Spicy chicken samosas
Making golden, crispy samosas with a spicy chicken filling is surprisingly easy and quick. Serve warm with a steaming cup of chai.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for deep-frying
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú onion, finely chopped
- 2 green bird’s-eye chillies, finely chopped
- 2.5cm/1in fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 250g/9oz chicken mince
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tbsp malt vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
- handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
- 3 tsp plain flour
- 270g pack filo pastry (7 sheets)
- salt
Method
Heat the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and fry for 7–8 minutes until softened and changed in colour slightly. Add the chillies, stir well, then add the ginger and garlic. Fry for 1 minute more, then stir in the tomato purée. Add the chicken and spices, then fry for another 3 minutes, making sure to break up the meat and coat it evenly in the spices.
Lower the heat, add the vinegar and sugar, then season with salt. Continue cooking for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir through the coriander. Set aside to cool completely.
Mix the flour with 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl to make a paste – this will be used to seal the samosas.
Unroll a single filo sheet over a flat surface. Return the remaining pastry to the packet to stop the sheets drying out. With the shortest side of the pastry sheet facing you, cut the pastry into two long strips, each 10cm/4in wide.
Scoop a heaped teaspoon of the chicken mixture onto the right-hand corner of the filo and mould into a triangle shape. Take the right corner and fold diagonally to the left, enclosing the filling and forming a triangle. Fold again along the upper crease of the triangle. Keep folding in this way until you reach the end of the strip. Seal the end of the samosa with the flour paste and repeat with the remaining filling and pastry until you have 14 samosas.
Fill a large, deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan two-thirds full with oil and heat. (CAUTION: Hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.) Lower the samosas into the hot oil in batches, frying for 1–2 minutes, until crispy and golden brown all over. Drain on a paper-lined plate whilst you cook the rest. Serve warm with a cup of chai.