I am a huge fan of samosas. And, if you are on this page I am guessing you are one too. Back in India, you will be able to find a variety of them. From different types of fillings (vegetarian and non-vegetarian; savoury and sweet) to different shells, you will be spoilt for choice. In fact, you may find this very popular Indian snack in different shapes and sizes as well. So, here is my recipe for one of those many varieties – baked mini dal samosas recipe. These mini stuffed deliciousness are baked, have a dry filling of spiced lentil and have a long shelf life. Hence, these make for a healthy, vegan snack option.
While I agree, shaping the samosas might take some skill and practice, you could follow the recipe below for the stuffing and shape the samosas as you please. However, let me also assure you that, you would need about two trials, and by the third time you will have your hands set. This, believe me, is a personal experience 🙂
The stuffing
These samosas do not have a spiced vegetable or a meat stuffing. The filling is that of moong dal or split and skinless moong beans and spices. I have also added roasted gram flour or besan to keep the spices and lentil mixture together. The filling is exceptionally flavorful. You will be biting into a sweet, savoury, tangy and spicy mix all at once. This healthy Indian snack is definitely a treat to your taste buds.
While the list of aromatics for the stuffing is lengthy, the cooking method is rather easy. You will simply need to grind them all to a coarse powder and then dry roast along with the dal. That’s all.
Storing it
These baked mini dal samosas have a long shelf life. You could easily store them in an air tight container for a month. Since the stuffing is a dry roasted mixture of moong dal, besan and spices it doesn’t spoil easily. Therefore, you could make and store them a weekend before for your tea party scheduled for the next. Or simply, make and send them to some loved one who doesn’t stay around 🙂
Accompaniment
I, normally, serve a spicy and lip smacking coriander-mint chutney with these baked goodies. Also, not to forget, a piping hot cup of masala chai with these mini samosas will make your evening snack unforgettable. I have enumerated the green chutney recipe below too.
So, here is the recipe for the baked mini dal samosas. Also, I am sure you will enjoy the entire cooking process. Do let me know in the comments how your healthy samosas turned out.
If you wish to try some of my other Indian snacks recipes too, here are the links:
Easy homemade crispy palak pakora
Baked mini dal samosas
Ingredients
For the samosa pastry (dough)
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
- 1 tsp salt
- water to knead the dough
For the samosa stuffing
- 1/2 cup split and skinless moong beans (moong dal)
- 2 cups gram flour (besan)
- 3 tbsp cumin seeds
- 3 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tbsp fennel seeds (snauf)
- 2 tbsp dry mango powder (amchur powder)
- 2 tbsp pink salt
- 2 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp jaggery
- 2 tbsp peanuts
- 5-6 kashmiri red chillis
- 2 cloves
- 2 cardamoms
- salt to taste
For the green chutney
- 1 cup fresh coriander leaves roughly chopped
- 1 inch ginger roughly chopped
- 5 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 4-5 fresh green chillies
- pink salt to taste
- water
Instructions
Preparing the dough
- Mix the flour with salt, carom seeds and the oil
- The flour should be able to hold it's shape (when tightly held in your palm) after it is mixed with oil
- Knead a tight dough by gradually adding water
- Cover the dough and keep it aside for 30 minutes
The samosa stuffing
- Wash throughly and soak the moong dal in water for an hour
- To a grinding jar add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, kashmiri chillies, black peppercorns, clove, cardamom, pink salt, 3-4 tablespoons gram flour and grind it to a coarse powder
- Heat a pan and add the peanuts, fresh spice mix and the the remaining gram flour
- Roast on low heat until the gram flour turns fragrant
- Add the drained dal and continue roasting until it changes colour
- Add the jaggery, pink salt, amchur powder and cook until the jaggery completely melts
- Remove from flame and cool completely
Making the samosas
- Divide the dough into lime sized balls. You should be able to make 10-12 of them
- Roll out a 6 centimeter disc from the dough ball and cut it into semi circles
- Roll and flatten the semi circle once again
- Apply some water on the outside diameter (base)
- Overlap one side of the base on to the other so as to form a cone. The water applied on the diameter will help it stick and form a cone
- Fill two teaspoons of the spiced dal stuffing in the cone
- Make a small pleat in the centre of the curved side and stick it to the base. Now seal the left and right sides to form the samosa
- Once all samosas are shaped, line them on a baking tray and put them in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees C, for 10 minutes
- Remove them, brush a little oil on them and bake again for 10 minutes
- Remove and serve the baked mini dal samosas with ketchup and/or green chutney
Coriander-mint chutney (green chutney)
- Put all ingredients under for the chutney in a mixer-grinder and make a smooth paste
- Add water so that the chutney is neither too thick or too runny
- Enjoy with the samosas!
Notes
- If you are a beginner, use only a teaspoon of the filling for the samosa. This will aid you in shaping them
- The kashmiri chillis are for the colour and not heat
- Oil is brushed on the samosas mid-way to give them a brown colour. This is optional
- You could also use ghee to knead the dough
- You could fry these samosas too. Traditionally, that is how its made
- tbsp - tablespoon
- tsp - teaspoon
this is the most tastiest and the most healthy version of a Samosa.
Keep posting more such Healthy Versions but Super Tasty ones too 🙂
Thank you so much Samay 🙂