Vegan Pea & Pumpkin Samosas, mildly spiced!

These Vegan Pea & Pumpkin Samosas, that are mildly spiced, are a tasty twist on the conventional filling that would normally include potato.

The pumpkin adds colour and a subtle sweetness.

Traditionally served as a starter with curry, they make a great starter for many meals. And a great snack too!

Making the filling

Making the filling is very quick and easy.

Start by softening the pumpkin in a pan with some curry powder, salt, and water.

The pumpkin needs to be soft enough to mash and all the excess liquid evaporated. So to soften the pumpkin simmer with the lid on as you do not want the pan to dry out before the pumpkin is soft enough to mash. Then remove the lid for the final 1-2 minutes which will allow the excess liquid to evaporate, thus leaving just the pumpkin.

Once the pumpkin is softened you can mash it but it doesn’t have to be completely smooth as a few lumps add to the texture.

Whilst the pumpkin is simmering away you have time to soften the finely diced onion.

To do this, heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and cook for 2 minutes. Next, add the remaining curry powder to the pan and stir in to coat the onion. Cook for a further 2 minutes which will release the flavours of the spices.

Then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the frozen peas which will be enough to defrost them and cool the onions. By doing this you stop the onions from continuing to cook from any residual heat in them. They will finish cooking when in the oven!

Stir in the mashed pumpkin and your filling is ready.

Handling the Filo Pastry for the Vegan Pea & Pumpkin Samosas

Filo Pastry can be tricky to work with but as long as you keep it in its packet until you need it, and keep it covered with a moist cloth when in use, it really isn’t that hard.

One of the things I love about handling filo pastry is that it is very dry and you don’t to have to flour your surface before placing the filo sheets on it.

However, its dryness is also where it can get tricky and dry out before you have shaped it. When this happens, it becomes very brittle and crumbles, rendering it unusable.

Therefore, take a clean tea towel and dampen it with cold water which you can place on top of the sheets of filo pastry and just take one out at a time.

Any unused pastry can be stored following the manufacturer’s guidance on the packet.

This is a good time to preheat the oven as per directions in the recipe.

Depending on which brand of filo pastry you buy, (please just check it is suitable for vegans – most are) the sheets may still be too wide after you have cut them in half lengthways. When this happens, just fold the sheet over, to make a strip approximately 9cm / 3½ inches wide. This also adds strength to the pastry when folding.

So, working with one strip at a time, place it on a clean surface, fold if necessary, and place 30 ml / 2 tablespoons of the filling near the bottom of the strip.

Bring one of the corners over and across the filling to form a triangle, pressing down on the triangle shape to evenly distribute the filling.

Then fold the filled triangle, keeping its shape as shown below.

Keep folding until you reach the end.

Brush with the melted butter and neatly fold the end over. Then brush both sides of the folded samosa and place it on a lined or lightly greased baking tray.

Repeat until all 12 samosas are folded and brushed with the melted butter. Go over the tops with any leftover melted butter and bake in the top of the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes until crispy and golden in colour.

If you want to increase the crispiness throughout the samosas you can brush the complete strip before folding. I don’t tend to do this as it’s extra calories and fat content and I do like to be a bit health conscious too!

These Vegan Pea & Pumpkin Samosas are best served straight from the oven as they do lose their crispiness when left to cool. However, if you want to make them ahead, you can reheat them for a few minutes in a hot oven to regain the crispiness when ready to serve.

I like them with a bit of chutney and some shredded crisp lettuce.

They are also very nice with my Vegan Salt & Pepper Potato-Wedges – no, you’re right, not very health conscious! ????

Please comment below and let me know if you liked the subtle Pumpkin twist in this fabulous ???? season!

Happy Samosa making and ENJOY! ????