Baked Samosa – Pressure Cooked Stuffing

I simply love to prepare Samosa these days as I have found the quickest & easiest way to make stuffing by using just one pressure cooker pot and bake the samosas instead of frying. Now, that’s called smart eating….right! Samosa with Chai is my favorite.
We all love some traditional popular recipes but reluctant to make and eat as they are high in calories and the preparation is too complicated. I have been working on all my favorite recipes to make them healthier and eat without guilt. Samosa is our family favorite, specially my partner and my older son Dhruv are totally crazy for Samosas. I used to prepare Samosa and Jalebis only on their birthdays but now I love to prepare these delicacies often.
With the advanced technologies, now we can bake most fried recipes to avoid extra calories. For this recipe, I am so thankful to few technologies. First one is the chopper. Vadalia chopper dices the vegetables uniform and really fast. So I dice onion and potato with Vadalia chopper. My second favorite is the pressure cooker to prepare the stuffing really quick and easily. You can use either electric or stove top pressure cooker to prepare the stuffing.


Just few days back, I made about 80 Samosas on Dhruv’s Birthday as he wanted me to feed his whole class. And his teacher actually was going to teach them history of India and she was hoping to have the class Indian food. So I got even more excited to prepare the Samosas.

Few points to remember for the samosa dough crust:
These samosas can be baked in the preheated oven at 375-400F till golden brown or till desired crispness and color. I recommend to keep close eye on your first trial though as ovens may vary.
1. enough fat should be added to the flour. 1/5th of fat to 1 part of flour in weight is suggested.
2. the amount of water added depends on the quality and texture of the flour used. so remember to knead into a tight firm dough and add water in turns when kneading.
2. don’t roll the samosa crust too thick otherwise it will take too much time to bake it and it can become hard due to a prolonged baking.
3. also don’t roll the samosa too thin, as it won’t able to contain the potato stuffing.
4. do brush with some oil before you bake the samosas.
5 a pinch of baking soda does help in making the samosa crust a bit soft.
Watch the video instructions below to prepare the Baked Samosa from start to finish.


if you have an air fryer, then you can make these samosas in the air fryer or else bake them in the oven. and if you want, you can even fry them.
serve these samosas hot or warm with tamarind-dates chutney or coriander chutney or even tomato ketchup.

Baked Samosa

Author: Bhavna

Ingredients

  • For filling:
  • Onion 1 Large , chopped finely
  • Potato 2 Large
  • Oil 1 Tablespoon
  • Cumin seeds 1/2 Teaspoon
  • Coriander seed 1/2 Teaspoon
  • Curry leaves sprig 1
  • Turmeric powder 1/4 Teaspoon
  • Ginger garlic paste 1 Teaspoon
  • Salt To Taste
  • Amchoor powder 1/4 Teaspoon
  • Red chili powder To Taste
  • Garam masala To Taste
  • Water 1/4 Cup (4 tbs)
  • Green peas 1 Cup (16 tbs)
  • Broken cashew nuts To Taste
  • Sesame seeds To Taste
  • Coriander leaves 2 Tablespoon
  • For dough:
  • Atta 1 Cup (16 tbs)
  • Maida 1 Cup (16 tbs)
  • Baking powder 1/4 Teaspoon
  • Salt To Taste
  • Ajwain 1/2 Teaspoon
  • Ghee 3 Tablespoon
  • Oil 2 Tablespoon
  • Water 1/2 Cup (8 tbs)
  • Milk 3 Tablespoon ((for brushing))

Instructions

  • preparing the samosa pastry:
    sieve flours, spices, baking powder and  salt in a mixing bowl. 
    now add 5 tablespoon ghee+oil. Only ghee or only oil can be used as well but I prefer to mix both for the better crust texture.
    with your fingertips rub the ghee/oil in the flour to get a breadcrumb like consistency.
    the whole mixture should clamp together when joined. if not then continue to rub the oil or ghee in the flour.
    then add 1/3 cup water. I recommend to add water as you go to avoid making mistake of adding too much water as all flours take different amount of water. Begin to knead adding more water if required. depending on the quality of flour, you may need to add less or more water. if using all purpose flour, then less water will be required. for all purpose flour, just add 4 to 5 tablespoons first and then add more water if required.
    knead to a firm dough. cover the dough with a moistened napkin or kitchen towel and keep aside for 30-40 mins.
  • Preparing the Stuffing:
    Heat 1-2 teaspoon oil in a pressure cooker pot or pan. add  cumin seeds, coriander seeds, turmeric powder and saute till they splutter.
    then add the crushed green chili and ginger paste. mix well.
    then add 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder and 1/2 teaspoons coriander powder. mix again.
    add onion and saute till translucent.
    now add the potato cubes. mix the spices very well with the potatoes.
    now add 1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder, 1/2 teaspoon dry mango powder and salt as per taste.
    mix everything again very well. Cover the pressure cooker and hear only one whistle or cook for 15 minutes in electric cooker or in the pan. Be sure that potato is cooked soft. switch off the flame.
    Let mixture cool before starting to make samosa. lastly add 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves. mix the coriander leaves with the aloo stuffing and keep aside.
  • Assembling stuffing and baking the samosa:
    after 30 minutes, knead the dough lightly again.
    divide the dough into 7 or 8 equal pieces.
    take a dough piece. roll it on your palms and place it on a rolling board.
    with a rolling pin, roll to a round or circle, keeping the thickness neither thin nor thick.
    cut with a knife or a pastry cutter through the center of the samosa pastry.
    with a brush or with your finger tips, on the straight edge of the sliced dough, apply some water.
    join the straight edge, overlapping the two edges a bit.
    press the edges well, so that they get sealed. it will look like a cone.
    now with a small spoon, stuff the potato filling in the cone. pinch a part of the samosa cover and seal the base edges. this helps the samosas to stand.
    be sure there are no cracks. the edges should be joined very well.
    prepare all samosas this way. as you go on making them, cover them with a kitchen towel so that the outer pastry does not dry out. before baking, preheat oven at 180 degrees celsius for at least 15 minutes.
    now keep them in a baking tray.
    brush the samosa with some oil.
    bake the samosas in a preheated oven at 180 degrees celsius for 30 to 35 minutes, till the crust is golden and crisp. I bake for 60-90 minutes in electric cooker. oven temperatures vary so do keep a check.
    allow them to cool down a bit for a couple of minutes as the samosas will be very hot. when they are hot enough to eat, then serve these baked samosas with your favorite chutney.