Donal’s Festival Kitchen celebrates Diwali with a recipe from Lina Gautam. Tune into RTÉ One on 17 October at 8pm.
Ingredients
Chef Lina Gautam is the co‑owner and heart of Monty’s, Dublin’s multi-award-winning Nepalese restaurant at the heart of Temple Bar since 1997. Born and raised in Kathmandu, she moved to Ireland with her husband, Shiva, bringing the vibrant cuisine and warmth of her homeland to Irish diners.
Lina has taught cooking classes since 2000 and has appears regularly on RTÉ and Virgin Media, sharing recipes from Nepal. With her authenticity, creativity, and welcoming spirit, Lina has helped Monty’s become a cornerstone of Dublin’s dining scene.
Vegetarian Samosas
Serves: makes 12
Time: 1hr 15 minutes
For the dough
120g flour
1 tsp ajwain (caraway) seed
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp ghee
Chilled water – about 2 tbsps
For the filling
2 tbsp ghee
½ tsp ground coriander seeds, toasted and crushed
¼ tsp ground cumin seeds, toasted and crushed
½ tsp fennel seeds, toasted and crushed
1 tsp ginger, finely chopped
1-2 green chillies, finely chopped
5-6 boiled potatoes with skin on, peel and roughly chopped
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp mango powder
80g green peas
Handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
Vegetable oil for frying
Method
First, mix the flour, ajwain, salt and ghee and rub everything together with your fingers as if you were making a crumble.
Add chilled water bit by bit to bring the dough together then turn the dough out and knead until you have a stiff dough.
Cover and leave for at least for 30 minutes
For the filling, heat the ghee in a pan, fry all the crushed seeds with the ginger and green chilli. Add potatoes with salt, turmeric, chilli and mango powder and peas. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes in a low heat. Stir through the coriander and then let the mixture cool to room temperature.
Now divide the dough into equal parts and roll into roughly 12cm circles then cut into half moons and make a cone shape. Fill each cone with 1 tbsp of the filling then close and set aside, continuing until you have used up all of the dough and filling.
To fry, heat vegetable oil in a deep sided pan to 165 C. Once it is hot, fry 3-4 samosa at a time depending on the size of the pan. Fry samosas until they are golden brown – 6 minutes.
Serve hot or room temperature with a cup of masala tea.
Dining and Cooking