
Proso Millet Samosa
Prep 40 min · Cook 30 min · Servings not given in the source
Make
Ingredients
- proso millet flour — 1 cup
- refined wheat flour (maida) — 1 cup
- potatoes — 1 cup (boiled and mashed)
- peas — 1/4 cup (boiled)
- onions — 1/4 cup (chopped)
- green chillies — 3 (chopped)
- mustard seeds — 1 tsp
- cumin — 1 tsp
- oil — 3 tsp (for the filling; more oil for deep frying)
- turmeric (a pinch)
- curry leaves (as required)
- salt (to taste)
- hot water (as required for the dough)
Method
- Mix the millet flour and maida in a large bowl and add enough hot water to make a dough.
- For the filling, heat the oil, add the cumin and mustard seeds, then the turmeric, onion, chillies and curry leaves.
- Add the potato, peas and salt and cook for 10 minutes. Let it cool.
- Roll small balls of dough into thin rounds and cut each round in half.
- Fill each half, fold it into a cone or triangle and seal the edges.
- Deep fry until golden and serve hot with tomato or chilli sauce.
Tips
- General practice: wet the edges with a little water so the samosas stay sealed in the oil.
Fresh atta: grind small, use soon
- Millets keep for months as whole grain; flour is best ground as it is needed, because it turns rancid. (FAO, Sorghum and millets in human nutrition (1995))
- Bajra changes fastest: its grain stores for months, but its milled flour has a very short shelf life. (ICAR-IIMR scientists, Food Chemistry Advances (2023) (DOI 10.1016/j.focha.2023.100190))
- In an Indian study, untreated bajra flour stayed within the quality limit only about 2 days at room temperature. (ICAR-IARI, Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences (2016))
- Ragi flour keeps better than foxtail, barnyard or bajra flour (it carries less fat). (Planta (2024), review)
- Keep atta closed and cool: bajra flour kept best in polythene and worst in gunny sacks; grains should be dry and in airtight containers. (Chaudhary & Kapoor, J Sci Food Agric (1984); ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines (2024) (DOI 10.1002/jsfa.2740351113))
- Going off shows first as smell and taste — sour, musty or dusty, then bitter. (Lai & Varriano-Marston, Cereal Chemistry (1980))
So: buy the grain, grind a week’s worth at a time — less for bajra in summer.
Recipe from ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Millet Recipes (2021), PDF p. 142 (printed p. 140), written in our own words.