An Oz-some samosa

Political bonhomie on Twitter took a culinary twist recently when Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison shared photos of samosas he had made from scratch, calling it ScoMosa and tagging Indian PM Narendra Modi in his post, pointing out that it would suit the latter's vegetarian taste buds. His was a basic potato-based recipe. But Le Cordon Bleu-trained pâtissière Guntas Sethi Bhasin gives us her take, which has corn, cheese and spinach as part of the filling. "It's a perfect accompaniment for your tea in this rainy season," she adds about a dish that not just you, but Morrison, too, can go ahead and try. We are sure Modi would approve.

Ingredients
For the samosa pastry dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour/maida
3 tbsp ghee
¼ cup water (plus 2 tbsp)
½ tsp ajwain (carom seeds)
¾ teaspoon salt

For the filling:
1 tbsp oil
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup boiled sweet corn
1 cup chopped spinach
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup cream cheese
1-2 tbsp milk (if needed)
Chilli flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
For the dough:
Mix together ajwain, salt, flour and ghee in a mixing bowl. Add water little by little and mix the flour to dough. It has to be stiff and hard; do not make a soft dough. Cover and set aside for 25 to 30 minutes.

For the filling:
Heat oil in a pan. Add garlic and onions, and sauté for three to four minutes. Add sweet corn and sauté for two to three minutes. Add spinach and let it cook until the water from the spinach has evaporated. Next, put the grated cheese, cream cheese, salt, pepper and chilli flakes, and mix well. Add milk if needed to mix it all well. Taste and adjust the salt. Take it off the gas and let it come to room temperature.

Assembly:
Knead the dough again to smoothen it a bit. Make 12 to 15 portions and roll into balls. Cover the dough. Grease the rolling area and then flatten a ball. Drizzle some oil. Roll to a round shape. It should be neither too thick nor too thin. Cut it into two. Smear water over the straight edge. Join the edges to make a cone. Press gently to seal the cone from inside as well. Fill the cone with the corn-cheese filling and press down. Smear water on the edges. Bring the edges together and make a pleat on one side. Pull back the pleat and seal it. Make sure it is sealed well.

Deep-frying the samosa:
Heat the oil until medium hot. Gently add as many samosas as you can to the oil and fry them on a low flame undisturbed for a few minutes. When the crust turns firm, flip them and fry on a medium flame until golden. Strain and serve with green chutney and sweet chilli sauce. You could also bake these in an oven or use an air fryer at 200 degrees centigrade for five to seven minutes on both sides.

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