breakfast samosas

A couple of weeks ago, we went out for Indian food at one of our favorite restaurants

Rasika

, in D.C. I’m trying to tick things off my bucket list, some new places to try and some old spots that I know I will miss a lot, this is definitely on my list. Their menu is always delicious and every item on it bursting with flavors, we ended up trying several different dishes and by the end of the meal we struggled to with our desserts (honestly, we could have skipped it but they sounded and were incredible). Strangely enough, we never ordered any samosas which then led me to remedy the situation with these guys!

I did something very different this time, I infused the pastry dough with fresh rosemary (though dried will work as well here) and also used coconut oil to create the dough’s flakiness. The filling for this breakfast-themed pastry includes a mix of sweet potatoes, leeks, spinach, boiled eggs and a little more rosemary that spiced to create a delicious flavorful mix. 

There are step-by-step photographs that M took while I prepared the pastries to cook which hopefully make things easier. This is also the way, I prefer to cook my samosas, I don’t like to deep fry but simply baking them takes away from the texture of the pastry. So, I do a two-step cooking process where I lightly pan-sear the samosas on each side in a little oil and then bake them till they are cooked.

You can do what I do, prepare these for brunch and/or save the rest and reheat them in the mornings.

breakfast samosas

yields:

14 samosas

ingredients

filling 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon rosemary leaves, fresh or dried

1 cup leek, chopped

2 cups sweet potatoes, diced

4 cups packed spinach leaves, fresh

2 thai green/red chili peppers, thinly sliced

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher sea salt

2 large hardboiled eggs, peeled and chopped

1/2 teaspoon garam masala 

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan on medium-high for about 30-40 seconds. As soon as the oil gets hot, add the rosemary and stir for 10 seconds. Stir in the leeks and sauté for 2 minutes. 

2. Add the sweet potatoes and coat them with the oil. Cook for another 5 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are just tender. Add the spinach leaves along with the chili and salt, stir and continue to cook until the sweet potatoes are completely cooked. This will take about 4-5 minutes. If the spinach releases a large amount of water, continue to cook until the liquid evaporates. Fold in the eggs and the garam masala. Remove from stove and keep the filling aside, until ready to use.

samosa pastry

ingredients 

1 cup (5 ounces) durum / whole-wheat flour

1 cup (4 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour + a little more flour for rolling out the pastry

2 tablespoons rosemary, fresh/dried 

1 teaspoon sea salt

4 tablespoons melted coconut oil

6-7 tablespoons chilled water*** (you might need more)

1. Add all the ingredients from the flour to the salt in a food processor. Pulse a 2-3 times for 5 second intervals to evenly mix all the ingredients. 

2. Add the coconut oil to the dry ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds. Sprinkle the 6 tablespoons of water over the flour and pulse the ingredients until they combine to form a ball dough. You may need to add more water to bring the ingredients together. Once the dough is formed, remove from the processor and wrap with cling film. Allow to rest for at least 60 minutes until ready to use.

Assembly

ingredients

a cup of water for sealing the pastry

See the step-by-step photographs photographs above (from top left to right and then bottom left to right).

1. Dust a clean pastry board or smooth kitchen surface with a little flour. Unwrap the dough and divide the dough into 14 equal parts. Mold each part into a ball, cover the balls with a damp cloth to prevent them from drying out while you are preparing the pastries.

2. Take one ball of dough and roll it out into a 5-6 inch circle, dusting with a little flour to prevent sticking.  The edges of the circle do not need to be perfect as you will fold them over.

3. Divide the circle into two semicircles with a sharp knife or pastry cutter. Take one semicircle of the pastry in your hand, using your fingers bring the straight ends of the semicircle together and brush the straight edges with a little water and gently press to seal to form a cone. 

4. Fill the cone with a generous tablespoon of the sweet potato filling prepared earlier. 

5. Brush the open ends of the cone with water and then press gently to seal the mouth. Brush this sealed edge with a little water and then fold this edge once over itself to form a tight seal.

6. Prepare the rest of the samosas similarly and keep aside covered with a damp cloth until ready to cook.

cooking the samosas

ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil for pan searing (you may need a little more or less)

1. Center a wire rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium sized non-stick pan, heat two tablespoons of the oil on medium high. As soon as the oil is hot add 3 samosas and lightly cook them on each side until they are lightly seared and become lightly golden brown. You may need to add a little more oil for searing the other side. 

Transfer the samosas to the prepared baking sheets. Bake 7 samosas at a time for about 20 minutes or until they are completely golden brown. Repeat this for the rest of the samosas.

3. Serve hot with ketchup or sweet tamarind chutney. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can reheat the samosas in a microwave or toaster oven before eating.