Samosas with a spicy beetroot dip

I made a batch of these samosas with a spicy beetroot dip yesterday for an apéro dinatoire with friends in the hamlet. Strange as it may seem (to us English), the French continue to wish each other Happy New Year right up until the end of January.  Last night was a chance to catch up with a few of our neighbours and friends in the hamlet before we all go our separate ways in 2017.

The samosas are simple. Cook around 600g of potatoes until soft but firm, fry an onion and a couple of teaspoons of finely chopped ginger, add 1 tablespoon of ground coriander, a teaspoon of ground cumin, garam masala and chilli flakes to taste.   Add 60g of frozen peas and cook for a couple of minutes before adding back the potatoes, smashed into small chunks.  Stir in some freshly chopped coriander leaves, season and then allow to cool before making your samosas.  For the samosas I used brique (a sort of pastry that is much easier to handle than filo). I then brushed them with a little melted butter and baked them in the oven for around 20 minutes.

The dip is a couple of cooked beetroot blitzed with a few tablespoons of mayonnaise, some fennel seeds, a clove of garlic, around a quarter of a teaspoon of chilli flakes and some freshly grated ginger. The colour is amazing and it makes a great contrast to the samosas.