Boil potatoes just until done without making mushy. You can either boil them in a steamer, pot, or a cooker.
Crumble them, do not mash them up. Set aside.
Make samosa dough (or use frozen puff pastry sheets): Mix together flour, carom seeds, salt, and oil in a mixing bowl.
Rub the flour well for 2 to 3 mins in between the palms to incorporate the oil or ghee well.
Take a handful of flour and press down with your fingers. It must hold shape and not crumble.
Add water little by little and mix the flour to form a stiff dough. It should be stiff and not soft dough. Cover and rest for 25 to 30 mins.
Heat a pan with oil. Add cumin seeds.
When they begin to sizzle, add ginger & fry until it smells good for about 30 to 60 seconds.
Next, add green peas and sauté for 2 mins.
Add red chili powder, garam masala, cumin powder, chaat masala (optional), & fennel powder. Sauté for 30 seconds.
Next, add potatoes and sprinkle salt. Mix and sauté for 2 to 3 mins. Mix in coriander leaves & set aside to cool.
Taste and add more salt if needed. If using lemon juice, add it now.
Knead the dough gently to smoothen a bit. Make 5 portions and roll into balls. Cover the dough.
Grease the rolling area and then flatten a ball. Drizzle some oil.
Begin to roll to an oval shape of 8.5 inches long by 6.5 inches wide. It should be neither too thick nor too thin.
Cut it to two parts. The 2 parts make 2 samosas. If the edges are too thick, gently roll them to thin down.
Take one part and apply water over the straight edge (towards the cut side). Join the edges to make a cone. Press down gently to seal the cone from inside as well.
Fill the cone with potato masala and press down with your finger to push it inside the cone. Smear water generously on both the other edges.
Bring the edges together and seal them by pinching off the edges together. If you prefer to make a standing samosa, make a pleat on one side. Bring back the pleat and seal it by pinching off the edges together.
Make sure the samosa has been sealed well. Cover them with a cloth to prevent drying.
After you make 5 samosas, begin to heat the oil until medium hot.
Oil has to be medium hot and not very hot. A piece of dough dropped in the oil should not sizzle or rise immediately. Instead, you should see tiny bubbles in the oil & the dough should take a while to come up to the surface. This is the right temperature.
Gently add as many samosas as you can to the oil and fry them on a low flame undisturbed for a few minutes (about 10 to 12 mins).
When the crust becomes firm, increase the flame to medium. Rotate them to the other side and fry until crispy and golden.
While the first batch of samosas fry, make the rest of them.
Remove the golden fried ones onto a colander. Let the temperature of oil come down slightly before you fry the next batch.
Serve samosa with mint chutney, sweet tamarind chutney, or tomato sauce.
Baking samosa in oven: Preheat the oven at 360°F for about 20 mins. Brush each samosa generously with oil all over and place them on a prepared tray. Bake these for about 35 to 40 mins.
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