Baked Samosas and Raita Dip; Quick, Easy and Delicious

Baked Samosas make a great warm appetizer for a holiday party or a side dish to spice up a meal.

These delightful slightly spicy turnovers are stuffed with your choice of either sweet potatoes or white potatoes, peas, and other vegetables in an aromatic blend of tasty Indian spices.

 If you have never made samosas , now is your opportunity. My recipe, adapted from Cooking with Trader Joe's Cookbook,( which I received as a gift from my daughter-in-law Wendy,) is easy to make, healthy, and flavorful. After about 25 minutes of prep time and about 20 minutes of baking time, these delectable samosas are ready to be served.

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You can eat samosas as a side dish with soup and salad, or serve them as an interesting warm appetizer to delight your guests at your next party. They can be made in advance as well.

You will love this recipe because unlike traditional samosas, this recipe is baked, not fried. The crust is adapted from a buttermilk crust recipe from the original Moosewood Cookbook. It is a little delicate to work with it, but it tastes so good. I am still looking for an alternative crust, so if you have a suggestion, please leave it in the comments.To make the crust recipe dairy free, substitute low fat coconut milk for the buttermilk and add a teaspoon of lemon juice to it.

Fillings; I make two types of fillings for my samosas:

•  potato vegetable or
• sweet potato vegetable.
• For parties, I make a variety of both. Both versions are hearty and healthful, full of fiber, and rich in vitamins and minerals. However,
• I am partial to the extraordinary beauty of the rich orange color of the sweet potato samosa and personally, I prefer the flavor as well.

Top each samosa with a cooling raita yogurt dip or Tamarind sauce,and you are in for a treat.

Recipes for both versions of fillings for the samosas are listed below as well as the raita yogurt dip ..

Eggless Buttermilk Crust:
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of gluten free all purpose flour ( or if you are not gluten free regular flour)
1 cup of either buttermilk, plain yogurt , coconut or rice milk with a teaspoon of lemon juice added)
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Mix flour, buttermilk, and salt and work with a fork until dough can form into a ball. Dough will be soft. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes if too soft to work with. Divide dough into 8 balls. Roll each into a 6 inch circle on a floured board.

Samosa Filling #1 ( Sweet Potato or Yam)

2 large sweet potatoes, steamed and cubed 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 Tablespoon cumin seeds
1/2 cup onion , chopped small
3/4 cup tomatoes, chopped small ( or chopped tomatoes with some juice from a can)
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp cumin
cayenne pepper ( optional)
1 Tablespoon cilantro, chopped fine
2 Tablespoons raisins, soaked for about 20 minutes
2 tsp olive oil and olive oil spray

Directions
Steam sweet potatoes whole with skin until soft. Peel, mash and mix with thawed peas.
Mix chopped onion, garlic, fresh ginger, cilantro, tomatoes, curry powder and turmeric and 2 tsp of olive oil together . Saute cumin seeds or mustard seeds in olive oil spray in a frying pan for about 1 minute. Pour chopped vegetable mixture over cumin seeds and cook on low heat until onion and garlic are soft.
Remove from heat and mix in mashed sweet potato and pea mixture.

Spoon 1/4 cup of mixture into each crust. Fold dough around filling and seal edges with fingers. Press edges together with fork for decoration.

Bake samosas on a greased baking sheet.

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Bake for about 20-25 minutes until browned.
Dip into raita ( purchase prepared from Trader Joe's or make your own with recipe that follows )

Raita Ingredients
1 small Kirby cucumber, grated
1/2 small carrot, grated
1 cup plain yogurt or yogurt cheese
1 tsp dried mint, crushed
salt, pepper, garlic to taste

Grate your vegetables; add to yogurt or yogurt cheese and mix well by hand

For white potato stuffing:  Follow directions for sweet potato filling and substitute steamed white potatoes

You can make the filling one day and the dough and samosa the next!
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