In life, we all have big mile-marker life goals like graduating college top of the class, buying your first apartment, circumnavigating the globe, and speaking four languages. Alright, maybe those last two are just me… but I digress.

My point is, that aside from those major goals, I have tiny small goals that I’m always trying to meet along the way. One of them is to hit American Airlines Elite status (25,000 miles in one year) on my own dime, and another happened to be – learn how to make Samosas – one of my all time favorite foods.

These amazing Indian snacks aren’t completely made from scratch… I cheated on the dough by using wonton wrappers, but I promise that they are legit enough that your kitchen will still smell like Indian food when you come home from work the next day. .

• 1/2 package of wonton wrappers
• 1 large baking potato
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• 1 minced clove of garlic
• 1 egg
• 3 large tbs curry powder
• 3 large tbs tikka spice
• 2 large tbs cumin
• 1 tbs hot red pepper paste
• Vegetable oil (100% soybean)
• Dash of paprika
• Sprinkle of salt
• 1 cup low sodium chicken stock (or vegetable stock to keep this 100% vegetarian)

1. Chop up large baking potato into 4 chunks and set in a boiling pot of water. Boil until a fork or toothpick can slide easily into the thickest part.
2. Drain and let cool.
3. Set a medium sized pot, or the pot you just used (fewer dishes!) to medium -high heat and add a generous drizzle of vegetable oil.
4. When oil is hot, add minced garlic and let sizzle for a minute or so.
5. Add in frozen peas and a tablespoon of hot red pepper paste and stir with wooden spoon. For more heat – add more red pepper paste.
6. Combine the curry powder, tikka powder and cumin in a small bowl and then empty the bowl into the pot and stir.
7. When potato is cool enough to touch, chop into 1cm cubes and toss into pot with spices and peas.
8. Add one cup of the stock that you chose and continue to stir until completely combined and stock has been sucked up by the potato.
9. Try a bite and season more if you’d like the flavor to be more intense. I alwayyys add more at this point.
10. Beat the egg in a bowl and set it to the side. Sprinkle some paprika into the egg mixture if you’d like.
11. Take pot off of burner and place one wonton wrapper in the palm of your hand.
12. Place a spoonful of the filling in the center of your wonton and dip your finger in the egg mixture. Coat all four sides of the square with egg and fold over into a triangle.
13. Press down on all of the edges and set aside on a plate – trying not to let the finished samosas touch eachother – they WILL stick.
14. When you have stuffed all of the samosas, the best way to cook them is definitely with a deep/flash fryer. I don’t own one of these -if I did I would be frying cheese and coating everything in panko crumbs and weigh 500 lbs. If you do own one – fry away – they’re going to be fantastic! However if you’re like me, you’ll need to add about 1/2 cm of vegetable oil to a hot pan and fry them one side at a time in small batches. Be careful!

When they’re done and crispy they’re great to dip into a yogurt sauce, mango chutney, or anything spicy! Obviously I will never be able to make a samosa better than a Punjabi aunty – but they’re good enough to hold me over until the next time I go someplace authentic!

Some more pictures…