Indian Spiced Potato Pastries (Aloo Samose)
Making Indian samosas, triangular fried pastries filled with peas and potatoes, is nothing like crafting delicate French pastry. It calls for a technique called moyan dena, which involves vigorously rubbing fat into flour between your fingers--a process that develops the flour's glutens, coats every particle with fat, and produces a sturdy shell that won't rupture during frying. It yields a golden, flaky snack that is as gratifying to eat as it is to make. –Margo True
Yield: makes about 2 1/2 cups
Time: 10 minutes
- 3 1⁄2 cups tightly packed cilantro leaves, finely chopped
- 1 cup tightly packed mint leaves, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1 small hot green Indian chile, stemmed
- 3⁄4 cup plain yogurt
- Kosher salt, to taste
Place cilantro, mint, juice, chile, and 3 tbsp. water in a blender, and puree until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl, and stir in yogurt; season with salt, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
