Vegetarian

Samosa recipe with pea and paneer

45 minutes
Makes 16
Print Recipe

This samosa recipe is the perfect accompaniment to a warming curry feast. They’re also excellent to serve up at a family buffet. Whether you enjoy them hot or cold, we guarantee they’ll go down a treat.

While this recipe is vegetarian, it’s super easy to adapt them to suit even the fussiest of eaters. For example, swapping the paneer cheese for prawns is ideal for seafood lovers. Lamb, chicken or beef mince can also take the place of the paneer for meat eaters. Simply cook through with the onion mixture. For a vegan or dairy-free alternative, tinned chickpeas can make a tasty swap for the paneer.

Serve with homemade mango chutney. Our jhinga methi prawn curry and green lentil dahl are just a couple of our favourite dishes to serve alongside this samosa recipe. A delicious and healthier alternative to a Saturday night takeaway.

This delicious samosa recipe is extracted from The Flexible Family Cookbook. This book provides flexible adaptations for each recipe to account for allergies, intolerances and lifestyle choices. Expect traybakes and one-pot roasts to make easy and convenient timesavers.

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Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp sunflower or rapeseed (canola) oil, plus extra for brushing
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 carrot, grated
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed or grated
  • 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
  • 1 and 1/2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 2 tsps garam masala
  • 200g paneer cheese, finely diced
  • 2 tbsp desiccated coconut
  • 175g frozen peas, defrosted
  • 4 sheets filo pastry
  • 1–2 tsp nigella seeds and/or sesame seeds
  • Flaked sea salt

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion, carrot, garlic and ginger and sauté for about 10 minutes until the onion is beautifully soft.
  2. Make a paste from the garam masala and a tablespoon of tomato purée. Add this, along with the remaining tomato purée, paneer, coconut, peas, 1 tablespoon water and a pinch of salt and stir in. Cook for about five minutes, stirring frequently, until the filling has all cooked together nicely.
  3. Check for seasoning and add more salt if you feel it needs it. Remove the pan from the heat and cool slightly.
  4. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas 6. Cut each piece of the filo pastry widthways into four strips, about 10cm/4 inches wide. Working on four strips at a time, brush each one lightly with oil. To prevent the remaining pastry from drying out, keep it covered with a damp tea towel.
  5. Spoon a heaped tablespoon of the filling onto the bottom corner of each lightly oiled pastry strip. Fold over diagonally to create a triangle over the filling. Continue to fold/roll the pastry around the filling, keeping the triangle shape, securing in the filling. Once all four strips are filled and folded, place on a baking sheet. Continue with the remaining strips of pastry until you have used all the filling and pastry strips.
  6. Brush the top of each samosa with a little oil and sprinkle over some nigella seeds and/or sesame seeds.
  7. Bake for 15–18 minutes until the pastry is golden and crisp. Once cooked, leave to cool for a few minutes before eating warm with mango chutney, or leave to cool completely and enjoy cold.