Burmese Samosa

Ingredients

Pastry

• 250 g plain flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 130 ml hot water (just off the boil)
• 1 tablespoon plain flour mixed with 1 tablespoon water (for sealing)

Filling

• 400 g floury potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edward)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 onion (small, finely diced)
• 2 garlic cloves (grated)
• 2 cm ginger (grated)
• 1 long green chilli (finely chopped)
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
• 80 g frozen peas
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts (roughly crushed)
• 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (chopped)
• ½ lime (juice)

For frying

• 750 ml neutral oil

To serve

• 1 red onion (small, very thinly sliced)
• 2 long green chillies (whole)
• Lime wedges

Method

Stage 1 - Dough

1. Combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Stir in the oil with a fork until the flour looks like damp sand.
2. Pour in the hot water in a slow stream, stirring; bring together into a shaggy mass.
3. Tip onto a clean surface; knead 5 minutes until smooth and pliable. The dough should be firm but not stiff.
4. Wrap in clingfilm; rest 30 minutes at room temperature.

Stage 2 - Filling

1. Peel and chop the potatoes into 1 cm dice. Boil in salted water 10-12 minutes until just tender; drain and let steam dry.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion; cook 5 minutes until soft.
3. Stir in the garlic, ginger and chilli; cook 1 minute.
4. Add the turmeric, cumin and white pepper; toast 30 seconds.
5. Add the potatoes, peas and salt. Cook 3-4 minutes, breaking the potato slightly with the back of a spoon. You want a chunky, dryish mix, not a puree.
6. Off the heat, stir in the peanuts, coriander and lime juice. Spread out on a plate to cool to room temperature.

Stage 3 - Shape

1. Divide the dough into 6 equal balls; cover with a damp cloth.
2. Roll one ball into a thin oval about 18 cm long, 12 cm wide and 1 mm thick. Burmese samosa pastry is thinner than Indian.
3. Cut the oval in half across the short axis to give two semicircles.
4. Take one semicircle. Brush the straight edge with the flour paste. Fold it into a cone, overlapping the straight edge by 1 cm. Press to seal.
5. Hold the cone open; spoon in 1 ½ tablespoons of filling. Don't overfill.
6. Brush the top edge with flour paste. Press the opening shut, folding one corner over the other to make a tidy triangle. Crimp the seal with a fork.
7. Repeat with the rest. Keep finished samosas under a dry cloth.

Stage 4 - Fry

1. Heat the oil in a wok or deep pan to 160°C. A scrap of dough should rise slowly and bubble gently.
2. Fry 4 samosas at a time, 6-7 minutes, turning once, until evenly amber and crisp. Slow frying gives the thin shell time to cook through.
3. Lift onto kitchen paper.

Stage 5 - Serve

1. Pile onto a plate; scatter the sliced red onion alongside, lay the whole chillies and lime wedges on the side.
2. Eat hot, biting a corner off and squeezing in a little lime.