Name: Spiced Potato Puff Pastry Baskets (deconstructed samosas)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 puff pastry sheets (thawed); 1 small yellow onion; 3 cloves garlic; 1 tsp grated ginger; 1 potato - cut into small cubes ((the smaller the potato cubes are, the faster they cook)); 1/2 cup frozen peas (thawed); 1/2 tsp turmeric; 1/2 tsp smoked paprika; 1/2 tsp coriander; pinch salt and pepper to taste; 2 tsps mustard seeds; 1 egg (beaten); olive oil; OPTIONAL - parsley to garnish

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Buttery, flaky puff pastry encases a deliciously spiced potato filling in these Spiced Potato Puff Pastry Baskets or deconstructed samosas.

When my daughter and I visit any South Asian Store, we head straight for the frozen food section to peruse the shelves for those packages of pre-made, oversized samosas.

They are some of our favorite snacks for movie nights and for our appetizer night on New Year’s Eve, especially when paired with a nice, cold glass bottle of Coca-Cola™ or Diet Coke^®.

Spiced Potato Peas Stuffed Puff Pastry Baskets

My daughter loves those store-bought samosas as they come enveloped in a nice crispy crust. I buy them as I have yet to perfect the art of samosa folding!

Now, I can make a decent samosa filling.

But what I end up with after trying to wrangle that filling into any sort of dough just leaves me gobsmacked!

Just take a look at these! I bet you’re gobsmacked as well now eh?! So…to the store I used to go…

At least, that was prior to us moving to Athens. In this little college town that I currently live in, I have yet to visit a store that sells frozen samosas.

So, I’ve started improvising. Instead of samosas enveloped in a crusty covering, I’ve started making “deconstructed samosas” in puff pastry baskets.

These Spiced Potato Puff Pastry Baskets or deconstructed samosas taste so delicious!

Sometimes, I make a bit of mango chutney and put a dollop on top of these. The spiced potato filling is very much like a samosa, and the elegant little puff pastry baskets make these as good to look at as eat!

Now you can buy pre-made puff pastry baskets at just about any store. Or you can make your own using puff pastry sheets.

What are the ingredients needed to make these deconstructed samosas, AKA Spiced Potato Puff Pastry Baskets

You will need the following 14 ingredients for this recipe:

Puff pastry sheets
Yellow onion
Garlic cloves
Fresh ginger
Potato
Frozen green peas
Turmeric powder
Smoked paprika
Coriander powder
Mustard seeds
Egg
Olive oil
And salt and black pepper to season this with
Totally optional is some parsley to garnish these baskets with.

Substitutions

Puff pastry
Puff pastry sheets can be substituted with pre-made puff-pastry baskets that are sold in the freezer section of most stores, right beside the sheets. Or store-bought biscuit dough could also be used as an alternative.

Onion + Garlic cloves + Fresh ginger
Fresh onion, ginger, and garlic add so much to this recipe. If you would rather not spend time peeling and chopping them, most stores sell peeled and chopped onion, ginger, and garlic in their produce sections.

Potato
I used arusset potato,but this can be substituted with an orange or purple sweet potato.

Veggies
I used some Frozen green peas in this recipe. If you want to add in more vegetables, then well diced carrots and bell peppers can be added in too, like I did when I made these veggie puffs.

Spices
I used a blend of turmeric powder, smoked paprika, and coriander powder. These can be found on Amazon or most South Asian grocery stores. However, these three spices can be replaced with Harissa or Garam masala.

Mustard seeds
Mustard seeds in this recipe could be replaced with a teaspoon of cumin seeds or be left out completely.

Egg
I used the egg over the puff pastry to give it a sheen and help it turn a golden brown. Unfortunately, I do not recommend substituting or omitting it.

Instructions to make these Spiced Potato Puff Pastry Baskets

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Grab two circular pastry cutters – one a little bit smaller than the other. Using the large one, cut out 9 circles in one of the puff pastry sheets. Then, using the same large pastry cutter, cut out nine large circles in the other pastry sheet as well. Then, using the smaller one, cut circles into the circles already cut out. Using a brush, brush some egg onto the bottom of the circle with a “hole” and place it on the larger circle. Repeat till you have nine circles on top of circles. Brush the tops with egg wash and place them on a baking tray.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes. As these bake, they should rise up, forming baskets.

As the baskets are baking, peel and chop the onion and add it to a pan with olive oil over medium heat. Let it saute for about 5 minutes. Stir often so it doesn’t burn.

While it is cooking, rinse the potato and chop it into small pieces. Peel and finely chop the ginger and garlic.

When the 5 minutes are up and the onion is translucent, add the mustard seeds, chopped ginger and garlic, as well as the chopped potatoes to the pan and lower the heat to a low.

Cover potatoes and let cook about 10 minutes or till potato cubes are tender.

Uncover and add in the peas, turmeric, smoked paprika, coriander, salt, pepper and saute for a couple more minutes.

About now, the puff pastry baskets should be ready. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. When the baskets come out of the oven, the center of each will be puffed up as well. Gently, using a spoon, nudge the center down, leaving the sides up.

Add the spiced potato mixture into the puff pastry baskets, garnish with parsley if desired, and enjoy!

Storage

Leftovers of these deconstructed samosas can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. They can also be placed in an air-tight container and frozen for up to a month.

Reheating

The leftovers can be reheated for 7-10 minutes in an oven that is preheated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit or 190.5 degrees Celsius.

Want more puffs like these?

Then you have got to check out these Tuna potato puffs, Black-eyed pea puff pastry baskets, these bell pepper puffs (that look like The Holidays in puff pastry) and these goat cheese beet puffs!