Potli Samosa | Dhan Gathri Samosa | Party Appetizer Idea

What will the first guess in your mind be when I ask you to tell me the shape of a samosa?

Triangle, right?  That is how it has forever been, always shaped in a triangle, and that is how it is the most popular as.  But we want to do things differently these days.  Each one hosting a party at home (or taking a dish to a potluck get together) looks for diverse ideas, a new recipe, some unique style of presentation.  For example, this:

Peas and Potatoes Potli Samosa

This is called a Potli Samosa.  The Hindi word potli means a bag or pouch in English.  So, instead of filling in a cone to make triangle samosa, you would put the filling and shape the dough in the form of a potli.

Appetizer Idea | Samosa Bundle

You can give another name to this Potli Samosa: Dhan Gathri.  Dhan means money, and gathri is the same as potli – so basically, dhan gathri means money bag.  They look the same as Uncle Scrooge's bags of money if you recall DuckTales.

Bag shaped samosa snack

I have seen a similar shaped appetizer, called 'golden bag' in a Thai restaurant – wonton wrapper used as the covering with corn, peas, carrot, and soy protein as the filling.  The possibilities of various kinds and flavors for the samosa fillings are plenty.

Dhan Gathri | Money Bag | Samosa in a different shape

How to make Potli Samosa at home
Click here to get the recipe for samosa and potato-peas filling.  The recipe yields about 16 of these potli samosas.  Divide the dough and filling in equal numbers, but keep aside a small portion of the dough to make the strip/ribbon.  Also remember to keep the cornstarch + water paste with you.  You can add a little turmeric powder or yellow color to the dough reserved for ribbon that is tied around the potli, so that the ribbon stands out and does not blend in with the potli.

Potli Samosa Recipe

To make the ribbon: Roll out the dough into a thin and wide rectangle.  Using a pizza wheel or knife, cut about 20 very thin long strips.  (I cut more strips than the samosas because sometimes the strips may break or tear..)  Keep the ribbon strips covered so they do not dry out, because they easily do.

To make the potli: Roll out each dough ball in a thin imperfect circle, make the edges around thinner.  The secret to form a lovely wavy top of the potli is a thinner outer edge.  Keep the remaining dough covered so it does not start to form a dry skin, too.

How to make Potli Samosa snack

Assemble the potli: Place a ball of the stuffing in the center of the circle.  Apply a thin layer of cornstarch paste circling the stuffing ball.  Lift the edges from all sides and press the part just above the stuffing ball while allowing the wavy pattern of the edges on top to form without any direct pressure on them.  The cornstarch paste would help enclose the stuffing ball in the bottom half of the bag.  Using cornstarch paste, stick each ribbon strip around the pressed portion.  Place the potli samosa aside until ready to fry, placing it with a little pressure for the samosa bag to stand on its own.  Keep them covered so they do not dry out, but not entirely covered otherwise they get suffocated and start to sweat.  (Work on one potli at a time until you get comfortable.  I have made these plenty of times so I'm making four at the same time as in the picture.)

Fry the potli:  Heat oil in a wok on medium-low, fry a few samosas at a time.  You do not want to crowd them otherwise if you flip them around either their ribbon will break or their edges.  Fry on medium-low heat.  The same rule for frying a cocktail samosa applies to these potli samosas too.

Serve these stunning potli samosas with mint chutney, tamarind chutney, or ketchup.  Some onion and fried green chilies on the side would be nice too.

Different Samosa Styles for Festivals or Parties

When I made these potli samosa for my husband's birthday party surprise earlier this year, the samosas received a lot of oohs and aahs, especially with that little extra touch of ribbon around them.  One friend said, "You are going to put us in trouble, Nisha, my husband might start expecting me to make these things too."

So, the next time you want to make samosas, try this shape.  Anyhow you will put a similar effort in making the triangle samosas.  Instead, a little more time dedicated to these will be so rewarding.  While your guests will surely be impressed, you might also find these potli samosas too pretty to eat.

Uniquely shaped samosas like small bags

Enjoy.
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