Samosa Wrapping With Noorbanu Nimji

For the meat filling:

1.    Put the ground beef in a colander and remove any visible blood from the exterior of the meat by rinsing it briefly under cold running water (removing visible blood helps achieve a fine crumbled texture and a more enjoyable samosa filling).

2.    Heat a large fry pan on medium heat and add the ground beef with the 4 tablespoons of water.

3.    Stir continuously, breaking up the meat, until evenly browned and finely crumbled. 

4.    Drain the meat and return to the pan with the first ½ cup of yellow onion and the salt, ginger, garlic and chilli pastes, lemon juice, turmeric, cumin, and Indian chilli powder. Stir until the meat is coated and dry.  

5.    Cool the mixture completely and add the remaining yellow onions, green onions, coriander leaves and Garam Masala. Tip: It is important to wait until the meat mix is cool so that it does not pull the water out of the onion and coriander.   

6.    Adjust the salt and, if desired, add the optional jalapeño. Keep in mind that the pastry wrappers tone down the overall spiciness of the meat mixture. 

For the samosa wrappers:

1. Thaw the pastry in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for a few hours (never in a microwave). Cut into 3 equal pieces.

2. Separate 18 pieces from 1 pile and cut them in half to yield 36 short pieces. Put all of the long pieces into 1 pile and cut the ends at a steep angle.

3. Pull all of the long and short pieces apart carefully and then collate the long ones in groups of 2. Store the wrappers in 2 separate damp kitchen cloths. Otherwise, they become too dry to work with.

4.  Place 1 short piece in the center of 1 set of 2 long pieces (top), then fold the top right end down until it forms a diamond shape on the wrapper underneath as shown. Pinch the top of the diamond shape to hold it in place while picking up the rest of the diamond—as a unit. Fold it up, to the left and onto the wrapper lying underneath.  

5. Lay the diamond onto the part of the wrapper lying underneath to form a conical pocket and release the finger that was holding the upper corner in place.

6. Pick the folded conical wrapper up in your non-dominant hand. Hold the back of the pocket against your palm. Use your thumb in front to hold the flaps open. Tip: At this point you should look inside the cone to make sure the corner fold was tight and there is no hole in the bottom. If you can see through, you’ll need to refold it until it is tight. This is important because it will prevent leakage of filling during the frying process.

Fill the pocket with about 2 ½ teaspoons of the filling mixture of your choice. 

7. Apply paste to the lower inner flap.

8. Pull the lower inner flap down snugly onto the samosa – making sure the corner it creates is also tightly closed and then apply paste to the remaining outer flap.

9. Pull both the outer flaps onto the body of the samosa triangle – making sure the last corner is also tightly closed.

10. Separate the 2 outer flaps and apply more paste between them.

11. Pull the last flap down tightly. You should have a full but not bulging triangle with 3 tightly sealed corners.

Tip: Stack the filled samosas in rows on a baking tray – they don’t need to be covered at this point. If not eating immediately, pack them into plastic containers (so they won’t get crushed in your freezer) with wax paper between the layers. They freeze well for up to 6 months but ours usually get eaten long before that. When you are ready to eat them deep-fry* directly from frozen (do not thaw them first).

12. Samosas ready to eat. Enjoy as a snack or starter with your favourite chutneys. We like Ambli Ni Chutney, Coriander Chutney, hot sauce and a squeeze of fresh lemon.

*For deep-frying the samosas 

3 litres sunflower oil

Heat the oil in a wok or deep fryer at 375°F and deep-fry about 10 samosas at a time until golden brown – about 10 – 15 minutes. Drain on a paper towel-lined baking tray.