Potato Pielets
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| Little pastry packets filled with potatoes. |
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Potato Pielets
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| Rating: moderate to hard, many steps and the dough is a bit tricky |
| Preparation time: Oy! Very time consuming. Plan on a few hours. On the plus side, these can be made a day or two ahead, or frozen and then reheated....and they are beyond delicious. |
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Ingredients: (Part One: Potato Filling)
3 or 4 medium potatoes 1 tablespoon oil touch of red pepper 1 teaspoon mango powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup or so of boiled peas, well drained handful of cilantro leaves (hari duniya) 1 green (hot) Thai pepper (optional) 1 or 2 inches fresh ginger, cut into 'matchsticks' (optional) |
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Procedure:
Bake 3 or 4 medium potatoes, cool, peel and crush a bit. Lightly brown in a bit of oil (you can add more than recommended if you want). Add the spices and green pepper while browning the potatoes. Add the peas toward the end of the browning. Remove the pan from the fire, add the chopped green cilantro leaves, mix well, let cool. |
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Ingredients: (Part Two: the 'piecrust')
2 cups white flour 1 heaping teaspoon salt 4 tablespoon (or so) of oil cold water |
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Procedure: (Making the dough)
This is probably the hardest step. This is much harder and more elastic than a western piecrust. Mix the flour and salt together well. Add the oil and blend throughly. The flour should stick together when squeezed. You may need to add a bit more oil than suggested to accomplish this. Add the cold water bit by bit until a firm dough is formed. Knead a bit until smooth and elastic. Cover with a damp cloth until ready to use. (If preparing the dough much before the assembly step, put into a plastic container and refrigerate. Knead again before use. |
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Procedure: (Part Three: Assembling the Samosa)
Have a bowl of warm water handy. Lightly flour the rolling pin and surface. Walnut sized pieces of dough are rolled out until very thin (about 1/8 inch) circles. Cut the circle in half. Make a cone with hemisphere, sealing the edges by dampening the edges with water and pressing together. Fill the cone with the potato mixture, leaving room to fold over the top of the dough. Dampen the top edge, press together to seal and roll the edge over itself, pressing again to seal. Cover with a damp cloth until ready to use. (If preparing the samosas much before the frying step, put into a plastic container and refrigerate or freeze. |
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Procedure: (Part Four: Cooking the Samosa)
Traditionally, samosas are now fried (deep frying is fastest and easiest) but the samosas can be fried in a deep frying pan as well and turned until golden. Do not use exceptionally hot oil, just moderately hot and fry a few at a time. If too many are fried at once they bump against each other and break open before the crust is set and crisp. Alternately, samosas can be baked. They still taste delicious but a bit dryer and not quite as rich as the fried version. Set the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake until golden. Just as one can brush a piecrust with butter for a more golden finish, one can also brush the samosas. |
Suggested use: This is an appetizer, but such a hearty one that it is best served at a party where
no dinner follows...or follows quite a bit later or as the main part of a luncheon. It is delicious with Hari Duniya (Coriander) Chutney,
Imli Chutney (Tamerind) or just plain Ketchup (we like to spice it up with a bit of red pepper and
'dal ke masala' (a purchased spice mix from the Indian store).
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