Homemade vegetable samosas are a great snack and I don’t think this popular snack or street food needs any introduction. It has a flaky yet crispy pastry on the outside filled with a potato and pea filling with a hint of spice and loads of aromatic spices and flavours.
Samosa is of Indian origin, some might even argue that but from what I have read India is where this street food originated from. Being Sri Lankan, samosa was definitely part of our Sri Lankan snack range as well, but I don’t believe its as popular as it is in India but nevertheless, all our short eats shops and street food shops definitely had unlimited samosas 
When living in Sri Lanka, almost all Sri Lankans never have the need to cook street eats, because every corner shop in Sri Lanka has them available for a very cheap price. But after living abroad and you can not find street food in every corner shop, I started to make more Sri Lankan snacks than I ever did. It could be because I am homesick as well, and food definitely helps me relive those moments.
The samosa was one of the snacks I love to make. The best thing about samosa is that it is vegan and so versatile. Everyone knows what a samosa is, so it avoids me giving an educational masterclass about the food I serve hahahhah when I serve Sri Lankan food to people who are not Sri Lankan, it is so hard to articulate what the dish is, so I end up comparing it to a western food that they have tasted before. well, this dish definitely cuts out the work for me as everyone would know what a samosa is.
Samosa is popular in every country. All our retail shops here in Australia has samosas on their shelves and it is also classified as party food and easy to entertain finger food. But I must admit, I am yet to find a good tasting samosa on the supermarket shelves and that’s when I developed the perfect samosa recipe.
Ingredients for homemade vegetable samosa
Samosas can be made with chicken, vegetable or lamb but the most common type of samosas that are found is vegetable samosas.
I have to admit, we don’t find meat samosas in Sri Lanka, but I have read that India does have a variety of samosas, for us, it has always been a vegetarian dish.
Potato– This is the most common vegetable used in samosa but you also can use other vegetables
Peas– some people add peas and some don’t. This is a personal choice
Spices & flavourings – Coriander powder, garam masala, cumin seeds, chilli powder are all essential ingredients to flavour the samosa filling mixture
Ghee – I like to use ghee for samosas as it really gives a different flavour than using oil or butter
Lemon juice – This is to balance the taste add a bit of acidity to the mixture
Samosa pastry
The most commonly used pastry is the samosa pastry (I have given the recipe below) but some also make it with Filo pastry and spring roll wrappers. I don’t believe this is the traditional way of doing it, but its definitely a common practice in Sri Lanka and Australia as well.
Easy homemade vegetable samosa recipe
Although this a traditional samosa recipe, I am also using ingredients and spices that can be easily found in any major supermarkets and it’s a simple straight forward recipe.
Although it is an easy recipe, it also has tricky parts and there are many steps that can go wrong, therefore read the recipe carefully before attempting this recipe. I am not going to lie, it has a few steps, so it is not going to be a quick dish but believe me, the reward of indulging in homemade vegetable samosas are going to be so worth it!!!
Common problems when making
The dough itself can be very tricky, this dough is made with very little water, which means its a stiff dough and it is very hard to work with, but if u add too much water to the dough (there is nothing wrong with it) it will have a higher water activation, which results in a crispier dough with blisters, and that’s exactly what I have done. I actually prefer it with extra water as the dough is flakier
Can I freeze homemade vegetable samosas
You can definitely freeze them after making the samosa, and fry them as needed. Fill and shape the samosas, place them in a large container, with gaps in between, so they don’t touch each other. You can also layer them up, but add baking paper in between the layers and store them
How to store and reheat homemade vegetable samosas
You might never have leftover samosas hahhahaha But in case you do, you can store them in the fridge tightly wrapped and to reheat, preheat the oven to 180c and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes
Can I bake homemade vegetable samosas?
Yes, you can, but as all fried food taste better, samosa also tastes better when fried. Bake in the oven at 180C for 30-35 minutes. Brush the top with oil or oil spray before baking them in the oven
What to eat samosa with
Mint sauce
Chutney
You can also check out my other starters & snacks
Watch how to make homemade vegetable samosas
Step by Step recipe on how to make homemade vegetable samosas
Homemade Vegetable Samosas
Equipment
- Fryer
Ingredients
Samosa Pastry
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 tsp Salt
- 4 tbsp Ghee
- 90-100 g Water
Vegetable samosa filling
- 2 tbsp Ghee
- 1 tbsp Garlic chopped
- 2 tbsp Ginger (chopped)
- 1 piece Green chilli (chopped)
- 1 Onion (chopped)
- 500 g Potato Cooked and peeled
- 2 tbsp Coriander leaves chopped
- Green peas Frozen
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
Spices
- 1 tbsp Cumin seeds
- to taste Salt
- 1 tsp Red chilli powder
- 1 tsp Red chilli flakes
- 1 tsp coriander powder
Instructions
Samosa pastry
- In a large bowl, place the flour, salt and ghee, mix thoroughly with your fingers until the ghee is well dispersed in the flour and resembles a crumb
- Slowly start incorporating waterPlease note this dough is made with minimum water, so the less you add the better the dough is, but it is also hard to knead the dough when there is less water
- Knead the dough until it comes together. Cover and let it rest covered with a damp cloth for 40 minutes
Samosa filling
- While the dough is resting, make the filling. Heat a medium-size pan on low heat
- Add ghee, onion, garlic, ginger, chilli and all the spices mentioned in the filling recipe and fry it well until fragrant
- Once well-toasted add the cooked potato and mash it with the spoon
- Finally, switch off the fire and add the peas, lemon juice and fresh coriander leaves, mix well
- Leave the mixture aside to cool down
Shaping samosas
- Shape the dough into a log shape and cut into 6 equal pieces, taking each piece flatten the dough with a rolling pin until it resembles like a circle leave the rest of the dough under the damp cloth to avoid it from drying out
- Cut the circular-shaped dough right in the middle, Take one part and apply water on the straight edge/side.Now bring the two ends of the straight edge together and pinch them to form a cone.
- Fill the cone with 1 tablespoon of the mixture, then apply water to the open side of the dough and pinch the end so the cone is closed ( Refer to the video)keep the dough under a moist cloth to avoid it from drying out
- Once all samosas are made, heat a pot of oil on medium heat, once the oil is hot fry the samosas for 3-5 minutes, until it is golden brown and crispy
- Drain the samosas on a paper towel and enjoy them hot with a nice cup of tea