So, here's how I normally do ragada samosas. (Don't worry, I'll provide the full instructions for making your own samosas from scratch below if you're keen to try that.)
Ragada Samosas
Slightly adapted from 660 Curries
For the Stew:
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 c. chopped red onion
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1/2 tsp. turmeric
3 c. cooked chickpeas (or whole yellow peas)
samosas (1 or 2 per person, depending on size)
For the Sauce:
1 Tbsp. tamarind concentrate
3/4 c. chopped jaggery (or firmly packed brown sugar)
2 fresh Thai (bird's eye) chiles
2 Tbsp. ginger paste
1. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until light brown (~2 minutes).
2. Sprinkle in sugar, coriander, salt, cumin, cayenne, and turmeric. Stir and let sizzle for 5-10 seconds.
3. Immediately add the peas and 1 c. of water.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, for 25-30 minutes.
5. While stew is simmering, cook the samosas according to package directions. (Probably by warming them in the oven for 20 minutes or so.)
6. Whisk tamarind concentrate into 1 c. of water.
7. Stir in the jaggery, chiles, and ginger.
8. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil, uncovered, for 10-12 minutes.
9. Allow sauce to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a blender and puree.
10. Transfer sauce to a bowl and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes (or 30 minutes in the fridge).
11. Ladle some stew into a bowl or soup plate. Drizzle with sauce. Top with samosa(s). Enjoy!
If you can find a source of good ready-made samosas, this makes for a delightful low-effort dinner. (In theory this is meant to be an appetizer, but I've often just had a slightly larger portion of stew and had it for dinner.) If you like the idea of making your own samosas (or want more control over what goes into them), Iyer includes instructions for that as well. I must admit, I've never done it the long way, so I can't vouch for the samosa recipe, but it certainly looks like it would make wonderful samosas!
Samosas
Slightly adapted from 660 Curries
For the Samosa Shells:
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
8 Tbsp. butter, chilled, cut into thin slices
~1/2 c. ice water
For the Filling:
1/2 lb. russet (or other floury) potatoes, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 c. frozen green peas, thawed and drained
1/4 c. chopped mint
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
2 fresh Thai (bird's eye) chiles, minced
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 c. minced red onion
1 Tbsp. ginger paste
To Make the Samosa Shells:
1. Combine the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to blend.
2. Add the butter and cut it into the flour by pulsing until the butter forms pea-size rounds.
3. Drizzle in the cold water, a few Tbsp. at a time, continuing to pulse until it just starts to come together to form a soft ball.
4. Stop the processor and transfer the dough to a cutting board or dry, clean counter top.
5. Knead it gently to form a smooth ball, then roll it to form a 12"-long log.
6. Cut the log into 12 equal pieces and shape each one into a ball.
7. Press each ball flat to form a patty. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.
To Make the Samosa Filling:
1. Bring some water to a boil and add potatoes and carrots. Reduce heat to medium and boil until tender.
2. Drain and coarsely mash the veggies.
3. Stir in the peas, mint, cilantro, salt, and chiles.
4. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add the cumin and sizzle for 5-10 seconds.
6. Add the onion and ginger and cook until light brown around the edges (3-5 minutes).
7. Add the fried aromatic mixture to the potato filling and mix thoroughly.
To Assemble the Samosas:
1. Place a small bowl of water right next to the bowl of filling.
2. Remove a chilled patty from the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured board.
3. Roll it out to form a round roughly 4-5" in diameter. Dust with flour as needed.
4. Slice the round in half.
5. Lay one half across the finger of one hand (the best position is when you four fingers are together and your thumb is pointing skyward) with its straight edge in line with your forefinger.
6. Dab a little water over the dough, leaving ~1/4" border.
7. Lift the edge closest to your themb and twist it, laying the flipped side against the wet side, fashioning a cone.
8. Spoon a heaping Tbsp. or two of filling into the cone, pushing it down.
9. Wet the top round edge of the cone and press it together to seal it tightly shut.
10. Place the triangular samosa on a floured plate.
11. Repeat with the remaining patties and filling.
To Cook the Samosas:
1. Pour oil to a depth of 2-3" in a wok or Dutch oven.
2. Heat the oil over medium heat until it reaches a temperature of 350F. (Use a candy or deep-frying thermometer to monitor the temperature. Make sure the thermometer does not touch the bottom of the wok/pot/pan.)
3. Line a large plate or cookie sheet with several sheets of paper towels.
4. Once the oil is ready, gently slide a few samosas into the pan/wok. (Do not crowd the pan as this will drop the temperature of your oil as well as make managing the samosas difficult.) Fry, turning occasionally, until they are caramel-brown and crisp all over (~5 minutes.)
5. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place on the paper-towel-lined plate to drain.
6. Repeat until all samosas are cooked. (Be sure to keep an eye on the oil temperature and adjust heat as necessary to maintain it at 350F.)
Adaptations
So, I decided that maybe I'd try this new thing where I suggest alterations to recipes to make them more <specific diet>-friendly. I won't try to do it with every recipe I post, but if there's something that's nearly <specific diet> already, I'll try to add a section where I make the necessary adjustments to nudge it over into actually <specific diet>-friendly.
I will list all the ingredients (not just substitutions) in the adaptations section since I figure this makes it easier to see everything you need at a glance. As a general rule though, I won't bother writing out all the instructions again and will just make note of any changes to procedure needed due to the substitutions.
It is also worth noting that, unless stated otherwise, I have not personally tested any of the "adapted" versions of the recipes. I am lucky enough to not have any dietary restrictions, so I tend to just cook the base recipe as is. I can make suggestions for how to adapt it but, at least in most cases, I will not have actually tested it. You have been warned.
So... here we go!
Vegan-ize It!
For the Samosa Shells:
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
8 Tbsp. vegan butter, vegetable shortening, unsalted margarine, or solid coconut oil
~1/2 c. ice water
If you use coconut oil, do NOT chill the dough. The coconut oil will get very hard in the fridge (much harder than butter) and the dough chilled dough will not be workable. Coconut oil tends to have a fairly narrow temperature range in which it's workable so, if your house tends to be either very warm or very cold, you're probably better off using one of the other options.
If you opt for shortening, you may find the flavour of the pastry somewhat lacking. Hopefully the surrounding (very flavourful) curry will somewhat mitigate this fact. :)
For the Samosa Filling:
1/2 lb. russet potatoes, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 c. frozen green peas, thawed and drained
1/4 c. chopped mint
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
2 fresh Thai (bird's eye chiles), minced
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 c. minced red onion
1 Tbsp. ginger paste
For the Stew:
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 c. chopped red onion
2 tsp. agave syrup
2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1/2 tsp. turmeric
3 c. cooked chickpeas or whole yellow peas
I don't recommend using granulated sugar in the stew since many cane sugars are filtered with bone char. If you can find a vegan sugar, feel free to use that instead.
For the Sauce:
1 Tbsp. tamarind concentrate
3/4 c. chopped jaggery
2 fresh Thai (bird's eye) chiles
2 Tbsp. ginger paste
In the non-vegan version of this recipe brown sugar is suggested as a substitute for the jaggery. If you are trying to make this vegan though, I recommend avoiding brown cane sugar as it, like the granulated sugar above, is sometimes filtered with bone char. Again, if you can find vegan brown sugar (I believe Sugar In the Raw brand along with a few others are) feel free to substitute that.
Make it Gluten-Free!
Okay, I won't bother writing the all the ingredients out again for this one since the only gluten-containing item is the pastry. In theory you should just be able to substitute a gluten-free flour blend for the all-purpose flour and have at it. In practice it seems that some people find the gluten-free pastry too crumbly to roll out. If you are gluten-free but not vegan, adding an egg might help. If you are gluten-free and vegan then I've read good things about using "chia eggs".
For the Samosa Shells:
3 c. gluten-free flour blend
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
8 Tbsp. butter, vegan butter, vegetable shortening, unsalted margarine, or solid coconut oil
1 egg or chia egg (optional)
anywhere from 1/4 c. to 1 c. ice water
If you are using an egg, add it after you've incorporated all the fat. Mix it through and then start adding water.
Depending on which flour blend you use, which fat you use, and whether or not you use an egg, you will probably need wildly different amounts of water.
Make it FODMAP-Friendly!
For the Samosa Shells:
3 c. gluten-free flour blend
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
8 Tbsp. butter, vegan butter, vegetable shortening, unsalted margarine, or solid coconut oil
1 egg or chia egg (optional)
anywhere from 1/4 c. to 1 c. ice water
See gluten-free section for notes and ideas on making pastry with gluten-free flour.
For the Filling:
1/2 lb. russet potatoes, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
leaves of 1 leek
1 c. chopped green beans
1/4 c. chopped mint
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 fresh Thai (bird's eye) chile, minced
2 Tbsp. onion or scallion oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1/4 tsp. asafetida
1/4 tsp. asafetida
1 Tbsp. ginger paste
Add the leek leaves and green beans to the pot when boiling the potatoes and carrots. Remove leaves before mashing.
Add the asafetida to the oil with the cumin seeds.
Add the asafetida to the oil with the cumin seeds.
For the Stew:
2 Tbsp. onion or scallion oil
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. asafetida
1/4 tsp. asafetida
3 c. tinned chickpeas, drained and thoroughly rinsed
Add the asafetida with the turmeric and other spices.
Chickpeas are only FODMAP-friendly in quantities of 1/4 c. or less so portion your stew accordingly. Using tinned (rather than freshly boiled) chickpeas helps reduce their FODMAP content. Including spices like turmeric and asafetida should also help mitigate the effects of any remaining problematic sugars. This may allow for portions somewhat larger than the specified 1/4 c., but if you tend to be sensitive to legumes anyway it's probably best to play it safe and stick to a smaller amount.
For the Sauce:
1 Tbsp. tamarind concentrate
3/4 c. chopped jaggery
1 fresh Thai (bird's eye) chile
2 Tbsp. ginger paste
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