slight variations on a recipe from Finger Food by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern
2 potatoes, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
Vegetable or canola oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup corn kernals (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup shelled peas (fresh or frozen)
4 oz. paneer or mozzarella cheese
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
2 red chiles, seeded and chopped
Pinch of chile powder
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
15-20 sheets ready-made phyllo pastry, thawed
melted butter (amount needed will vary depending on how much you brush on the phyllo)
To make the filling, cook the potatoes and carrots in boiling salted water until just cooked, about 3-5 minutes. Drain.
Heat 3 Tbsp oil in a wok or pan (or just use the pot you were using to boil the other ingredients) and cook the onion until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, carrot, corn, and peas and cook for another minute.
Off heat, stir in the cheese, cilantro, chile peppers, chile powder, lime juice, and salt. Let cool.
Heat the oven to 350.
Unwrap the phyllo dough and put 1 sheet on a work surface. Keep the rest covered with a damp cloth while you work. Cut the sheet of pastry in half and brush the sheets with melted butter. Fold each half into 3, lengthwise, buttering between, making each into a long thin strip.
Put 1 Tbsp filling at one corner of a strip. Fold the corner over to form a triangle. Continue folding up until the filling is encolsed and the whole strip of pastry has been used. Repeat until all the phyllo and filling has been used up. (I ended up with filling leftover because I ripped 2 sheets of phyllo unforgiveably and couldn’t use them. It tasted pretty good on its own.)
(Optionally, you can not brush them everywhere with butter and just use a little butter to seal them up after filling and folding. I went through 2 sticks, and it just seemed a little excessive to me. They tasted fine [and were less greasy and fatty] with using only a little bit.)
Space the samosas apart on a parchment-lined or greased rimmed baking sheet (the butter will run everywhere, it’s good to have the lip). Brush each with more butter (totally optional). Bake for 15 minutes. (Alternatively, you could pan-fry them. Whatever.)