As some of you know my fiancé Marc has been making some amazing food for my workshops. Here he shares his Samosa and Bhaji recipe which have been a real hit at the workshops. The Samosa recipe is a little different from a traditional recipe as they are baked in the oven rather than deep fat fried, healthy and delicious! All recipes are vegan, enjoy.
Samosas
potatoes – 2 large sized ones (about 600g)
onions – 2 (about 250g)
peas – 1 cup (about 60g)
ginger – 1 thumb
garlic – 4 cloves
finger chillies – 2
lemon – juiced
mango chutney / dried mango powder – 1-2 tbsp
cumin seeds – 1 tbsp
cumin 1 tsp
ground coriander – 1 tsp
chopped coriander – small bunch
garam masala – 2 tsp
chaat masala – 2 tsp
vegan spread
pastry brush
Either 1 pack of Filo pastry (like jus-roll) or make your own!
Method
filling:
Some peel the potatoes but I don’t.
Wash and boil potatoes until cooked, remove from heat, change to cold water to cool them down.
In a large pan warm up some coconut oil, sauté the onion for a minute, then add the chillies, garlic for another minute.
chop up potatoes and add
Add everything else except the mango and lemon and quietly simmer for a few minutes until everything is evenly covered with the spices
add lemon juice and mango and gently relax into the mixture
preparation:
warm up some vegan spread in a small pan
Take one sheet of fill and place flat on work surface, with the length going left to right
thinly brush with spread
fold bottom third upwards to middle and brush. then do the same with the top third, so it it only a third as deep as before. brush again
add a dessertspoonful of the mixture to one end
fold the corner down to the bottom edge, to form a triangle
keep folding along the length of the pastry until you reach the end.
brush the end again and seal the samosa and place seam-down on a baking tray
do the same until you run out of ingredients
bake gas mark 5 for 20-25 mins, until golden brown, turning once
Top hints: If you make the filling the day before and leave in the fridge overnight the flavours mix deeper. For an alternative texture, try just cooking the potatoes but not the rest and it will cook in the over anyway but it will be a bit more crunchy and ‘drier’. You can deep fry these but I prefer to bake them, as its more healthy.
Bhajees
gram lour 4oz / 120 g
potatoes – 2 large sized ones (about 600g)
onions – 2 (about 300g)
ground coriander – 1 tsp
chopped coriander – small bunch
turmeric 1/2 tsp
finger chillies – 2
ginger – 1 thumb
garam masala 1/2 tsp
chaat masala – 1/2 tsp
cumin 1 tsp
seaweed/nori flakes – pinch
1/2 pint water
Method:
Some peel the potatoes but I don’t.
Wash and boil potatoes until cooked, remove from heat, change to cold water to cool them down.
In a large mixing bowl, put everything but the potatoes and water onto the bowl and combine thoroughly
add potatoes and stir well in
slowly add water until the mixture is slack, not runny (if you overdo the water you can rescue it with a bit more gram flour
heat up oil in pan to very hot (the oil needs to be about 5-6 cm deep), or use deep fat fryer set high
carefully pull together a bhajee using two desert spoons to fashion a ball and place into oil
cook for around 8 minutes until it turns a deep golden brown and start to float
cook in batches, depending on the size of the pan being used and lay aside on kitchen paper
Top hints: I like using red onions for a slightly less aggressive hit. This is definitely better with organic onions and potatoes. Serves well with mango chutney, hummus, vegan mayo or vegan cucumber dip (I suppose I’ll have to mention that now too)
Vegan cucumber dip
plain soy yogurt – 2 cups
cucumber – 2, sliced small
garlic – 3 cloves chopped finely and crushed beneath knife blade
lemon juice – 3 tbsp
paprika – 1/4 tsp
pepper – dash
fresh chopped mint leaves – 1tbsp (a bit more if not fresh)
seaweed/nori flakes – pinch
