Indian-Inspired Ground Turkey Curry Samosas

Turkey Samosas plated

We cannot resist samosas when dining at an Indian restaurant and I wanted to try to make them at home.  I wanted to find some acceptable shortcuts to the traditional Indian recipe as I was going to make these for New Year’s Eve appetizers to bring to a party and didn’t want to deep-fry.

I adapted this Jean-Georges Vongerichten recipe for chicken samosas so that instead of deep-frying in spring roll wrappers I could use Trader Joe’s all-butter puff pastry and bake them.

Turkey Curry Samosas--baked

I simplified the spices to reflect what I had on hand and added potatoes sautéed in turmeric oil to give them some East Indian flair. I made them appetizer-size and I used ground turkey instead of chicken.  I didn’t have whole cumin seeds to toast and grind, and didn’t have tamarind paste or diced tomatoes so I improvised.  And I added garam masala to take them in a more Indian direction.

Isn’t that annoying?  I always want to reference a recipe that I start out with (out of respect, politeness, giving credit where credit is due), but I so often change, substitute, adapt, or improvise off the written script that the recipe is almost reinvented.

I share my reinvented recipe with you below (and link to the original inspiration above, so you can try both if you like!)

 

New Year's Eve Curry Turkey Samosas

Happy New Year!

Ground turkey in abundanceI used ground turkey that I had defrosted.  (The photo shows the 3-pounder behemoth I purchased on sale; I only used 1 pound of turkey for these appetizers.)

Because the holidays were so busy and I was making a lot of consecutive dishes, I did this in steps over a couple of days so I would not lose my mind.  But it is really easy enough to do all at once.

Step 1:  Make the turkey and spice filling.  (Keeps for 5 days.)

Step 2:  Make the cilantro yogurt dip.  (Keeps for 3 days.)

Step 3: Make the turmeric potatoes and add to turkey mixture.  (You can do this 1 day ahead before you assemble and bake the samosas.  You could opt out of the potatoes if you are pressed for time; the ground meat mixture is good.)

Step 4:  Assemble and bake the samosas.  (Serve that day.)

Since I was taking them to a party in the neighborhood, I baked them and took them right over.  They were good at room temperature.  Awesome right out of the oven. Perfectly fine for my husband’s snack after errand-running, reheated in the toaster oven at 350°.

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Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 3 T. canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 cup diced red onion
  • 1 large russet potato, peeled and chopped into bite-sized chunks (about 1/2 inch) (OPTIONAL)
  • 1 T. peeled and minced fresh ginger
  • 1 T. minced garlic
  • 1 T. ground coriander
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. garam masala
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric powder (divided, 1/2 tsp. for the ground meat, 1 tsp. for the optional potatoes)
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 T. Trader Joe’s dry chili paste
  • 1/4 C. chicken broth
  • 2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 T. fresh lime juice
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

  • Heat 2 T. oil in a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring, until translucent and softened, about 5 minutes.
  • Add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute.
  • Add the coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and ground cumin and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes.
  • Dissolve the dry Trader Joe’s Thai dry chili paste in 1/4 C. of chicken broth.  Add that mixture to the onions and aromatics in skillet.  [NOTE: This product is made with dried mushrooms and tamarind paste.  Since the Chef’s recipe called for 1 T. of tamarind paste and I didn’t have any, this was a good substitute.  I think you could leave it out but it would have a less authentic Indian restaurant flavor.]
  • Add the ground turkey and cook, stirring, until the meat is completely cooked through (no pink) and broth has evaporated, about 7-8 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper; stir in the fresh cilantro and the lime juice.
  • Remove from the heat, and cool to room temperature.
Thai "Dry" Chili Paste

This is a mixture of dried mushrooms, tamarind paste, coconut sugar, dried chili, lemongrass, garlic, shallot, and soy sauce. It is a handy condiment to add Asian flavor to your stir-fries and curries. 

 

  • OPTIONAL POTATOES: Place chopped potato in medium saucepan and cover with cold water, add a healthy pinch of salt to the water and bring the potatoes to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer potatoes until soft enough to fall off when pierced by a fork, about 7 minutes.
  • Drain potatoes in a colander and return to the saucepan.  Place over low heat and let potatoes dry out their moisture, shaking the pan, 2 minutes.
  • Heat the remaining T. vegetable oil in skillet over medium heat and add 1 tsp. turmeric to the oil, stirring to color the oil, 1 minute.
  • Turn potatoes into skillet and sauté, tossing to coat with turmeric oil, 4 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Take off heat, and let cool.  You can add the potato mixture to the turkey mixture and let flavors meld overnight.

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  • Defrost the puff pastry according to the package directions. (You can do this overnight in the fridge or for several hours on the counter at room temperature, plan accordingly!)
  • Place a defrosted sheet on your lightly floured board or counter.
  • Cut the sheet into fourths and then cut each square on the diagonal to make a triangle.  [NOTE: This will give you luncheon-size samosas as in the photo.  I tested this recipe twice–the first time I made them for lunch; the second I cut the pastry smaller and baked them for the party.)  For appetizer-size, cut the triangles on the diagonal to get smaller triangles (about 3 inches).

Puff Pastry
Puff pastry triangles

Curry samosa filling

  • Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each triangle and fold the point over to reach the other point.  Seal the edges by pressing down with your finger.Samosas folded
  • Preheat oven to 400 ° and bake samosas until golden, 18-20 minutes.

Cilantro-yogurt dip:

  • 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
  • ¾ cup plain whole-milk yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon sugar, plus more to taste
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

To make the dip: Put the cilantro leaves in a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the yogurt, lemon juice, and sugar. Stir well, season with salt, pepper.  You can also add heat with a chopped jalapeno or with a dash of cayenne.  We were serving children at the party so I left the dip mild.

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Enjoy memsahib!

 

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