4 Essential Tips To Keep Samosas Crispy

Samosa is one of those snacks that taste amazing when it’s hot inside and crispy from outside.

These are the two most important characteristics of this snack.

However, many times, when you make it at home, it doesn’t turn as crispy and crunchy as the ones you get at Halwai shops.

You can bring the same taste to the stuffing, but it’s quite a challenge to make them ‘karare‘ as we call it in Hindi.

So, what’s the secret behind the crispiness of the hot favorite Samosas?

Let’s find out in the detailed guide below.

How Do You Keep Samosas Crispy?

The thing you need to do here is to make them crispy in the first place!

If your Samosas are not crispy when they’re out from the oil, it’d be nearly impossible to get the same texture back as they cool down.

So, always make sure they are crispy when you’re done frying them in the Kadai or fryer.

Alright now, here are the tips to keep your Samosa crispy for a long time – 

1. Use less water for the dough.

Yes, if your dough’s consistency is not right, it might ruin all your efforts in the end.

For the Samosa dough, you don’t require a lot of water.

The dough should be thicker than regular chapati or roti dough.

When you get the required consistency to it, it helps in getting the crunchy texture to the cover.

Also, if you use more water, the dough might soak in extra oil while frying.

So, it’s necessary to keep an eye on the water content while kneading this type of dough.

Quick Tip – The Samosa dough should rest for at least 20-30 minutes.

Once you rest it for this much period, you can knead it again for a couple of minutes.

The resting period is quite essential, as it helps in bringing the elasticity to the dough.

2. Use Ghee.

When it comes to making the best Samosa dough, there can’t be any replacement to Ghee (clarified butter).

You can use oil, but it won’t help much in making your Samosa cover crispy and crunchy.

The extra fat content in the Ghee is quite essential for these results.

How to use Ghee for Samosa dough?

Here’s the step by step process – 

1. Get a bowl and add the flour to it.
2. Now, add the Salt, Ajwain (Carrom Seeds), and Ghee to it.
3. Mix it with your hands and make sure it reaches all parts of the flour.

Important: In case you are wondering, you need to add at least a couple of tablespoons of clarified butter for each cup of flour.

You can add a bit more Ghee if you like, but the above ratio is good enough for the dough preparation.

So, that is the standard method to incorporate it with the flour.

Note – After mixing the flour, it should turn into a crumbly and fluffy texture.

If you can’t get the desired texture, you can add more Ghee as per the quantity of flour.

Once the mixing is over, you can add some water and start the kneading process immediately.

3. Do not cook them in very hot oil.

When you are making Samosas at home, you shouldn’t cook them in extremely hot oil.

Well, I have seen people making this mistake while preparing this snack.

They try to fry them like Pakodas or Fritters.

And that’s not the right way to fry the Samosas.

If you fry on high flame, you will quickly see bubbles forming on their outer cover.

Well, it not only looks bad but also affects the texture of the cover.

When you cook them on such high flame, the most outer layer of cover becomes crisp immediately.

But the inner layers of dough remain slightly undercooked.

And therefore, the Samosas don’t turn crispy and crunchy enough.

Also, when you store such Samosas, they don’t retain the same texture for a long time.

Hence, don’t fry them on high flame if you want to keep them crispy.

4. Keep them in a bowl or plate.

That’s right!

If you’ve visited Indian sweets shops or snack centers, you might have observed the sellers never cover their fried food items with any lid.

And obviously, they do the same thing with the Samosas.

But is there any reason why they keep everything in open?

Yes, they do it so that the texture and crispiness of their deep-fried snacks can last for at least a few extra minutes.

If you put them in a covered box or container, they quickly lose their texture and turn soggy within a moment.

It happens due to the increase in the internal temperature of a closed box or container.

The steam generated by Samosas or any other deep-fried items releases in the box, and it eventually gets absorbed back into them.

Therefore, refrain from storing them in such an enclosed environment.

Instead, you can store them in a bowl or plate so that the hot air can release in the atmosphere.

Note – The fried snacks do turn cold due to direct exposure to room temperature.

And there is nothing much you can do about it.

If you want to reheat the Samosas, you will probably need to put them back in a pan or microwave for a few minutes.

Alright, I hope these tips help you keep Samosas crispy at least for a few hours.

Secret Formula To Prepare And Store Crispy Samosas

For even better results, I have explained a simple formula below.

Here’s the formula –

Low + Medium + Low = Crispy Samosas!

So, what does this L-M-L thing mean?

The explanation – 

The first ‘Low’ in this formula is about the temperature of the uncooked Samosas.

When you are about to fry them in the oil, please make sure the stuffing and cover are not warm or hot. 

If the stuffing is hot, keep it in the refrigerator for some time.

And when its temperature drops to room temperature, you can begin the stuffing and sealing process.

The second point is Medium, and it’s related to the temperature of the oil.

It basically means the oil temperature should be around a medium-high level.

You don’t want it to be too hot, as it might cook the Samosas unevenly.

It should be uniform throughout the frying process.

When the temperature of the oil is stable, it helps in getting the nice golden color and crisp texture to the Samosas.

The final point is about the ‘Low’ surrounding temperature.

When you store the fried Samosas in a covered box, the inside temperature increases instantaneously. 

And that’s not at all good for the much desired crispy Samosa texture.

So, as I mentioned earlier in the guide, you need to keep them in an open bowl or container.

It will help in removing the excess heat from the stuffed masala of the Samosas.

On the whole, it all depends on how you make them in the first place.

If you use incorrect techniques to prepare the dough or stuffing, you may not get the best results in the end.

Similarly, if you don’t use the right method for frying, they will turn soggy after some time.

So, do remember these useful tips.

If you follow this three-step formula, I am sure you will be able to make crispy and crunchy Samosas at home.

3 Tips To Make Samosas Crispy 

As I stated above, the secret lies in the making process than storing or reheating.

So, here are a few more tips that might help you make crispy Samosas –

1. Knead the dough with cold water. There is no need to use hot or warm water for this type of dough. The cold water will help a lot in making a stiff dough.
2. If the oil is too hot, allow it to cool down a bit before you release the Samosas in it. You can check the oil temperature by adding a small piece of dough in the Kadai or Fryer. 
3. Do not fry Samosas till they are well done. If you wait longer, they will turn dark red or brown. So, take them out when they are almost done. The cooking process will continue to take place even when they’re out of the oil.

How To Store Uncooked Samosas Overnight

Thankfully, it doesn’t require as many efforts as the making process.

So, how do you store raw Samosas overnight?

You can refrigerate or freeze them as per your usage.

If you want to make them early in the morning, you may keep them in the fridge section of the refrigerator.

But if you want them for lunch the next day, I’d suggest you store them in the freezer.

This way, the stuffing will remain relatively fresh, and the Samosas will taste just fine.

Regarding storage, you will need to store them in such a way that they don’t break apart or lose their shape.

Also, you can store them in an airtight ziplock bag or container.

It will keep them fresh for a few more hours.

And that’s all you need to do when it comes to storing the Samosas overnight.

If you want more freshness to your Samosas, you can check out the following method.

Alternate Method

Well, the above tips are quite useful if you want to make Samosas the next morning!

But you don’t have to prepare everything from scratch on the previous night.

Here’s what I’d recommend if you wish to prepare them for breakfast –

1. On the previous night, you should prepare the dough and make Samosa sheets out of it.
2. Place them on top of each other and wrap them into a foil. You may sprinkle some flour in between so that they don’t stick to each other.
3. Next step, boil the potatoes and place them in the fridge along with the foiled sheets. There is no need to peel them at this stage.
4. The next morning, take both these items out from the refrigerator.
5. Prepare the stuffing mixture using potatoes and stuff into Samosa cone when it’s cooled down.

As I said, if you have an hour or so for the preparation, you should definitely consider making the masala in the morning.

The fresh masala mixture will bring a better taste to Samosas.

However, if you don’t have a lot of time for its preparation, you can prepare everything at night and fry them the next day.

FAQs

Over To You

Well, I hope you enjoyed this guide on how to keep Samosas crispy for a long time.

If you have any more questions related to this topic, please let me know in the comments section below.

I will surely reply to your queries.

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