How to make Nigerian Samosa

Samosa! this easy Samosa Recipe is filled with delicious and flavourful prawns, peas and potato filling. Don't let the making of samosa wrapper from scratch scare you away from enjoying this crispy treat at home. It is actually very easy than you think, learn how to fold samosa easy with the step by step guide below.

Samosa is a popular snack which originated from India (Punjabi) but over time, it has evolved and has now been adopted and adapted all over the world. Nigeria is one of the countries that love samosa, we never joke with it, especially at parties. Every Nigerian party must feature Nigerian samosa on their menu and other small chops recipes like puff puff, spring rolls, plantain mosa, fried chicken wings just to mention a few. It is not a must but it means that the party isn’t tight (as we say in Nigeria) enough hahaha. I have put Nigerian stamp on this samosa recipe but trust me, there is no difference from the Indian version. I have only used fewer spices than some Punjabi samosas would call for.

Can it be baked instead of fried

Samosa is part of the many delicious snacks available in the Nigerian small chops family. It is traditionally deep-fried but in this day and era of ‘healthy living’, it is ok to bake samosa. It tastes very good if not better than the fried version.  With baked samosa, you don’t have to carry on the guilt from deep-frying it. Though I have used prawns as part of my fillings for this recipe, you can use and filling of choice or simply stick with the traditional potato and peas filling.

Ingredients for the dough

250g all-purpose flour 

2 tbsp vegetable oil

½ tbs salt

water (about ½ cup)

More Vegetable oil for deep frying

Samosa filling Ingredients

2-3 medium-size potatoes

12pcs of fresh prawns, deveined

Salt

Seasoning

Cayenne pepper

A handful of frozen peas, defrosted

2gloves Garlic, thinly chopped

Ginger (about a sugar cube size) thinly chopped

1 small onion, chopped

Turmeric powder

Cumin powder, optional (substitute with suya spice)

Tips

• make the samosa pastry in advance and set aside for about 30 to 40 minutes then move on to make the filling.
• I pureed the peas so my little one could enjoy it too. You don’t have to do this but I think it gives it the right texture when bitten into
• This samosa can be made vegan or vegetarian. In fact, the Punjabi samosa recipe is made with spiced potato filling.

How to make samosa wrapper

Add the flour, salt, cumin (if using) and vegetable oil into a bowl and mix together to form crumbs texture. Add water a little at a time to the dough and continue to mix till you form a stiff dough. Cover with a cling film and set aside while you prepare the filling

How to make the potato filling for this easy samosa recipe

Peel and cut the potatoes into manageable chunks, add salt to taste and bring to boil till soft

On a separate burner, place a frying pan on low heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil, leave to sizzle and add chopped onions, garlic and ginger and sauté for about a minute or two. Add the prawn, seasoning and continue to stir for another 3 minutes or till prawns are well cooked but not rubbery. Take it off the heat and set aside. Chop the prawns into tiny pieces or simply add to the food processor and pulse for a few seconds

Check on the potatoes, once it is done take it off the heat and drain.

Add the drained potatoes to a bowl and slightly mash with a fork, add the peas, turmeric and the prawn mixture and mix all together till well combined. Check for salt and seasoning and adjust accordingly.

How to make Samosa at home

Make balls from the dough as seen in the picture below. (Make them bigger or smaller according to personal choice)

Take a ball of dough on at a time and roll into a thin oval or circular shape. (This can be achieved by using a round cutter)

Cut the flat out dough down in the middle to form a semi-circle, fold the dough to form a cone with one edge overlapping another and seal the edge with water.

Add the potato filling to the cone and seal the water to form a triangle. Cut off any excess dough and press the edge with a fork as seen in the picture below. Continue this process till you have exhausted the batter and filling and then set aside.

Place a shallow frying pan on medium heat and add vegetable oil and allow to heat up. To test the oil if it is hot enough, add small dough and if it floats on top of the oil then it is ready.

Add the samosa to the oil making sure it is not overcrowded, reduce the heat and fry on both sides till golden brown, continue this process for the rest of the batch. Take it off the heat and drain on a kitchen towel.

Serve with lime, homemade sauce or the good old, never disappointing ketchup.

Print Recipe

5 from 4 votes

Nigerian Samosa Recipe

Samosa is a popular snack which originated from India but over time, it has evolved and has now been adopted and adapted all over the world. Nigeria is one of the countries that love samosa, we never joke with it, especially at parties. This easy samosa recipe comes with step by step instructions.

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Indian, Nigerian

Keyword: Easy samosa recipes, How to make Nigerian samosa, Nigerian samosa, Samosa recipe

Servings: 14 samosas

Author: Ajoke

Ingredients

Samosa dough

• 250 g all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• ½ tsp salt
• water start with ½ cup and add about a tbsp at a time
• 1 ltr Vegetable oil for deep frying

samosa filling ingredients

• 2-3 medium size potatoes
• 12 fresh prawns deveined
• Salt
• bouillon seasoning use according to preference
• Cayenne pepper
• ⅓ cup frozen peas defrosted
• 2 Garlic cloves thinly chopped or minced
• Ginger about a sugar cube size thinly chopped
• 1 small onion chopped
• ½ tsp Turmeric powder
• ½ tsp Cumin powder optional (substitute with suya spice)

Instructions

• Note: make the samosa pastry first and set aside for about 30 minutes then move on to make the fillingTo make the samosa pastry
  
• Add the flour, salt, cumin (if using) and vegetable oil into a bowl and mix together to form crumbs texture. Add water a little at a time to the dough and continue to mix till you form a stiff dough. Cover with a cling film and set aside while you prepare the filling

Potato Prawn samosa filling

• Peel and cut the potatoes into manageable chunks, add salt to taste and bring to boil till soft
• On a separate burner, place a frying pan on a low heat, add 1tablespoon of oil, leave to sizzle and add chopped onions, garlic and ginger and sauté for about a minute or two. Add the prawn, seasoning and continue to stir for another 3 minutes or till prawns are well cooked but not rubbery. Take it off the heat and set aside. Chop the prawns into tiny pieces or simply add to the food processor and pulse for a few seconds
• Check on the potatoes, once it is done take it off the heat and drain.

  I pureed the peas so my little one could enjoy it too. You don’t have to do this
  
• Add the drained potatoes to a bowl and slightly mash with a fork, add the peas, tumeric and the prawn mixture and mix all together till well combined. Check for salt and seasoning and adjust accordingly.

To make the samosa

• Make balls from the dough as seen in the pictures above. (Make them bigger or smaller according to personal choice) You should get between 12 and 16 samosas with this recipe
• Take a ball of dough on at a time and roll into a thin oval or circular shape. (This can be achieved by using a round cutter)
• Cut the flat out dough down in the middle to form a semi circle, fold the dough to form a cone with one edge overlapping another and seal the edge with water.
• Add the potato filling to the cone and seal the water to form a triangle. Cut off any excess dough and press the edge with a fork as seen in the picture below. Continue this process till you have exhausted the batter and filling and then set aside.

To fry the samosa

• Place a shallow frying pan on medium heat and add vegetable oil and allow to heat up. To test the oil if it is hot enough, add small dough and if it floats on top of the oil then it is ready.
• Add the samosa to the oil making sure it is not overcrowded, reduce the heat and fry on both sides till golden brown, continue this process for the rest of the batch. Take it off the heat and drain on a kitchen towel. 

  Serve immediately with lime, homemade sauce or the good old, never disappointing ketchup.

There you have it Easy (Nigerian) samosa recipe made easy...

Other Nigerian small chops recipes you might like

Puff puff

Plantain mosa

Chin chin

Nigerian Buns

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