Samosas (Jaffrey)

1. To make the pastry, combine the 2 c of flour with 3 tb oil. Add salt & mix. Add 1 cup of water a little at a time until you have a firm dough.
2. Kneadi the dough well for 10 minutes or until the dough is elasticy & smooth.
3. Form inot a ball, brush with a little oil, cover with a damp towel & set aside.
4. To make the filling: Boil the potatoes & let them cool.
5. You may peel them if you like,I choose not to. Dicei them into bite-sized pieces.
6. In a wok or very large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.
7. When very hot, drop in the asafetida.
8. 5 seconds later, add the fennel & cumin seeds.
9. A few seconds later add in rapid succession the mustard seeds & fenugreek.
10. As they begin to change colour & pop, add the chilies.
11. As soon as the chilies swell & darken, add the potatoes, turmeric & salt.
12. Fryi gently, carefully turning the potatoes so as not to break them.
13. Fry for 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes are unevenly browned.
14. Add lemon juice & mix well.
15. Check the salt.
16. Remove potatoes from the wok, place in a serving dish & crush coarsely with the back of a slotted spoon.
17. Divide the dough into 28 to 30 equal balls.
18. Flatten each ball & roll it out on a floured surface until it is approximately 4 inches in diameter.
19. Cut each round in half.
20. Taking one semicircle at a time, moisten half the length of the cut edge with a finger dipped in water.
21. Form a wide cone with the semi-circle, using the moist section to overlap 1/4 inch & hold it closed.
22. Fill samosa 3/4 full with stuffing.
23. Moisten the inside edges of the opening & press it shut.
24. Seal this end by pressing down on it with a fork as you would a pie crust.
25. Do all the samosas this way, keeping them moist in a plastic wrap or under a damp towel until you are ready to fry. (I find that I save a lot of time & anguish by frying them as I go). Heat the oil for deep frying in a wok. When the oil is hot, slide in 3 or 4 samosas, be careful not to overcrowd.
26. Fry until the samosas are brown on all sides, about 2 or 3 minutes.
27. Remove with a slotted spoon & drain on paper towels.
28. Repeat until you have 60 samosas.
29. The oil should be hot, but do not use a high heat otherwise they will burn.
30. Serve samosas hot with a sweet chutney or tamarind paste.
31. They can be frozen & re-heated in a 300F oven.
32. Madhur Jaffrey, "An Invitation to Indian Cooking".