These baked savory samosa hand-pies in the shape of sunflowers are almost too cute to eat but will disappear before you know it. These samosa hand-pies are the perfect tea party or picnic snack.
These hand held appetizers have a high crust to filling ratio which makes them so buttery and rich. The crust gets it a bright yellow hue from turmeric and gets the complex notes from ajwain or carom seeds. The filling of this pie is a spiced potato and pea filling which gets its heat from the chilies, tang from the chaat masala, and acid from the lemon juice.
I made these samosa hand-pies into little flower shapes to serve at a baby shower. They are so festive and were a hit with the crowd. The best part of them is that they are the perfect finger food to nibble on during a party and can be baked ahead of time for a large crowd. I recommend pairing these savory hand-pies with a gorgeous green cilantro-mint chutney that serves as a fresh herbaceous dip to these hand-pies.
The Freezer is Your Friend
For this recipe, don't be afraid to use the freezer to get the dough to chill down quickly. If your kitchen is hot, the butter in the dough may get too soft and make it hard for you to handle. If you encounter this problem, just stick the dough in the freezer for 5-10 minutes until the dough is a bit more firm. It makes cutting out the shapes SO much easier.
I love how cute these samosa hand-pies are but they are definitely a labor of love or a weekend project for sure. If you are looking for a less labor intensive project, try out the recipe for a larger samosa pot pie which doesn't require cutting out the shapes and saves you time. They are great at big family dinner or a potluck!
An herbaceous and bright sauce like cilantro-mint chutney is a great dipping sauce for these baked hand-pies. It is a citrusy dip that takes 5 minutes to make and gives a fresh flavor to the buttery samosa handpies.
Baked Savory Samosa Hand-Pies
Product Reccs
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups (300 g) all purpose flour 300g
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ajwain seeds also called Carom seeds, substitute with nigella seeds or cumin seeds
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes, plus more to grease pie pan plus more to grease pie pan
- 6 tablespoons (90 g) cold water plus more as needed
- 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
- 1 egg for egg wash
Filling Ingredients
- ½ cups (100 g) russet potatoes boiled, skin removed and crushed into small pieces (not mashed finely)
- 2 tablespoon green peas - thawed if frozen
- ½ teaspoon chaat masala
- ⅛ teaspoon cumin powder
- ⅛ teaspoon coriander powder
- ⅛ teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder or ½ teaspoon regular chili powder
- ⅛ teaspon turmeric powder
- 1 Thai chili finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
Make Crust
- 1. Whisk together 2.5 cups (300 g) all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon sea salt, and half of the 1 teaspoon ajwain seeds in a large bowl.
- 2. Add 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes, plus more to grease pie pan pieces and use your fingers to coat them in flour and break the butter pieces into the size of peas.
- 3. Mix the 6 tablespoons (90 g) cold water and 2 teaspoons turmeric powder to get a yellow water that will die the dough. Slowly drizzle your cold water evenly over your flour/butter mixture and knead until a dough comes together. If you need more water, add 1 tablespoon at a time specifically to the flour that is still not hydrated. This dough should not be wet or sticky and it should barely come together.
- 4. Divide the dough into two equal portions, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Make Filling
- 1. Mix ½ cups (100 g) russet potatoes, 2 tablespoon green peas - thawed if frozen, ½ teaspoon chaat masala, ⅛ teaspoon cumin powder, ⅛ teaspoon coriander powder, ⅛ teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder, ⅛ teaspon turmeric powder, 1 Thai chili (finely chopped), ½ teaspoon lemon juice, and ¼ teaspoon sea salt together until potatoes are well-coated in spices. Taste for salt and adjust if needed.
Assemble Hand-Pies
- 1. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- 2. On a floured working space, roll each of your disks until the dough is no more than ⅛ of an inch thick.
- 3. Cut out flower shapes from the two dough disks and set them aside in the fridge for 10 minutes. If there is excess dough, form it into a dough mass and repeat step 2. If at anytime the dough is too soft, place the dough back in the freezer for 5 minutes for it to chill. At the end of this process, you should have at least 30 flower cutouts.
- 4. Take two flower cutouts at a time. Add a heaping 1 teaspoon of filling to the center of the flower cutout. You can lightly smear some of the filling to the petals but most of the filling will be a mound in the center. Place the second flower cutout on top of the first over so it drapes over the potato filling and seal the petals together and place on parchment lined baking sheet. The flower doesn't have to have a tight seal as the filling is solid. Repeat with the remaining flower petals.
- 5. Brush on your egg wash and sprinkle some ajwain seeds over in the center. Place your flower petals in the freezer for 5-10 minutes which will help the flower petals retain their shape.
- 6. Bake pie for 25-30 minutes on the middle rack until the crust is lightly brown. Make sure to check at the half way point and rotate the pan as ovens run at different temperatures.
- 7. Enjoy with a side of cilantro mint chutney or tamarind date chutney
Notes and Tips
- The freezer is your friend! Use it whenever you feel the butter getting soft to firm up the dough. It will make handling the dough a lot easier.
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