Cheese and sweetcorn samosas are made from easy homemade pastry, and stuffed with a spicy cheese and sweetcorn filling, before being fried until they turn crispy and golden. They are easier to make than you might think and so much tastier than shop-bought. Read on for my guide on making the easiest-ever samosas
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Samoosas or Samosas?
In South Africa, they spell the word with 2 'o's and pronounce it SamOOsa as in moose. The rest of the world seems to spell it with one 'o' and pronounce it SamOsa , as in 'Oh these are so good'. I'm inclined to go with the rest of the world on this - especially these cheese and sweetcorn samosas. They are SO delicious I can't stop eating them.
When I lived in Johannesburg, one of my favourite shopping excursions (did I mention I love shopping as much as food) was to the Oriental Plaza - an Indian street market where you could buy anything from A to Z. After spending a couple of happy hours browsing spending money on things I didn't need but just had to have, we always ended up buying a box of samoosas (spelt with 2 'o's - we were in South Africa at the time) from one of the street food vendors. We used to eat them in the car for lunch on the way home. You could buy the traditional lamb, beef or potato samoosas, but my favourite samoosa flavour was cheese and sweetcorn, an amazing combination of curry spices, plump kernels of sweetcorn, and cheese.
The sweetcorn provided little pops of sweetness, which along with the creaminess of the cheese, helped to cut through the spiciness of the filling.
Home-made vs shop-bought
I have nothing against a good shop-bought samosa. They are fine if you are in a hurry and want a quick snack, and you are near an outlet that sells them.
However, in my opinion, nothing beats homemade. You can control the amount of filling you put in (I always try to squeeze in extra) and also adjust the amount of spice. Plus of course, you can make them any time the samosa craving hits.
The ready-made samosas that you buy in supermarkets all use phyllo (filo) pastry which tends to absorb a lot of oil when fried. They can turn out very greasy, especially if you eat them cold. These homemade samosas are made with homemade pastry which doesn't absorb a lot of oil and so makes them less greasy.
Plus these cheese and sweetcorn samosas are equally tasty served either hot or cold, so they are perfect for popping into a lunchbox.
What you will need
Equipment
To make these cheese and sweetcorn samosas, you will need a mixing bowl for making the pastry, and a large frying pan or wok for frying them. I like to use a large earthenware mixing bowl because it means I can really get my hands under the flour to mix the dough easily.
To roll out the pastry you will need a rolling pin.
Ingredients
The quantities given in the recipe will make 16 x 3" triangular samosas. Depending on how much of the filling you manage to cram in, you may end up with a little of the filling left over. If that happens, I pop it into a small Tupperware box, freeze it and add it to my next curry meal.
**You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making these meatballs on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**
For the pastry
Plain flour - don't use self-raising flour - we don't need any raising agent in the pastry.
Sunflower Oil - this forms the fat content of the pastry. You can substitute with an equivalent amount of ghee if you prefer.
Water - for binding the pastry. You may not need all the water so keep a tablespoon or so back and only add it if needed to form a soft, non-sticky dough.
Salt optional to taste
For the Cheese and Sweetcorn Filling
Sweetcorn - drain and reserve the water. I used a 340-gram can (or 12 ounces) undrained weight.
Onion - this needs to be finely diced, approximately the same size as the sweetcorn. You can use one large onion or 2 smaller ones. You'll need roughly the same amount of chopped onions as sweetcorn. If you prefer, you can substitute the onions with shallots.
Cheese - grated. I used cheddar. Substitute with any cheese you would normally buy for grating. You can use half cheddar and half mozzarella if you want a more 'stringy' cheese.
Spices
- Ground Cumin
- Ground Coriander
- Garam Masala
- Chilli Paste or cayenne pepper - use this to your own taste depending on how much heat you like. I have to mention here that the sweetness from the corn and the creaminess of the cheese does act to counteract the heat from the chilli so you may need slightly more chilli than you thought you would. I added half a teaspoon of chilli paste which is normally sufficient for my taste, but I found I could have added extra.
Salt - to taste
You will also need sunflower oil both for frying the onions and for frying the samosas.
What do do
Make the pastry
This is my easy samosa pastry recipe. It only takes a few minutes, but in my opinion, the difference in the taste between this pastry and store-bought pastry is huge. If you do want to use phyllo pastry then of course you can do so, and I've included instructions on how to fold the phyllo pastry samosas further down this post.
Tip the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Add the oil (or melted ghee if you are using ghee).
Using a fork, mix the oil into the flour until the oil is all incorporated and the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Now add most of the water and continue to mix until you get a soft shaggy dough. If you find the mixture is too dry, add the remaining water a few drops at a time until all the flour has been incorporated. Don't add too much water - you should be able to handle the dough without it sticking to your hands.
Using your hands, knead the dough for about 5 minutes until it forms a soft smooth ball.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set the dough aside while you make the filling.
Make the cheese and sweetcorn filling
Chop the onions finely (about the size of a sweetcorn kernel) and stir them in sunflower oil over a moderate heat until they soften and turn translucent. This will take 4 to 5 minutes. Don't allow the onions to brown.
Tip in the spices and the salt and stir-fry for one minute longer until the spices release their aroma and the onions are completely coated.
Add 3 tablespoons of the reserved sweetcorn liquid and bring the mixture to the boil.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the drained sweetcorn.
Stir the grated cheese into the cooked filling.
At this point, you should taste the filling and adjust the seasoning. If it doesn't seem spicy enough for you, add more chilli paste or if it is too bland, add a touch more salt.
Fold and assemble the samosas
Now we can get onto the task of folding and filling the samosas. This is my easy method, using the pastry that we just made. If you want to use phyllo pastry for making these samosas, skip to how to fold samosas using phyllo pastry
Tip the pastry onto a lightly floured surface, and cut it into 8 roughly equally-sized pieces. Each piece will make 2 samosas.
Take one piece of dough, form it into a ball and then roll it out as thinly as possible until it forms a circle approximately 6 inches in diameter. Cut the circle in half through the middle.
Moisten the rounded edge of one half of the pastry with cold water (to help it seal) then fold the pastry in half and crimp it with a fork on the rounded edge.
Open the dough and hold it in one hand between your thumb and forefinger. Using a tablespoon, fill the samosa with one and a half tablespoons of the filling, pressing it down gently with your finger so that the filling goes all the way down inside the samosa.
Crimp the open side of the samosa with a fork to close it. You won't need to use any water as the filling will have moistened the edges nicely.
Repeat these steps until you have made 16 samosas. (I know there are only 10 in the picture, but the others didn't fit onto my board 🙂 )
You might find it easier to just put the filling on the half-circle on a flat surface. Then bring the pastry over to form a quarter-circle and crimp it all
Word of warning - do make sure that the filling is completely enclosed with no holes in the samosa. If you do have any holes you will find the filling will spill out of the samosa when you fry it.
Fry the samosas
Once you've assembled the samosas as per the instructions above, you can fry them.
Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan until it sizzles when you add a small piece of dough.
Now add the samosas and let them fry gently for 3 to 4 minutes per side until they are crispy and golden. Don't add too many samosas at once, leave yourself enough room to turn them.
Keep the heat to a low sizzle. If the oil gets too hot the samosas will burn before they are cooked through.
You could also put them on a greased baking sheet, brush them with sunflower oil, and bake for about 25 minutes in the oven at 200C/400F.
And this is what you end up with - deliciously crispy pastry packed with lots of spicy filling.
How to fold samosas using phyllo pastry
If you would prefer to use phyllo pastry rather than making your own, this is how you should fold them.
Note the pictures below were taken when I was making my recipe for beef samosas (which hasn't yet made its way onto my website), which is why the filling looks different to the filling in this recipe.
If you decide to use phyllo pastry to make this recipe, you will probably get double the quantity of samosas because you will use less filling per samosa.
Start off by cutting a piece of phyllo pastry lengthwise into 3 strips.
Cut off a triangular shape from the end of one strip.
Add a tablespoon of the filling to the strip.
Now fold the pastry over forming a triangle
Keep folding, keeping the triangular shape
Make a final fold
Cut off the last triangular shape
Moisten with a mixture of flour and water
Seal to form a triangle
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Filling variations
This recipe is for cheese and sweetcorn filling, but you could experiment with your own fillings. Why not try spinach and feta, or substitute pea and cubed cooked potato for the sweetcorn and onion? You might even like to try this recipe for beef samosas with peas and potatoes for a meatier option. And of course, the curried mince from this recipe Vetkoek and Curried Mince would be perfect for making beefy samosas.
Just bear in mind when making fillings for samosas that the ingredients should be as finely chopped as possible so that you can easily fill the samosas.
Save for later
If you would like to make these cheese and sweetcorn samosas why not pin the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click the image below.
Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.
Related recipes
If you enjoyed these cheese and sweetcorn samosas, perhaps you'd like to take a look at some of my other South African recipes.
📋The recipe
Cheese and sweetcorn samosas
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Wok or frying pan
- Sharp Knife
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 1½ cups (210g) plain flour
- 3 Tablespoons Sunflower Oil (or you can use Ghee)
- â…“ cup Water approximately
- ½ teaspoon Salt optional to taste
For the Cheese and Sweetcorn Filling
- 1 large onion (finely diced)
- 1½ cups / 200 grams canned sweetcorn (drain and reserve the water)
- 1 cup cheddar cheese (grated)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon chilli paste use to taste if you want a bit more of a bite
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil (for frying the onion)
- salt to taste
- Sunflower Oil (for frying the samosas
Instructions
To make the dough
- Put the flour and salt into a mixing bowl1½ cups (210g) plain flour, ½ teaspoon Salt
- Add the oil and mix with a fork to combine3 Tablespoons Sunflower Oil (or you can use Ghee)
- Add most of the water and mix to a soft dough. If the dough is too dry add the remain water a teaspoon at a time.â…“ cup Water
- Knead for 5 minutes until the dough becomes elastic. Cover and put aside while you make the filling.
To make the cheese and sweetcorn filling
- Fry the onions in the oil until soft and translucent. Do not allow to brown.1 large onion (finely diced), 1 tablespoon sunflower oil (for frying the onion)
- Add the spices and mix well to combine.1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 2 teaspoons garam masala, 1 teaspoon chilli paste, salt to taste
- Add 2 to 3 tablespoons liquid from the sweetcorn and mix well until the mixture starts to simmer.
- Add the drained sweetcorn. Mix well. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.1½ cups / 200 grams canned sweetcorn (drain and reserve the water)
- Mix the grated cheese into the cooled onion/sweetcorn mixture.1 cup cheddar cheese (grated)
To assemble and fry the samosas
- Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.
- Take one piece of dough, form it into a ball and then roll it out as thinly as possible until it forms a circle approximately 6 inches in diameter. Cut the circle in half through the middle.
- Moisten the rounded edge of one half of the pastry with cold water (to help it seal) then fold the pastry in half and crimp it with a fork on the rounded edge.
- Open the crimped dough between your thumb and forefinger and fill with the cooled cheese and sweetcorn mixture. Press the mixture down gently so the filling goes all the way to the bottom.
- Crimp the top of the samosa with a fork to seal
- Repeat until you have made all 16 samosas.
- Fry the samosas in medium hot oil until golden brown on both sides - approximately 4 minutes per side.Sunflower Oil (for frying the samosas
- Drain on paper towels.
- Serve drizzled with lemon juice, or with a bowl of your favourite dipping sauce. Chutney goes particularly well with these.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
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This recipe has been shared with #CookBlogShare
Aziza Maarsdorp
Hi
How many samoosa do u get with this receipe
VJ
Hi Aziza -this recipe makes 16 samoosas. If you take a look at the recipe card at the bottom of the post, the number of samoosas is printed next to 'Servings' 🙂
Lou | Crumbs and Corkscrews
These look and sound delicious! And I'm loving the tips and photos for folding a samosa as well. Every time I've tried in the past they've ended up a bit wonky and not quite as they should do; bookmarking for the future. Thanks for sharing #CookBlogShare
VJ
They are yummy - I love the way the sweetcorn 'pops' when you bite into it.
VJ
Haha - it's not the easiest thing, to fold a samosa. That's why I like my second method - much easier than messing around with phyllo pastry 🙂
Cat | Curly's Cooking
These sound so delicious!
VJ
Very yummy.