Beef Samosas Recipe

Origin: North India      Period: Traditional

Ingredients:

Samosas are a traditional snack in North India, often served at tea time. Though many fillings (including meat-based ones) are used a mix of potatoes and peas, are the most traditional.

For the pastry:
360g plain flour
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
water

For the filling:
2 large potatoes (boiled in their skin)
200g minced beef
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder (or dried onion)
3cm piece of ginger, finely grated
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp amchoor (or 1 tbsp lemon juice)
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp toasted and ground cumin seeds
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
generous handful of chopped coriander leaves
oil for deep frying

Beef Samosas Preparation:

Method:

Peel the boiled potatoes and dice them very finely. Add a little oil to a wok or frying pan and fry the cumin seeds and asafoetida until fragrant and aromatic then add the ginger and chillies and fry for 1 minute. Add the beef and fry until nicely browned (about 8 minutes).

Now add all the remaining ingredients (except the coriander leaves) and stir to coat the vegetables in oil. Cook gently for 5 minutes (try not to break up the potatoes) then add the coriander leaves and stir to mix in. Take off the heat and set aside.

For the pastry, add the flour, salt and oil to a bowl. Rub with your fingers until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add water a little at a time until the mixture comes together as a firm dough. Tip onto a floured surface and knead well. Return to a bowl and allow to rest for 20 minutes before kneading once more.

Make a paste from 1 tbsp flour and 2 tbsp water. Mix thoroughly and set aside.

Divide the dough into 9 pieces, roll into balls and cover with a damp cloth. Palce a ball on an oiled surface and rol into a 20cm circle. Cut in half with a knife and lift up. Bring the cut edges together to form a cone and seal with the flour paste you just made.

Press to form a good seal then fill the cone with 2 tbsp of the potato and beef mixture. You should be left with about a 5mm overlap at the top which you can overlap and seal with the flour paste to close the samosa.

Repeat until all the pastry and potato and beef mix is used-up, covering those samosas you've already made with a damp cloth to prevent them from drying out.

Add oil to a depth of about 5cm in a wok and bring to temperature on medium heat (don't make the wok too hot or the samosas will turn out soggy). It's ready when a small piece of pastry dropped into the oil sizzles and rises to the surface.

Add the samosas to the oil (don't over-crowd) and fry gently until coloured golden brown. Turn once or twice (if you turn too often they have a tendency to break. Lift with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Serve hot with a green chatni or a chilli chatni.

Read: Recipe Articles and Reviews

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