Looking for Samosa recipe? Why not try this Air-fried or baked samosa recipe with enhanced crust and nutritious filling to make the whole snack experience delightful and healthy. This enhanced baked samosa recipe also allows for freezing samosa for extended time and fresh air-fry them when needed. We are one samosa lover family like many others. As always, here is my attempt to make this traditional and popular delicacy in a healthier way.
It took me a few attempts to perfect my enhance samosa recipe for baking. The most intimidating part of samosa is folding them into perfect triangles. In this baked samosa recipe I have tried to simplify that process as well by trying a new creative shape. Aren’t these looking pretty?
What is Samosa?
Samosa is so popular that it will be hard to find someone in this universe who is not familiar with them. Though Samosa dose not need any introduction, still let me give it a try. Samosa is a deep fried savory pastry filled with savory filling such as potato mixture, lentils or meat. Dough for samosa crust dough is usually made of all-purpose flour. Samosa tastes best when served hot with fresh cilantro mint green chutney and sweet & sour tamarind chutney.
Origin of Samosa
Very few people know that samosa did not originate in India, but instead traveled to India from middle east and central Asia with travelers and explore around medieval times. Their samosa were stuffed with minced meat, almonds, pistachios, walnuts and spices. Over the course of time, these samosas slowly got acclimatized to Indian vegetarian diet with spiced potato filling. However, like other, I am happy to say that these Samosa filled with spicy potato mixture are from my homeland of India.
Can Samosa be baked?
Yes of course, samosa can be baked with some recipe modifications. In fact, the baked samosa taste even better than fried samosas and are light on tummy since it is not filled with saturated fats from deep frying. Another advantage of baked samosa is that you can freeze them ahead of time and just slide them in the pre-heated oven or air fryer when ready to indulge.
Air-Fried Samosa – Can Samosa be Air-Fried?
Absolutely, this is a perfect recipe for air-fried samosas as well. Since, I was making a big batch I baked them in the oven to avoid the multiple rounds of air frying. If I am trying to cook just few pieces I would prefer air-fried them instead heating up my whole oven. Temperature setting would be same as oven.
Popular Regional Variations of Samosa
Samosa are popular by different names in in different region with some regional changes to the recipe. For example, in eastern India people call these Shingadas, in Hyderabad it is popular by the name of Lukhmi and in further south the samosa are more like Portuguese Chamucas. In North Indian, Samosa aka Punjabi samosa or Delhi Samosa are mostly filled with spicy potato mixture.
Enhanced Dough Recipe for perfect crust of Baked Samosas
The crust dough for samosa is traditionally made with all-purpose flour or maida. To make it little healthier, I have added whole wheat flour and almond flour into the dough mix. I was able to significantly reduce the amount of oil in the dough by adding almond flour. If you are allergic to nuts then just skip the almond flour and increase the quantity of oil. The flour ratio I used to make the dough is 1 cup of all-purpose flour; 1 cup of whole wheat flour; ½ cup of almond flour and 2 tbs of oil for every cup of flour exclusive of almond flour. The flakiness in the crust comes from the fat, aka moyen, and almond flour also has high ratio of fat in it.
Best potato filling for baked Samosa
In this baked Samosa recipe, filing consists of potatoes, paneer and green peas. For vegan version just skip the paneer. I have further enhanced the filling by adding mixed nuts and seeds (cashew, almond, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds) for additional crunchiness and increasing the nutritional value. If any family member is allergic to tree nuts or making them for a big get together, then best is to avoid them to be on safe side.
Splitting the Work over the Course of Two Days
Sometime, it can be hard to complete the whole baked samosa recipe in one go. You can prepare dough for crust few hours in advance or can keep prepared dough for maximum of one day in fridge. I personally don’t like to keep in the fridge as the dough for crust is supposed to be stiff. Keeping dough in the fridge would make it stiffer and more difficult to work with. The filling can be made in advance in refrigerate it for 2-3 days. If you want to break down the whole process in two parts, then prepare the filling first day and refrigerate it. Second day, prepare the dough for crust, fill the samosas and bake them.
Are these Samosa Freezer Friendly?
This baked samosa recipe is perfect to make ahead of time. Just shape and fill them as per the instructions, arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Now place the baking sheet with unbaked samosa in freezer. Make sure to cover the baking sheet with cling wrap. Try to keep the baking tray as straight as possible in the freezer. When ready to bake take out the baking sheet from freezer, remove the cling wrap and place it in the preheated oven. No need to thaw them before.
Ingredients For Baked Samosa Recipe
