Do I even need to explain why Samosas are a phenomenon? Crispy flaky pastry encases a delicious filling in a triangle shape. In other cultures it’s also known as a Sambusa or Samboska, different names for a similar concept. The early history of this delight can be traced to Arabia, Africa and India.
But of course no samosas are created equal. In India, most Samosas are made with a potato filling, but the non vegetarian filling is more popular with Christians and Muslims and are made with a crispier, spring roll like pastry. The sturdier Punjabi Samosas are made with a thicker batter and can stand upright. In this recipe we are combining different types of Samosas to make this delicious Kheema Samosa.
Kheema Samosas
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups of All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Salt
- Pinch of Ajwain (Caraway seeds or Bishop’s weed).
- 4 tbsps melted Ghee or clarified butter
- ½ - ¾ cups Water
- 2 lbs Kheema or minced meat
- 1 cup diced Onions
- 2 tbsps minced green Chillies
- 1 tsp Ginger & Garlic paste
- 1 cup diced Tomatoes
- 2 tsps Garam Masala
- ½ tsp Chilli powder.
- Salt to taste
- ¼ cup Peas
Instructions
- Sift the flour
- Add the salt & Ajwain
- Add the melted ghee or clarified butter or oil if you prefer
- Work the dough till all of the ghee is coated with flour. Take your time with this, the flour mixture should feel like soft breadcrumbs. The fat in this dough will create the crispiness in the wrapper
- Add anywhere between ½ - ¾ cups of water just enough to bring this to a stiff dough
- Cover this with some cling film and leave it to rest for a min of 30 mins
- Saute the diced Onions
- Add the minced green Chillies and Ginger & Garlic paste
- Give this a stir just to remove that raw Ginger & Garlic taste and mix it in with the Onions and Chillies
- Add the diced Tomatoes and mix this in
- Add the Garam Masala & Chilli powder
- Mix this in and add a few tbsps. of water so the spices don’t burn
- Add the Kheema
- Add ¼ cup of water so it build enough steam for the ground meat to cook
- Add Salt to taste and the peas
- Mix this well and continue breaking up the lumps if there are any
- Cook this for 5 – 10 mins till all the liquid had absorbed or cooked off
- Taste for salt again and add more salt if required.
- Add ¼ cup minced Coriander and mix it in
- Allow this mixture to cool completely. You can also make this a day ahead and use a cold filling.
- To create the wrapper I’ve created a template. I took an oval object, gave it a bit more height free hand on a piece of card and just cut it. This template will ensure that I get the same size samosas.
- Knead this dough divide this in half and then in quarters
- Working on the first quarter, oil the surface and then roll the dough out till it’s a few mm thick. Cut out the oval using a template. Save these scraps for later
- Cut the oval in half. give it a light roll again as the gluten keeps contracting and shrinking the dough as it rests
- Using plain water I’m just going to dampen the edges
- Taking the flat edge, seal the two edges together and it forms a cone
- Add the filling using a small spoon. My samosas take about 2 tsps and it will depend on the size of the samosa you want to make
- Press the filling down using the spoon. Press down right in the middle where the dough wrapper is the longest and then seal the entire samosa well. Press it down and it should be able to stand up like a soldier
- These make about 12 – 14 Samosas and you can either fry them right away or freeze them for later
