Samosas are one of my favorite Indian appetizers. If you haven’t had them, let me introduce you. Samosas are a mixture of meat, vegetables, and spices wrapped in a thin pastry then baked or fried. Peas and potatoes are a popular filling, at least in my experience, so I was delighted when I came across this recipe for Samosa Potatoes. Why not make samosas? I did–once. It went okay, but it took forever and they didn’t taste nearly as good as in the restaurant. The leftovers also got soggy in the refrigerator. No, I think I’ll leave samosas to the professionals, but I’m hoping these Samosa Potatoes will be an easy make-at-home substitute.
I had these potatoes at my friend Divya’s house and thought they were brilliant – they tasted just like the filling of a samosa. Such a great idea for an Indian side dish. So I recreated them at home.
The Ingredients
At 14 ingredients, this recipe could have quite the shopping list if you need to buy everything. Fortunately, none of the required ingredients are unusual or hard to find. As usual, I had the spices on hand, along with the oil and butter. I even had some frozen peas hanging around.
That left me to buy the fresh vegetables and ginger root, which was very manageable. The only item I didn’t have was the asafoetida, but it is listed as optional. I did look for it, but Whole Foods didn’t have it. I have a feeling this is a specialty market or internet order item.
The Process
This recipe lists a 35 minutes total time, and that’s exactly how long it too. My times didn’t break down the same, though, and it took me longer to prep and less time to cook. Here’s how it broke down:
- 20 minutes to prep
- 15 minutes to cook
- 35 minutes total
Instead of my usual minimal prepping before beginning to cook, I prepped everything beforehand. That meant doing a fair bit of peeling, dicing, and grating, but nothing more advanced than that. I also put a pot of salted water on the stove for the potatoes and let it come to a boil.
The water was ready by the time everything was prepped, and my first step was to get the potatoes started. Tip: Cutting the potatoes into small pieces helps them cook faster. A 4.5-quart pot was a perfect size for them.
Next, it was time to fry the spices. I used a 5-quart Dutch oven for this part. It was big enough for the prices and to eventually add the potatoes, plus it helped contain the oil spatters.
The potatoes were ready when the spices finished (about 10-15 minutes). All that was left was to add them to the Dutch oven with the peas and mix them with the spices and some salt. Well, that and getting to enjoy this fragrant dish that was making my stomach growl by this point!
