Samosa

A fried or baked pastry, usually triangular, filled with a savory mixture such as spiced potatoes and peas or minced meat.

Samosa: Golden fried triangular samosas with blistered crust, one broken open showing spiced potato and pea filling
  • Cakes, cookies, pastries and baked goods
  • Middle East

Also called: sambosa, sambosak, sambusa, samuza, singada

Samosas are made by rolling a firm dough of flour, fat and water, cutting it into pieces, folding each into a cone, filling it and sealing the edges. They are deep-fried until crisp and blistered, then served with chutneys. Versions from the Middle East and Central Asia are often called sambusa or sambusak.

The samosa is mainly a savory snack and is included here as a pastry. Sweet versions exist in parts of South Asia, filled with coconut, sugar and nuts or with milk-based fillings, especially for festivals.

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Sources

Written by VanillaGoods in our own words from these sources. Last reviewed October 15, 2026.

  1. Crunchy Chaat, and Change!, Southern Methodist University