M-m-m-my Samosas!

A few weeks ago, I had some pretty tasty samosas at a local restaurant, and was inspired to try making some myself.

The flavors seemed pretty straightforward: Mashed potato, cilantro, some coriander and curry powder. Nevertheless, I hit the library to find a basic samosa recipe I could adapt.

Mollie Katzen's Moosewood cookbook had samosa recipe that I used as a template. Because I was in a hurry (read: lazy), I used store-bought won ton wrappers and did not make my own dough.

I also baked my samosas, instead of frying them, to try to save a little bit of time and calories.

Measurements here are approximate, you'll want to taste your potato filling often and season it to your liking. If you use leftover mashed potatoes, make sure to add a little milk or other liquid, to get them smooth again.

M-m-m-my Samosas!
Ingredients:
Store-bought won ton wrappers
1 pound potatoes (russet's fine)
1 bunch cilantro
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon Curry powder (more or less to taste)
2 tablespoons oil
Non-stick cooking spray (like Pam)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
salt and pepper

Equipment:
Pizza cutter
Frying pan
pot for cooking potatoes
clean work surface
potato masher

Peel your potatoes. Chop them into medium pieces, toss them in some boiling salted water until they are cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. Drain, add a little bit of milk and mash until mostly smooth.

Meanwhile, while potatoes are cooking, chop your onions and garlic, crush the coriander seeds lightly. Add a little bit of oil to pan, fry onions and garlic with spices to bloom the spices, on low-medium heat, until onions are a bit soft and everything starts to smell awesome.

Take several springs of cilantro, but not the whole bunch, remove the center stems, and chop. Add onion mixture and cilantro to the potatoes. Taste, add additional salt, pepper, cilantro and spices as needed. While potato mixture is still hot, add the frozen peas, and stir gently. Try not to mash the peas.

Spray baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray, liberally. (this is important. I forgot this step and paid for it).

To fill: have a pizza cutter, a small bowl of water, and a clean work surface.

Cut wontons in half from corner to corner so you have two triangles. Make sure the top of the triangle is pointing up. Put a tablespoon or two of filling into wonton. Wet edges of wonton, With the top of the triangle pointing up, fold over wonton so edges meet symmetrically as best you can. Press wonton together to seal. If filling oozes out, then use less filling next time.

Put wontons on baking sheet. Spray tops of wontons with cooking spray. Cook for 5 minutes at 375 degrees, then turn over, check after another 5 minutes. They're done when they are golden brown but not burnt.