Minimosa(Baked Mini Samosa): Savory Indian Turnovers

Samosa is a stuffed, deep-fried Indian appetizer that goes well with Chai Tea or Coffee. The stuffing is savory and can be either meat or vegetables. Ever since I discovered puff pastry about a decade ago , I have experimented many dishes using it and this baked variation is a success story. The baked samosa tastes so good every time that I don't miss the deep-fried authentic version of it.For the stuffing, I modified a recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking. These days I make them mini-sized to tempt my son into trying it.

Ingredients:
For the Pastry:

• Pepperidge Farms Puff pastry - 1 sheet, thawed for 25-30mins
• Egg - 1, whisked, for egg wash (optional)

For the Stuffing:

• Red Potatoes - 4, medium, skinned, boiled and roughly smashed
• Yellow Onion - 1, medium, finely chopped
• Frozen Green Peas - 1/4 cup
• Carrot - 1 shredded
• Cilantro - 3 tbsp, finely chopped
• Garam Masala - 1 tsp
• Cumin Seed - 1 tsp
• Black Pepper - 1 tsp, freshly ground
• Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp
• Salt for taste
• Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Procedure:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a skillet,heat oil, add cumin seeds and onion. Saute until onions turn brown.
• Add the smashed potato, green peas,grated carrot,  garam masala, black pepper and salt. Cover and cook for a couple of minutes.
• Add the lemon juice. Check the flavor before switching off the stove.
• Roll the pastry on a flour-coated surface and cut them into 3 rectangular strips. Then halve the strips and further cut them diagonally. This yields 12 triangular pastry.
• Make a cone with each pastry and fill about a Tbsp or less of the stuffing.Close the top of the cone with sealing the edges with water.
• Arrange them on an oil-sprayed, foil-lined baking tray.
• Quickly give them an egg wash for a golden glow (this step is optional).
• Bake them for 30 minutes.
• Serve it with tomato sauce or tamarind sauce or by itself.
  

Makes 12 samosas.

Enjoy!