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ver the last two weekends, I have folded hundreds of these tasty triangles for work, and thought that I might just share the recipe for this savory teatime snack with you. Although the most popular version of the samosa is Indian, similar pastries are also found in other countries across the Arabian Sea, where these delightful finger foods assume different yet similar names such as samsa, sanbusé, sambusa, samuza and sambosa.

My take on the samosa doesn’t have the original pyramid-like form and I don’t make my own wraps. I just want to keep things simple enough for myself, and you, to give this crowd-pleasing treat a try.

Makes 20 samosas

20 sheets spring roll wraps

3 medium-sized potatoes

200 g frozen peas, defrosted

10 g ginger, grated

2 shallots, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp garam masala spice mix

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon powdered turmeric

Powdered chili pepper, optional

White pepper, to taste

Salt, to taste

3 tbsp vegetable oil + extra for frying

1 tbsp flour, for gluing
Boil the potatoes for about 20 minutes until cooked. Let cool, peel and cut into small cubes and crush lightly with a fork.
Heat the three tablespoons of oil in a pan over a low heat. Stir fry ginger, garlic and shallots until they’re translucent and soft. Add all the spices and fry until fragrant.
Add the peas and some salt and cook for about a two minutes. Add the potatoes and sauté to allow the spices to cover them evenly.
Add more salt and freshly ground pepper. Continue cooking for another couple of minutes. Set aside.
Mix flour with a drop of water in a bowl to make an edible “glue”.
Take a sheet of spring roll wraps and cover the rest with a cling film or a damp kitchen towel to prevent them from drying.
Brush the flour paste along two borders with connecting edges with a small cooking brush. Add about a tablespoon of the filling in one of its lower corners and fold into a triangle so the borders meet.
For the next step it’s easier to just look at the pictures. Basically you need to fold it three times to form a small triangle and all the edges should meet.
Press the borders lightly to seal them better and to prevent them from opening during frying.
Heat sufficient oil for frying and deep-fry the samosas until golden. Lay them on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Serve warm.

A last note on oils – for frying you need an oil with a high smoke point because it needs to arrive at around 180° C to keep it from absorbing too much into the food. Healthy choices would be groundnut or canola oil; even healthier choices are extra virgin olive oil and olive oil, but they are too costly for frying and their distinct flavor is not suitable for Asian cooking.