Samosas have been around for centuries, a term that encompasses pastries filled with a savoury filling; originating in India by travelling merchants coming from Africa and Central Asia. They’re synonymous with Indian street food culture and are filled with a variety of meat or vegetable fillings with lots of spices.
My delicious samosas are a bit healthier than the traditional variety, which are made with a vegetable oil based pastry and deep fried. There’s no denying that they’re rather moreish. I like to use filo pastry, which gives a wonderful crunch and to bake them, so they’re not as greasy and are therefore much lighter to eat.
This version contains sweet leeks, chickpeas and spinach but the world is your oyster here with filling options. Use kale, chard or peas instead of the spinach, shallots instead of the leek (although you might not want as many) and potato, squash or sweet potato instead of the chickpeas. Vary the spices too. I wanted to keep this recipe super simple to make so I used tinned chickpeas, grated the carrot and used a pre-made curry powder. Try to ensure any spices used are as fresh as can be and they haven’t been languishing in the back of your store cupboard for years!
The vibrant coriander herb chutney is simply whizzed up in a blender and adds a welcome freshness and contrasts with the spices. However, a minted yogurt or mango chutney yogurt would also be a delicious accompaniment.
You can make samosas into mini canapé size or a bit larger and enjoy them as a snack or starter preceding an Indian spread. I have given instructions below for both sizes below. And finally, they can be frozen flat on trays and then bagged up for future use. Bake from frozen for about 20-25 mins until golden and hot in the middle. So, these versatile little samosas are definitely worth having in your freezer, especially for a Curry Friday starter. And maybe make sure the fridge is well stocked with Cobra beer too!
Ingredients
Samosas
100g baby spinach
1 tbsp coconut oil or sunflower oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 small-medium carrot, finely chopped
220g leeks (prepared weight), thinly sliced
1 large garlic clove, grated
1 tbsp ginger, grated
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp mild curry powder
2/3 tin chickpeas, drained
Handful of coriander, chopped
Zest and juice of ½ lemon
1 pack filo pastry
40g butter, melted, or olive oil for greasing
2 tbsp black onion seeds
Herb chutney
60g coriander leaves and some stalks
Handful of mint leaves, about 20 leaves
½ garlic clove
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 spring onion, roughly chopped
½ small green chilli (optional)
2-3 tbsp natural or coconut yogurt
A pinch of sea salt
Notes: You need a mini blender or small bowl in a food processor
Instructions
- Boil a kettle and put the spinach in a colander over the sink. Pour the boiling water over the spinach until wilted and set aside until cool enough to handle.
- Heat a large frying pan and then add the oil. Add the mustard seeds and cook until they start to shimmer and dance around a little. Add the carrots with a pinch of salt and cook gently for 4-5 mins, until beginning to soften. Add in the leeks and and continue to cook gently for 8-10 mins until soft. If they start to catch at all, add a splash of water.
- Squeeze out the excess moisture from the spinach and finely chop.
- Stir in the garlic, ginger and enough chilli for your tastes. You can add always add more later. Cook for 2 mins more. Add in the curry powder (adding a touch more oil if needed) and cook for 1-2 mins, stirring regularly then the chickpeas, spinach and coriander. Squish some of the chickpeas with the back of a fork. Add in the lemon zest and season well with salt and pepper. Taste and add a squeeze of lemon juice, if needed.
- It’s a good idea to keep the filo pastry underneath a damp tea towel (not too damp) as it dries out really quickly. To make the canape size samosas cut a sheet of filo pastry into strips roughly 10cm wide x 35cm long. Brush all lightly all over with either melted butter or olive oil.
- Place the strip longways away from you and put 1 tbsp of the mixture in the bottom left corner leaving about 1cm gap from the edges. Pull the right hand corner of the pastry over the mixture to meet the left edge (45 degrees), then fold over the parcel to the other side and then repeat until you’ve come to the end. Fold over as neatly as you can and place on a plate. Brush the top with butter and sprinkle with the black onion seeds.
- For the larger size samosas, cut a 10cm strip off so you’re left with a pice roughly 22cm wide x 35mm deep. You an use these for some canape size samosas or to make filo cases for bite size nibbles. Fold the filo pastry over widthways so you have a piece roughly 10cm wide and proceed as above.
- If you’re baking these now, preheat your oven to 180°C/gas 4. Line two baking sheets with parchment and bake for 12-15 minutes. Keep an eye on them towards the end of cooking so they don’t burn.
- While the samosas are baking, whizz all of the chutney ingredients in a mini blender. Add a little more yogurt if you like it slightly creamier. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
- Serve the samosas with the chutney, and maybe a cold beer! Enjoy.
