I love samosas, but I don’t have the patience to make them. Besides, they’re always better in a restaurant or (gasp) ready-made frozen. I literally air-roasted up some frozen samosas last night! That’s why I was delighted to find a recipe for Samosa Potatoes. They’re basically samosa filling and a whole lot less work. I thought they were the best thing ever until I found this recipe for Samosa Wraps. They take traditional spiced potato and pea filling and add a few other tasty goodies inside a wrap. How good does that sound?!
Spiced Potatoes, Chickpeas, Chutney Burrito. Easy Spiced Potato Chickpea Burrito for lunch, picnic or carry out.
The Ingredients
I’m not gonna lie, the list of ingredients for this recipe was long. I started off by checking my pantry and found I had all of the spices, even the amchur (dry mango powder). Tip: Amchur is an excellent substitute for lemon or lime juice. Generally, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon is equivalent to the juice of 1 whole lemon or lime
There was even some ginger paste in the freezer. It’s perfect for recipes that call for minced ginger. It has all the flavor with no peeling or chopping required.
I had to shop for the rest, but I found it all. I chose whole-wheat wraps, frozen peas (they didn’t have fresh), and poblano pepper. Poblanos are pretty mild, but the jalapenos were all shriveled up 🙁
My only question was what type of potatoes to use. A quick check told me russet potatoes were ideal for this recipe.
I also bought a few ingredients for the author’s Mint Chutney recipe. I had everything on hand except the cilantro, mint, lemon, and green chiles. Chaat masala is listed as optional so I skipped it.
The Process
There are a few steps to making this recipe:
- Mint Chutney
- Samosa Potatoes
- Spiced Chickpeas
- Assembling the Samosa Wraps
Making the Mint Chutney
I started out with the Mint Chutney the day before I made the wraps. It could have been made the same day, but I wanted to give the flavors time to meld.
Making the chutney was as simple as putting all the ingredients into a blender and blending them. The garlic and ginger are optional, but I added both. As I reread the recipe I think it was supposed to be one or the other (oops!). I also adjusted the seasonings to taste with a touch more salt and lemon juice.
Making the Samosa Potatoes
The potatoes were the bulk of the ingredients and work for this recipe, although they were not difficult. I began by peeling the potatoes and cutting them into small cubes. Tip: Smaller cubes cook faster.
I boiled the potatoes for 15 minutes in a 4.5-quart saucepan, drained them, and returned them to the pot to be coarsely mashed. The entire process took me 26 minutes. I used the 15 minutes of cooking to prep the rest of the wrap ingredients.
The recipe’s instructions begin with toasting the cumin and coriander seeds then adding the chile pepper. The potatoes, peas, and spices are added in groups during steps 2 and 3, with brief cooking in between the additions.
Tip: This part of the recipe calls for a skillet, but I used a deeper saute pan. I like the high sides for recipes that require a lot of mixing. It also has the required lid to cover the potatoes and chickpeas.
Once finished, I set the completed potato mixture is set aside to allow the flavors to develop. I put them into a mixing bowl and covered them with foil to keep them warm since I wanted to reuse the pan for the chickpeas.
Making the Spiced Chickpeas
I wiped out the saute pan I used for the samosa potatoes and used it for the spiced chickpeas. This part of the recipe was very simple! Just heat the vegetable oil then add the rest of the ingredients to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes.
Then add a “good splash of water”, cover, and continue cooking. I used about 1/4 cup of water for this part, and it seemed to work well. It create some steam while cooking and also evaporated so the chickpeas weren’t soggy.
Assembling the Samosa Wraps
Once the chickpeas were done it was time to assemble and eat my Samosa Wraps! This recipe says it makes 4 wraps, but I got several more out of it even with large burrito-size wraps.
I added all the fixin’s including the optional greens. The store was out of arugula so I chose a slightly less spicy mizuna for the greens. Making the wraps was just like a traditional burrito: layer the ingredients and wrap. Tip: I placed the finished wraps with the flap on the bottom to keep them sealed. I did not grill them as it was optional. Two wraps per person made a generous meal.
Timing
Here’s how my time was spent on the chutney and wraps:
- 9 minutes to make the Mint Chutney*
- Mashed potatoes**:
- 8 minutes to prep
- 15 minutes to cook (I prepped the Samosa Wrap ingredients while they boiled)
- 3 minutes to mash
- 12 minutes to make the Samosa Potatoes
- 7 minutes to make the Spiced Chickpeas
- 7 minutes to assemble 4 Samosa Wraps
- 58 minutes total
*The chutney listed a total time of 15 minutes, so I came in well under that.
**The Samosa Wraps recipe lists 10 minutes to prep, 25 minutes to cook, and 35 minutes total. I’m not sure those times include boiling and mashing the potatoes. If I include them I am well over the total time at 49 minutes. If exclude them I’m well under the total at 23 minutes. I’m going to average the rating because I’m not sure which time to compare with the recipe.
