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The perfect, healthy Indian samosa recipe (baked samosa and air-fryer samosa) made with just six simple pantry ingredients. Give it a try already!
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Chances are, if you’ve eaten at an Indian restaurant, you’ve had samosas. They might look complicated to make, but they’ve become a household staple these days. And they’re delicious because they’re flaky and flavorful.
That said, too often samosas are also oily. So, I set out on a mission to develop a healthy, Indian samosa recipe, so I can enjoy the snack without worrying about the fried goodness too much. So, here we are with the greatest Indian, plant-based snack. This page has recipes for both air fryer samosas and for baked samosas.
What are samosas?
Samosas are savory, typically deep-fried fritters, typically with spiced potatoes as a filling. Though I’ve also seen them made with meat, cheese or lentils. They also come in a few different shapes, just like us – the triangular ones are most popular, but I’ve also seen cones and half-moons. They were brought to East Africa by the migrant Indians during British colonization, and are often called “sambusa” there.
How do you make Samosas?
My recipe needs just six ingredients – flour, water, and oil for the samosa dough. Potatoes, peas and some spices for the filling. Technically, you can use almost anything for the filling. My recipe uses the traditional masala (potatoes, peas, turmeric, salt and chili powder). The best thing about this is that you can always use any leftover filling on bread as a sandwich and any leftover dough to make Indian flatbread. I’m also working on a cheesy samosa, so stay tuned for that!
Can you make samosas in an air fryer?
It’s so easy to bake or air-fry samosas. Three things to keep in mind:
- Use a slightly higher fat to flour ratio. For instance, here, I use 2 tablespoon of oil per cup of flour
- Add a bit of baking soda to the dough when you knead if you want it ultra crispy (I haven’t done that here, but it’s an easy option)
- Coat them fully with oil and then bake at 400F for 35 to 40 minutes, turning over halfway through. Or, to air-fry, put them in at 380F for 15 minutes, also turning halfway through.
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What is the difference between air fryer samosas and deep fried samosas?
The main difference I noticed between air-fryer or baked samosas and deep fried ones is that the pastry is often not as flaky in the former. A simple trick to ensure extra crispiness is to add a pinch of baking soda when you make the dough. I’ve also found that AP produces flakier results than using atta (i.e. whole wheat flour). That said, you’re trading off 5-6 cups of oil for a tablespoon or two when you bake or air-fry samosas. Totally worth it.
I honestly didn’t notice any difference between the baked and air-fried versions. In the picture below, the top part is the baked samosas and the bottom part is the air-fryer samosas. They both tasted just as delicious!
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Pin ItHow do you fold samosas?
This was probably the one question that I was most worried about when I set out. But I found that it was actually quite easy once you get a hold of it. I was inspired by Richa, over at My Food Story, but still had to try it a couple of times to get it right. The method that worked for me is highlighted in the illustration below.
Substitution Tip
Samosa is traditionally made with all purpose flour or maida. But you can swap in some of the maida for whole wheat flour. All purpose flour provides flakier results, and whole wheat flour samosas will result in a denser samosa pastry, but they still be very tasty!
How to store samosas? Can you reheat them?
I typically tend to keep my samosas for a day or two after I’ve made them. Just like any other pastry, the longer you keep it, the less flaky it gets. I don’t recommend eating a samosa 1-2 days after it’s been made. To store, I wrap them in foil and then reheat them in the oven at 350F for 5-10 minutes if I intend to eat them soon thereafter.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Air Fryer Indian Samosas
Equipment
- 1 Stainless Step Pot
- 1 Stand Mixer
- 1 Basting Brush
- 1 Medium Skillet
Ingredients
For Samosa Dough
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp oil
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 tsp salt
For Samosa Filling
- 2 potatoes, medium to large size, prefer Yukon Gold
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided: 1 tbsp for masala, 1 tbsp for baking or air frying
- 1 tsp tumeric powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 tsp chopped cilantro, optional
Instructions
Start by boiling the potatoes
- Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil on a high heat. In the meantime, quarter the potatoes. Once the water has boiled, turn down to medium heat, add potatoes and cover with a lid. Cook for 20-25 minutes until fork inserted goes in smoothly and comes out clean.
Prepare samosa dough
- Add flour, salt, 1 tablespoon of oil to a mixing bowl and mix using a fork.
- Slowly add water and knead slowly into a ball. Add ¼ cup at a time, until the dough falls into a neat ball. If you have a stand mixer, you can dump all the ingredients in the mixing bowl and use the paddle attachment to get it to the right consistency.
- Dab the rolled dough with a little bit of oil, and set aside for at least 15-20 minutes so the dough can rest while the potatoes are boiling.
- Take the kneaded dough and roll it out into a long cylinder, roughly as long as your two hands side-to-side (~7-8 inches long)
- Wet the straight edge with some water and form a cone so that the top is wider and also open for you to stuff the filling. Add ~2 heaped teaspoons of filling per samosa and push it in so it evenly fills out (but only till about ¾ of the cone).
Air fry the samosas
- After you’re done folding the first samosa, pre-heat to 425 F. Depending on the size of your air-fryer, you might need to make a couple of batches – take care not to overcrowd the samosas since that will prevent the dough from cooking properly
- Place the samosas carefully in the air fryer and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, and then flip the sides and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes. Depending on your air fryer, you might need to add a few extra minutes. When it's done, the samosas should be crisp on the outside and a nice golden brown color on both sides.
