Beef Mince Samosas

A hot, crispy, scrumptious samosa is definitely a snack that makes me go weak in the knees. My fridge is often stacked with pre-made samosas that you can grab from any Indian grocery store and it’s my go-to snack if I’m feeling peckish. And since I’ve been introduced to air frying, it’s made life so much easier. You don’t have to go through gallons of oil for deep frying and your waist will thank you in the long run for going down the healthier route. But the only down side to buying pre-packed samosas is that most of them have a vegetarian filling. Now this can be a great thing if you’re trying to consume less meat but I was craving a mince stuffed samosa so I decided to make my own, all from scratch!

I used all-purpose flour, oil, water and cumin seeds to make the super easy pastry. 1 and ½ half cups of flour made 12 samosas. You can either double or half the recipe depending on how many samosas you want to make. The dough should also rest for about 15 minutes after kneading and during that time, you can put together your filling. Once your dough has rested for 15 minutes and your filling has cooled down a little, divide your dough into equal portions about the size of a golf ball and roll into a circle (Pictured below). You can decide how thick you want your pastry – Just keep rolling if you’d like it to be thinner.

Once you have your big circle, cut through the middle to have two semi circles. Fold one edge in as pictured below and use water to seal the edge. Repeat with the other side to have a cone like shape.

Place your filling in the cone and seal the top over, leaving no gaps. Seal with water and repeat with the rest of the dough. This part can be tedious but it’s definitely worth it in the end!

If you are air frying, make sure to brush samosas with a little bit of oil. This will help for it to turn golden brown. If you are deep frying, you can skip this step.

Ingredients

For the pastry:

1 and ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

Water as needed to make smooth dough

For the filling:

200g beef mince

1 cup green peas

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

Method

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the pastry and knead until you have a smooth dough. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and add garlic and ginger. Sauté for a few minutes and add beef. Season with cumin powder, chilli powder, turmeric, salt and black pepper and mix well. Turn heat to low and add green peas. Let simmer until all liquid has evaporated from the mince and peas are soft. Remove from heat.

After dough has rested, evenly divide dough into smaller sections (About the size of a golf ball). Roll out each ball until you have a circle and cut in half to have two semi circles. Fold one edge in and seal with water. Repeat with other side until you have a cone like shape.

Fill cone with the prepared mince filling and fold down top edge of pastry and seal with water. Repeat with remainder of the dough and brush all samosas with oil.

Place in air fryer at 180 C for 25 minutes, turning to brown both sides. Or alternatively you can deep fry the samosas until golden brown. Serve warm!