Samosa swirl
All the flavours of a potato and vegetable samosa in a pretty swirl. Not only does this look and taste beautiful, but it uses puff pastry, which means you can have all the flavours of Indian samosas without having to deep-fry a thing. A real crowd-pleaser for Diwali parties!
Ingredients
- 350g/12oz floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper, skins left on and well scrubbed
- 100g/3½oz frozen mixed vegetables, defrosted
- 2 tbsp neutral oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 tsp minced or finely grated fresh root ginger
- 1 hot green chilli, finely chopped
- 2 tsp garam masala
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp roughly chopped fresh coriander
- 320g/11½oz ready-rolled puff pastry, chilled
- 3 tbsp full-fat milk
- 1 tbsp mango chutney
Method
Cook the potatoes in a saucepan of boiling water until tender. Leave to cool and then peel. Break the potatoes into rough chunks and set aside.
Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the defrosted vegetables. Place on a large board and roughly chop around 30–40 times so the vegetables are coarse and not too chunky. If the vegetables are too big, they will fall out of the pastry swirl.
Heat the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, ginger and chilli and fry for 2 minutes, or until the onion just begins to soften. Add the potatoes, chopped vegetables, garam masala, salt, lemon juice and coriander and stir well. Transfer the mixture from the pan to a bowl and mash until the mixture is smooth enough to hold its shape when lightly pressed into a ball. Set aside to cool completely.
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Line a large, flat baking tray with baking paper.
Place the pastry on a clean work surface and carefully unroll. Spread the cooled vegetable mixture all over the pastry as evenly as possible. Leave a 1cm/½in gap all around the edge.
From the widest side, roll the pastry into a log, as if making cinnamon rolls. Pinch the ends to secure the seam so it doesn’t open.
Use a large, sharp knife to cut the log in half lengthways. Lightly press to ensure the filling doesn’t fall out. Carefully begin to twist one of the pastry lengths very gently, stretching it a little thinner as it is twisted into a rope shape. Work from one end at a time to make it easier. Repeat with the other piece.
Take one of the pastry ropes to the baking tray and begin to coil it into a snail-shell shape. Add the second piece, continuing to coil and making it larger. Press the area where they join to secure the pastry.
Brush with milk and bake for 40 minutes until golden-brown. Remove from the oven and brush with mango chutney while the pastry is still hot. Return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes. Slice into pieces and serve.