These gluten free take on samosas is genius. Instead of a wheat dough, I use rice paper. Don’t let this conjure bad pictures in your head of the last time you made spring rolls and tore the soggy rice paper: folding these little samosas requires very little dexterity.
In the filling, I replace the traditional peas with spinach and mix it with potatoes, carrots and a ton of fragrant Indian spices, but you could just try using the vegetables that are in your fridge. I’ve replaced regular potatoes with sweet ones in the past, have added chopped up sauteed eggplant, some crumbled cauliflower and many others. As for the spices, if you don’t have all of them don’t worry, omit some, just not the cumin. And if the only exotic spice you have is curry powder, well use a few tablespoons of it instead but instead of frying it up with the oil put it in at the same time as you add your vegetables. Either way, it’s all good.
Ingredients
- 5 tbsp ghee or odorless coconut oil
- 1 onion, chopped finely
- 2 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp caraway seeds
- 2 tbsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- Crushed seeds of 1 cardamom pod
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 tsp salt or more depending on your taste
- 1 or 2 tsp chili powder, depending on your taste
- 2 medium potatoes, diced into small cubes
- 1 medium carrot, diced into small cubes
- 1 package of spinach (around 2 cups raw or 200g)
- 1/4 cup toasted coconut flakes (optional)
- 20 rice papers (medium size)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C
- Spread 4 tbsp coconut oil or ghee on a large baking dish and set aside
- Heat a large pan over medium high heat with the remaining coconut oil or ghee. When it starts sizzling, add all the spices and mix well. After 30 seconds, add the onion and lower the heat to medium.
- Add the potatoes and carrots. Toss well with a wooden spoon to make sure the vegetables get coated with all the spices. Add 1/2 cup water, cover and let simmer slowly, mixing from time to time. If the mixture gets too dry and still isn’t cooked add a few tablespoons of water. The total cooking time should be around 20 minutes. They vegetables should be cooked but not mushy.
- While the vegetables are cooking, place the spinach with a tablespoon of water and a pinch of salt in a pan over medium high heat and toss until the spinach reduces and cooks, about 5 minutes. Let cool. Once cooled, squeeze out the water and chop the spinach finely.
- Add spinach to the cooked vegetables along with the coconut. Mix well and set aside until the filling is cool enough to handle with your hands.
- Fill a large pie plate with piping hot water.
- Assemble the samosas: On a large counter, place the pie plate with hot water, the filling and the rice paper. Take one rice paper, put it in the hot water so that it gets submerged completely. Leave it for 10 seconds or until it is soft enough to handle and bend but not soggy. Place it flat on the counter and put 2 tbsp of the filling in one 1/6 of the rice paper cercle, leaving about 2-3 cm empty on the outer edge (see below).
Fold the paper in two, covering the filling. Then form a little triangle with your hands where the filling is and fold it over and over until it is all folded in a triangular shape. Then fold the outer edge. Place on the baking sheet. Repeat until you either have no more rice papers or filling. Place the baking sheet in the oven for 10 minutes. Flip over – they should be golde – and cook for another 10 minutes. Serve immediately.
