Samosa Style Pasties/Pastries

One of my daughters said she couldn’t make pie, so I wrote down the recipe again and mentioned she could make it sweet or savory — which led to my wanting to eat a SAMOSA. The crust was easy to make. I made a double recipe and rolled out two big crusts. Then, because I don’t attend to the fancy details of life, I cut them into random blocky shapes. I got about five per crust — ten in all.

Now, for the filling. But, oh! There were no potatoes in the house. What to do? I began by sautéing a large onion in olive oil. I sprinkled on some tamari. That’s always a good start. I opened a can of green peas and dumped them in. But I still needed something more substantial. Luckily I had made some of the okara patties the night before — the ones seasoned with Indian spices and basil instead of cilantro. They also had carrots, onions, and peppers in them and a bit of tomato sauce with big chunks of oyster mushrooms in it. So: plenty of fodder for a samosa. I threw it all in the pan.

I had to contain myself to keep from spooning too much of the filling onto the pastry shapes. I found it easiest to rest the flattened dough shape on my palm, with the center cupped down. That gave me a better idea of how much filling to glop in the middle. Then I folded the sides up to the center and pinched it closed. I placed all the samosas on one baking sheet and baked them in a preheated oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

Crust Ingredients

2 cups — whole wheat pastry flour

2 cups — white flour

1 tsp. — salt

1 cup — sunflower oil (with a few drops more)

½ cup — water (with maybe a little more)

Method

Stir the flour and salt together. Add the oil and stir it around until it looks pebbly. Add a little more oil, if it is still too dry looking. Add in the water. Mix it around until it forms a ball. If it is still too dry and doesn’t hold together, very carefully add just a little bit more water at a time. It can quickly turn into a wet mass if you don’t watch out.

You don’t want it too sticky or it won’t come off the wax paper. Separate it into two big balls (this recipe would make four normal-sized crusts for two pies, otherwise) and roll them flat between two sheets of wax paper — to a thickness of about an eighth of an inch. Not too thick and not too thin. Cut into five shapes and fill.

Filling Ingredients

1 large — onion, chopped

1 Tblsp. — olive oil

½ Tblsp. — tamari

1 can — green peas

 

Add something else substantial … cubed cooked potatoes? Tempeh or tofu cubes? Okara patties? If the substantial item is not already seasoned, then throw in some curry powder or sambar powder — about a tablespoon.

Method

Sauté the onion in the oil and add tamari. After onions are soft, add in the peas and substantial ingredient. The potatoes, tofu, or tempeh should be cooked ahead. 

Fill pastry shapes, pinch closed, and bake on a flat pan for thirty minutes at 425 F degrees. Eat your samosas plain as a snack or serve them with chutney or another piquant dipping sauce.

Happy World Vegetarian Day!