Vegan Samosa Recipe (Crispy Indian Punjabi) (2024)

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This easy vegan crispy Indian Punjabi samosa recipe will be your new favorite go-to snack, entree, or even an appetizer! The homemade samosas are filled with a delicious and savory veggie filling that you will definitely love, especially if you pair it with Raita or another refreshing dip!

What’s a raita dip sauce without Indian Samosas, right? Now that I have shared with you how to make a delicious raita dip sauce, now we’re going to make vegan Punjabi Samosas, a popular Indian snack. This Indian pastry treat can be baked or fried until crispy and it’s popular as an entrée, appetizer, and even as a snack. If you’re looking for a tasty treat, then this one’s for you!

What is an Indian Samosa?

Punjabi Samosa, usually deep-fried (or baked, if you want to avoid too much oil), is a popular snack from India but also in every part of the world – with just different variations. It is commonly filled with seasoned potatoes, peas, onions, and a lot of flavorful ingredients, some fill it with meat, but it was later adapted as a vegan/vegetarian snack. Since it has different variations depending on different preferences, you can even get creative with the traditional filling, adding further vegetables, crushed coriander seeds, fennel seeds, or more Indian spices – whatever you desire or have on hand!

This popular vegan snack comes in different forms – in a triangular shape, half-moon, or cone, however, one thing’s for sure, no matter how you fold it, it’s gonna be delicious!

Tips to make the best samosas

Here are some recipe tips to make the best samosa that you can serve your family or friends at parties or other special occasions or when you’re craving some Indian comfort food.

Don’t let the dough dry.If you’re planning to leave your dough for a while, make sure to cover it with foil and refrigerate it, this will prevent the dough from drying out.
Use only fresh ingredients. This might be a no-brainer, but if you want to have the best samosas, make sure to get the freshest ingredients, especially if you’re planning to freeze and fry/bake uncooked samosas. Remember: fresh tastes always best!
Give the dough some time to rest. Before you start wrapping your samosas, give the dough some time to rest in the refrigerator while it becomes stretchier and easier to handle.
Keep your samosas sealed. To avoid the samosas from unwrapping, brush the outer edges of the dough before folding it. After that, pinch the edges together and make sure the dough’s shut.
Rolling the dough. Roll the dough evenly and thinly but it should be neither too thick nor too thin, otherwise, it will not hold the filling. When you roll your dough evenly and thinly, you’ll have a crispy samosa that doesn’t only taste like pastry and won’t take too much time to cook.
The secret to a crispy samosa. Make sure the frying oil has reached an ideal temperature of 320-338°F (160-170°C), and carefully drop the samosas to avoid splashes – this will give you a crispy golden-brown and flaky Indian samosas!
Fry your samosa in batches. Do not overcrowd your pot! By cooking them in batches, they will be cooked evenly and be crispy.

How to make Vegan Samosa

There are many different folding techniques but here’s how I usually fold Indian samosa. You can place the filling onto your pastry and then wrap it up into a triangle shape. However, you could also start by folding the pastry into a cone, and then spooning the filling into it as you can see in the Vegan Burrito Samosas Recipe Video– That’s your choice!

… And don’t forget to make your raita sauce or creamy guacamole for dipping! It goes so well with this crispy Indian snack!

Step 1: Making your dough

In a bowl, whisk together the flour and salt, add cold water with oil then mix it with chopsticks until the flour absorbs all the liquid. With your hands, mix the dough bits together then transfer everything onto a working surface. For about 3-4 minutes knead it, until a smooth and soft dough forms. Lastly, form the dough into two balls and wrap each tightly in cling film and refrigerate it for an hour.

Step 2: Preparing your filling

Dice your potatoes and place them in a pot with salted water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes, or until fork-tender, then drain and allow excess moisture to evaporate. Then transfer them to a bowl, and roughly mash with a potato masher or fork. Set aside to cool completely.

Using a large pan, heat a bit of oil then toss in the onions. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned, then add the garlic, ginger, curry powder, cumin, paprika powder, and turmeric. For another 30 seconds, sauté everything to unfold flavors. Set aside.

Get the crumbled potatoes you’ve set aside, make sure they’re room temperature, then add in the onion mixture, chopped bell peppers, thawed peas. Sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste, stir to combine, then set it aside.

Step 3: Filling your dough and fold samosas

After you’ve let the dough chill and rest, get one ball of it and divide it into 8 pieces. Form each piece into a ball by rolling it in your palm. Work with one small dough ball at a time. (To prevent the dough from drying out, cover the rest of the dough with a damp cloth.)

Step 4: Cooking your Punjabi samosa

In a deep pot or pan heat 2 cups of oil to 320-338°F (160-170°C). Once hot, carefully drop the Punjabi samosas and fry in batches until they’re golden-brown and crispy (please do not overcrowd the pot.)

Line a plate with paper towels and place your golden brown vegan samosa. (The paper towels will get rid of excess oil.)

Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with vegan raita or guacamole or other dipsof your choice. Enjoy!

Can you bake vegan samosa?

You can bake the samosa brushed with oil as instructed in my empanadas recipeinstead of deep-frying them. They’ll be very delicious, however, the pastry won’t be as golden or flaky. I have already tested to fry them in a deep fryer and it worked, too! So if you have an air fryer, feel free to use it for a healthier cooking method.

Can you freeze them?

Yes! If you want to save some for later or make ahead, you can freeze uncooked samosas. Arrange them on a tray or wooden board, leaving them with enough distance between each other. Freeze them for one to 2 hours, once they’re frozen, take them out and store them in a freezer bag.

Cooking frozen samosas

Once you’re planning to cook another batch of your homemade vegan samosas, take them out of the freezer. You can cook them from frozen, either in hot oil or in the oven, so there’s no need to thaw them. If you deep-fry them in hot oil as instructed in the recipe card below, I recommend heating the oil a little more as frozen samosas will bring the oil temperature down very fast.

What to cook with samosas

If you’re looking for more Indian dishes to cook with your Punjabi samosa, you will surely love these recipes: Indian Chickpea Curry– a vegan and gluten-free dish with simple ingredients, not to mention, it’s super easy to make or this Yellow Lentil Dal– a filling lentil soup or curry that’s perfect to make for those cold or winter nights!

This Indian Punjabi Samosa Recipe is:

Vegan, Vegetarian
Meat-less
Dairy-free
Savory
Flavorful
Crispy & flaky
Spicy
Filled with healthy veggies
Can be fried or baked
Perfect to make ahead and freeze
The best crispy Indian snack!

More easy vegan finger food snack recipes to try:

Vegan Burrito Samosas
Turkish Borek
Vegan Quesadillas
Scallion Pancakes
Aloo Paratha
Sweet Potato Falafel
BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Burger
Sweet Potato Fries
Crispy Polenta Fries

If you try this vegan Punjabi Samosa recipe, please leave me a comment and rating because I’d love to hear your feedback! And if you take a photo of your crispy Indian snack and share it on Instagram, please tag me with @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka to be sure I don’t miss your post! 😊

Vegan Indian Samosas

Author: Bianca Zapatka

4.80 von 5 Bewertungen

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Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Chill Time 1 hour hr

Course Appetizer, Lunch & Dinner, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack, Snacks

Cuisine Indian

Servings 32 Samosas

Calories 56.5 kcal

Ingredients

Dough:

2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
⅓ cup (100 ml) + 1 tbsp cold water
4 tbsp vegetable oil

Filling:

10.5 oz (300 g) russet potatoes peeled and diced
1 tbsp oil for frying
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
2 tsp ginger grated
1 tbsp curry powder I used garam masala
1 tsp cumin ground
1 tsp paprika powder or chili powder to taste
1 tsp turmeric optional
½ cup (80 g) peas frozen and thawed
½ (80 g) red bell pepper or green peppers, finely chopped
1 tsp salt or to taste
black pepper to taste

For frying (or bake them, *see notes)

2 cups (480 ml) of vegetable oil

To serve

1 Recipe Vegan Raita
sesame seeds to garnish

Instructions

*Note: Check the step-by-step guide above for visual instruction!

Dough:

Whisk the flour and salt together in a bowl. Pour in the cold water and oil, then mix with chopsticks until the flour has absorbed the liquid. Mix the dough bits together with your hands, then transfer to a working surface. Knead for 3-4 minutes until a smooth and soft dough forms (but avoid overworking). Finally, form the dough into two balls, wrap each tightly in cling film and refrigerate for one hour.

Filling:

In the meantime, place the diced potatoes in a pot of salted water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes, or until fork-tender. Drain and allow excess moisture to evaporate, then place in a bowl, and mash thoroughly with a potato masher or fork. Set aside to cool completely.
In a large pan, heat one tbsp of oil. Add the onions and sauté for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned. Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder, cumin, paprika powder, and turmeric. Sauté for another 30 seconds to develop flavors. Set aside.
Once the potatoes have cooled to room temperature, add in the onion mixture, chopped bell peppers, and thawed peas. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste, stir to combine, and set aside.

Fold samosas:

After the chill time, remove one portion of the dough from the fridge. Divide it into 8 pieces and form each piece into a ball. Work with one small dough ball at a time and cover the rest with a damp cloth to prevent it from drying out.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one small dough ball to a 6-inch (15 cm) circle. Cut it in half to form two half-moon shapes.
Take approx. 2 tbsp of the filling and press it together into a triangle shape. Then place it onto the half-moon dough shaped dough you just cut (see step-by-step photos above). Brush the outer edges with water, then fold one side of the dough over and around the filling to create a triangle/cone shape. Pinch the edges together, make sure your samosas are well sealed. Place on a wooden board (be sure to leave enough space between each samosa to prevent them from sticking together) while you prepare the rest. (*Tip: Watch the recipe video in this blog post for another folding technique!)
When all balls are wrapped into samosas, remove the second portion of the dough from the refrigerator, and continue this process to make more samosas.

Cook samosas:

Now you can fry or bake them (*see notes). To fry, heat around 2 cups of oil in a deep pot or pan to 320-338°F (160-170°C). Once hot, carefully drop the samosas and fry in batches until the samosas are golden-browned and crispy, turning occasionally (make sure not to overcrowd the pot.)
Remove from the pot and transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels (this will get rid of excess oil).
Finally, sprinkle the samosa with sesame seeds and serve with vegan raita, guacamole, or any dip of your choice. Enjoy!

Notes

Instead of deep-frying, you can also bake the samosas brushed with oil as instructed in my empanadas recipe.
Since the dough tends to dry out quickly, make sure to cover it while you work or leave it wrapped in foil in the refrigerator if you want to continue later.
Uncooked samosas can be frozen for later. Arrange them in a single layer on a baking tray or wooden board, leaving enough distance between each other, freeze for 1-2 hours. Once frozen, transfer them into a freezer bag for easier storage. To serve, bake in the oven or deep-fry in hot oil as instructed (no need to thaw)! I just recommend heating the oil a little more as frozen samosas will bring the oil temperature down very fast.
You can find more helpful tips and further information in the blog post above.

Nutritions

Nutrition is calculated automatically and should be used as estimate.

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