Friday, January 11, 2019

Samosadilla (Samosa Quesadilla) – Flat Better

I love samosas, but I don’t necessarily love all the work and mess involved with assembling and deep-frying them, which is why I’m such a huge fan of this quesadilla approach. Plus, above and beyond the faster, simpler method, the results may be even better than the original. Okay, hear me out.

While it’s true a perfectly made, expertly fried, and quickly served samosa is superior to this version, that can be a very rare combination of events. By comparison, this is almost impossible to mess up, and if you use enough oil in your pan, you should be able to achieve a beautifully browned, crispy crust that rivals something out of a deep fryer.

Like I said in the video, even if you don’t make samosadillas, the filling is a world-class potato salad in its own right. A scoop of this next to some grilled meat, like tandoori chicken for example, would make for a gorgeous plate of food. Fair warning though, Michele and I like big, bold flavors, so please feel free to adjust the ingredient amounts below to your tastes. Whether they’re enjoyed hot, warm, room temp, or cold, we really do hope you give these samosadillas a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for about 6 Portions:
6 large flour tortillas
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 minced Serrano chile
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger
1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
1 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground corinader
1/2 teaspoon turmeric            
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup green peas
1 1/2 pounds cubed Yukon gold potatoes, cooked until tender in salted water
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
juice from 1 lemon
salt to taste once mixed

For the Cilantro Lime Chutney Sauce:
1 large or 2 small bunches fresh cilantro
1/3 cup fresh picked mint leaves
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 sliced Serrano chile
1 or 2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup plain yogurt
pinch of salt, optional
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28 comments:

Indian recipes said...

Samosa in a different manner very nice...samosa is a famous India food which is my favorite snack recipe, thank you and keep sharing interesting recipes.

Smurgle in Spain said...

what do you recommend if you don’t like cilantro? :(

Unknown said...

Brilliant !

Unknown said...

Don't forget the flour tortilla!

Kathleen Craig said...

These look fantastic! What size were the flour tortillas that you used?

Unknown said...

I LOVE this idea and will have to try it! Another recipe I would love to see you try some time is Gobi Manchurian. It is a sweet/tangy/spicy/crispy cauliflower dish that is REALLY tasty. Thanks for all your wonderful videos, Chef John! I have made many of your recipes and really enjoyed them.

Unknown said...

Hi. What specifically do you use for the crust, are those tortilla shells or?
Thank you, I'm looking forward to trying this dish.

littlebighuman said...

Made it. Turned out amazing. The lemon really is the key in this recipe. Thanks Chef :)

littlebighuman said...

Proof that I made them:)

https://imgur.com/gallery/PzFSfDm

WesleyR said...

Chef have you done a recipe on steak and shrimp molcajete before? I’ve had it before and it’s wonderful but there aren’t a lot of recipes out there for it. Maybe an idea for a future video.

Unknown said...

Just knocked this recipe out, turned out delish! Next time I will cut back just a hair on the lemon, and add about 1/4 cup of chopped dried golden raisins for a sweet contrast. LOVED the sauce!

Chef Todd said...

I have been making samosas for years for friends and catering events. The worst part of making them is kneading the very stiff dough. You just saved my hands. Using tortillas rocks!

Joachim said...

Made this tonight. A big hit with the wife and kid. But Chef John, can you make a video/blog post weighing small/medium/large onions? I used three medium danish onions, which looked like the amount you used.

Melinda said...

This was great! We discovered the video this morning and made a low carb version featuring low carb tortillas, cauliflower and edamame.

na said...

These were really delicious, but it took me over an hour to make them - I have this terrible habit of cleaning as I cook and it slows everything down :) I used standard 12 inch flour tortillas and they ended up nice and crispy. Thanks for another great recipe Chef John! I will definitely make these again.

Aileen said...

Would it be possible to make this recipe with Russett potatoes?

Shogun said...

I have watched and tried several of your dishes and this was by far the best!!! The only thing I changed was I added jalapenos... Because that was all my store had. Great!! My wife and I loved it and will definitely be making again!! What do you think about Tzatziki sauce with this???

Unknown said...

Made these for dinner this evening and they were, as Jamie Oliver likes to say, "Lovely Jubbly". We decided that the indian taste of the dish required an indian spice sauce and while we would normally use a tamarind chutney, not having any in the house did not prove an impediment. We used BBQ sauce and mixed in with a bit of lime and half the amount of hoisin sauce. The results were so delicious and the robust sauce flavours blended very well with the spices in the potato/pea mix. I am the David Morse of my samosadilla sauce. Thanks CJ!

On another note, I live in Australia and I wonder if the local varieties of cayenne pepper we have here differ from those in North America. I have tried varieties of spices containing cayenne imported from America and they do not contain the heat of the variety we have here. Thus, when I see Chef John throw a casual half teaspoon of cayenne pepper on his food, were I to do the same here it would be inedible. I used less than 1/8 tsp on the pepper in my samosa mix and it was more than enough.

Unknown said...

No chickpeas?

Toni said...

Unbelievable! Best recipe I've tried in months!!! Perfect for an appetizer or main course with salad.

Wzorin said...

Great recipe. Tasted awesome and authentic with just the right amount of spiciness. Excellent with my tamarind chutney.I also added a small amount of finely chopped red onion.Thanks!

Nicole said...

How much juice is on your lemons? My lemon gave me 1/4 cup, and it was too much. It completely took over the dish. I really liked it before adding the lemon though. Maybe I'll just add a splash for brightness next time.

DianeRN said...

What is the fascination with cilantro? Tastes like soap and ruins everything it touches. What is a good substitute?

Tom R. said...

Well, this is kind of way off topic, but I use this filling along with cubes of roasted butternut and slices of a lentil loaf to make the most killer burritos! Chef John rocks...

Unknown said...

We had this for dinner lastnight, and it was sooooooo amazing!!!! Thanks so much for this recipe, Chef John! Keep up the good work! Whey are they going to give you your TV show??????

I R A said...

No carrot or corn?..

Jackie Patti said...

Those of you who don't like cilantro, use flat parsley instead.

And while I'm at it, if you don't like ketchup, substitute tomato paste; if you don't like cayenne, substitute paprika.

That should fix up all these recipes for everyone now so everyone can stop asking.

Well well well... said...

5 stars! Just made these, Chef John, and they were gobbled up by me and a picky boy. :)
I was too lazy to boil the potatoes, so just zapped them in the microwave for 4 then 2 minutes. Worked well.
Thanks for the recipe/idea!
(I just dipped in some tamarind chutney, which was lovely and less work, but I bet your sauce is yummers!)