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Singara Recipe | Bengali Shingara
5 from 20 votes

Singara Recipe | Bengali Shingara

Bengali Singara is a deep-fried vegetarian pastry filled with a fragrant blend of cauliflower, potatoes, green peas, and aromatic spices including panch phoron. The vegetable mixture is prepared with a medley of spices for warmth and sweetness, then enclosed in a simple, oil-enriched all-purpose flour dough, yielding crisp, savory snacks with a spiced vegetable filling inside a flaky crust.

Prep Time
45 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
1 hr 15 mins
Servings: 14 Singara
Calories: 191 kcal
Course: Appetizer, Snacks
Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

For the vegetable stuffing
  • 150 grams cauliflower or 1.5 cups chopped tiny cauliflower florets
  • 225 grams potato or 3 medium potatoes or 1.25 cups chopped small potato cubes
  • 1 cup green peas - fresh, 135 grams
  • 1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil generic cooking oil
  • ½ teaspoon panch phoron
  • ⅓ cup onion finely chopped, 60 grams or 1 medium-sized
  • 1 teaspoon ginger or 1 inch ginger, crushed to a fine paste in mortar-pestle, paste
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ½ teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder
  • ½ teaspoon coriander powder
  • ½ teaspoon cumin powder
  • 4 to 5 tablespoons water or add as required
  • salt as required
  • ¼ teaspoon sugar or add as required
  • 3 tablespoons peanuts or salted peanuts, roasted
For singara crust
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 tablespoons neutral cooking oil generic cooking oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt or add as required
  • ½ to ⅔ cup water or add as required
Other ingredient
  • neutral cooking oil as required for deep frying, generic cooking oil

Instructions

Preparation
    Cup of Yum
  1. Rinse and then cauliflower in tiny or small florets. You will need 1.5 cups chopped small cauliflower florets.
  2. Rinse fresh green peas with water a few times and keep aside.
  3. Rinse, peel and chop the potatoes in small cubes. You will need 1.25 cups chopped small potato cubes.
Making vegetable filling
  1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan. Add ½ teaspoon panch phoron.
  2. On a low heat, let the spices become aromatic and splutter.
  3. Now add finely chopped onions. Stir and saute till the onions soften and turn translucent.
  4. Then add ginger paste. Mix and sauté fo a few seconds or till the raw aroma of ginger goes away.
  5. Then add turmeric powder, kashmiri red chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder. Mix very well and saute for a few seconds on low heat.
  6. Add the chopped potatoes. Mix and sauté for 1 minute.
  7. Then add the chopped cauliflower and green peas. Season with salt as per taste. Mix very well.
  8. Add 4 to 5 tablespoons water and mix again.
  9. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer the veggies on a low to medium-low heat.
  10. In between do check and if the veggies start sticking to the pan, then add a few more tablespoons of water.
  11. Simmer till the veggies are tender and cooked. Then turn off the heat. Just cook the veggies till fork tender. Do not make them mushy or overcook them.
  12. Then add roasted peanuts or salted peanuts. Also add sugar.
  13. Mix well and let this aloo phulkopir stuffing cool at room temperature.
Making singara dough
  1. In a large parat (plate) or a bowl take all-purpose flour (maida). Add 4 tablespoons oil and 1 teaspoon salt or add as required.
  2. Mix the oil in the flour with your fingertips till you get a bread crumb like consistency in the flour.
  3. When you press a portion of the mixture in your palm, it should hold together and not crumble.
  4. Now add ½ to ⅔ cup water or add as required. Add water in parts.
  5. Knead to a smooth dough. The dough should be smooth but firm or tight. It should not be soft.
  6. Cover the dough with a moist cloth or kitchen napkin and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
  7. After 30 minutes, lightly knead the dough again and make a log. Cut the dough log in 7 equal pieces.
  8. Cover the pieces with a moist cloth or kitchen napkin.
Stuffing and shaping singara
  1. Take one dough piece and roll in a ball. Flatten and keep on the rolling board.
  2. With a rolling pin roll to a 7 to 8 inches round.
  3. Cut the rolled dough from the center. Now with your fingertip or with a small brush spread water on the edges of one of the cut dough.
  4. Bring together the straight edge with one of its end overlapping a bit the other end. Press and seal the edges. Press the edges well, so that they get sealed. It will look like a cone.
  5. Now with a small spoon, stuff the potato filling in the samosa cone.
  6. Pinch a part in the edge and press both the sides. This helps the singara to stand when placed on a tray.
  7. Make sure there are no cracks. The edges should be joined very well.
  8. Make all singara this way. Cover them with a moist cloth or kitchen napkin before you begin to fry them.
Frying singara
  1. Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai on medium flame. Add a small piece of the dough and it should come up gradually and steadily.
  2. Now gently add the singara in the moderately hot oil. Add 2 to 3 or 4 shingara depending on the size of the kadai.
  3. Once all the singaras are added, then lower the heat. Begin to fry them on a low to medium-low heat.
  4. When one side is light golden then turn over each singara.
  5. Continue to fry and when the second side is light golden, turn over again.
  6. This way keep on turning them and fry till they have a nice golden crust.
  7. Remove with a slotted spoon draining the extra oil.
  8. Place them on kitchen paper towels to absorb extra oil. While frying other batches of shingara, slightly increase the heat. Add singara and again reduce the heat.
  9. Serve Aloo Phulkopir Singara hot or warm with some fried salted green chilis, tamarind chutney or coriander chutney or mint chutney or green chutney.

Notes

  • If panch phoron is unavailable, use equal pinches of fenugreek, wild celery seeds, fennel, cumin, and nigella seeds as a substitute.
  • Wild celery seeds can be replaced with carom seeds or mustard seeds based on availability and taste.
  • Adjust the quantity and type of spices and salt according to personal preference.
  • For the dough, ghee can replace the oil to change the flavor and texture of the crust.
  • Exclude salted peanuts from the filling to make a nut-free version without compromising the flavor much.

Nutrition Information

Calories 191kcal (10%) Carbohydrates 19g (6%) Protein 4g (8%) Fat 11g (17%) Saturated Fat 1g (5%) Sodium 272mg (11%) Potassium 168mg (4%) Fiber 2g (8%) Sugar 1g (2%) Vitamin A 100IU (2%) Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 1mg Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 1mg Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 2mg Vitamin B6 1mg Vitamin C 12mg (13%) Vitamin E 4mg Vitamin K 5µg Calcium 15mg (2%) Vitamin B9 (Folate) 53µg Iron 2mg (11%) Magnesium 17mg (4%) Phosphorus 51mg Zinc 1mg

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 14 Singara

Amount Per Serving

Calories 191

% Daily Value*

Calories 191kcal 10%
Carbohydrates 19g 6%
Protein 4g 8%
Fat 11g 17%
Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Sodium 272mg 11%
Potassium 168mg 4%
Fiber 2g 8%
Sugar 1g 2%
Vitamin A 100IU 2%
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 1mg
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 1mg
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 2mg
Vitamin B6 1mg
Vitamin C 12mg 13%
Vitamin E 4mg
Vitamin K 5µg
Calcium 15mg 2%
Vitamin B9 (Folate) 53µg
Iron 2mg 11%
Magnesium 17mg 4%
Phosphorus 51mg
Zinc 1mg

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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