright, fresh element to the mix.
How do you make them?
For the complete list of ingredients with quantities and detailed prep and cooking instructions, please see the recipe card that appears at the end of this post.
Samosas, even deep fried Samosas with homemade dough, are easier to make than you might think. The dough is an oil based pastry crust so it’s really easy to make and easy to handle.
Filling them is pretty simple, too, once you get the hang of it. And deep frying is quick and simple, and hassle free if you follow my tips! Here’s how to make this samosa recipe:
- To make the dough, combine the flour, oil, warm water, and salt stirring with a fork until the mixture comes together into a smooth ball. Wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap, put it on a plate, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Don’t skip the plate because the oil in the dough has a tendency to seep out a bit.
- Boil potatoes until tender and then drain.
- Heat some of the oil in a skillet and add the onion. Cook until it softens and then add the chile, ginger, and spices.
- Stir in the potatoes and cook, mashing and breaking up the potatoes, and then stir in the peas.
- Remove the mixture from the heat and let cool for a few minutes before stirring in cilantro and lemon juice.
- Portion the dough into roughly equal size balls (they should be about the size of a golf ball) and roll or pat them out into thin rounds, about 4 inches across (if you have a tortilla press, pull it out for this step because it makes it super easy to get nice thin, even dough rounds! Put the balls of dough balls in the middle of a resealable plastic bag that has been cut down the sides. Press a to flatten).
- Place a tablespoon or so of the filling in the middle of a dough round. Fold two of the sides up until they meet. Press those sides together into a seam. Bring up the third side and press together to make two more seams. Your filled samosa will be shaped a bit like a pyramid.
- Fill a dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed, high-sided pot with about 4 inches of oil. Be sure to use a pot with high sides rather than a skillet because this will help to contain splatters and keep the mess on your stovetop to a minimum.
- When the oil begins to shimmer, add your samosas. You’ll need to cook the samosas in batches to avoid crowding the pan. Cook the samosas in hot oil, turning once, until the samosas are deep golden brown all over. This should take 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Remove using a slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Serve the Samosas hot or warm.
How to serve these fried samosas
I serve these fried samosas as an appetizer with various sauces for dipping. I like Tamarind Chutney, Cilantro Mint Chutney or Green Chutney, Cucumber Raita, and/or Garlic Chutney.
Try serving Samosas alongside Chicken Pakora, Paneer Pakora, and other Indian apps that go well with the same dipping sauces. You can also use these Samosas to make Samosa Chaat.
Or serve Samosas as an appetizer before a full Indian meal that includes dishes like Dal Soup, Instant Pot Chicken Korma, Kachumber Salad, Instant Pot Shrimp Biryani, Chicken Biryani, Kerala Fish Curry, or Chicken 65.
Samosas
Ingredients
For the dough
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ajwain seeds optional
- ¾ cup oil such as safflower oil, corn oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil
- ½ cup warm water
For the filling
- 2 medium potatoes cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt divided
- 2 tablespoons oil such as safflower oil, corn oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil, plus oil for deep frying
- ½ onion diced
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 to 2 green chiles such as jalapeno or serrano, diced (remove the seeds and ribs for less heat)
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander or use 2 teaspoons coriander seeds roasted in a skillet and ground
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin or use 2 teaspoons cumin seeds roasted in a skillet and ground
- 1 cup frozen green peas
- Juice of ½ lemon
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- First, make the dough by combining the flour, oil, warmwater, and salt. You’ll mix the ingredients until they come together into anice, smooth ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, put it on a plate, andrefrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Be sure to put the dough on a platebecause the oil may seep out a bit.
- Heat a pot of water with ½ teaspoon of the salt to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook until they are tender, about 12 minutes. Drain.
- Heat oil in a large skillet and add the onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion softens, then stir in the ginger, chiles, garam masala, coriander, cumin, and the remaining teaspoon of salt.
- Add the potatoes to the skillet and cook, mashing with a spatula, until the potatoes begin to turn golden in parts. Stir in the green peas and remove from the heat.
- Let the mixture cool for a few minutes and then stir in the lemon juice and cilantro.
- Divide the dough into golf ball size balls and roll or pat them out into thin rounds, about 4 inches across (you can use a tortilla press for this part! Put the dough balls between the two sides of a cut-open resealable plastic bag and press to flatten).
- Put about a tablespoon of the spiced potato filling in the center of the dough round and fold two sides up until they meet. Press those sides together into a seam. Bring up the third side and press together to make two more seams. The samosas will be shaped like pyramids (sort of!).
- In a dutch oven or another heavy pot with high sides, heat the oil for deep frying until it begins to shimmer. Fry samosa in batches, cooking each batch for about 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until the crust is crispy and deep golden brown. Transfer the fried samosas to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Serve hot or warm.
Is there a way to avoid the deep frying? I loves these things, but I am not a fan of frying in my kitchen. Baking them? Airfrying?
Thanks! 🙂
Yes, you can bake or air fry (I have an air fryer recipe, too!) but the shell won’t be as crispy.
Yes, you can bake or air fry (I have an air fryer recipe, too!) but they won’t be as crispy.