Proper Lamb Samosas

Today you will be not be getting a recipe from a cookbook or magazine. This is one that has been passed down from my mum. I have called it 'Proper' lamb samosas because this is how they should be made. This recipe is not for beginners, it is for the confident cook not really because it is technically difficult but because it is a bit labour intensive. Samosas are great to make with someone else or a group of friends as you can get a bit of an assembly line going. But if you have to make them on your own, then set aside a few hours and make lots so you can freeze them.

So we need to start with the filling. I love lamb samosas but it's entirely up to you what filling you use. You don't have to follow the recipe exactly, you can adjust things to your taste and if you want more vegetables in them, then add more vegetables.

Lamb Filling:

1 tbsp sunflower oil
5 whole cloves
5 green cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
5 cm fresh ginger, finely grated
2 green finger chillies, finely chopped (deseeded, if you want them milder)
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
500g mince lamb
1 medium red-skinned potato, diced into 1 cm cubes
Handful of frozen petit pois
Salt, to taste
1 tsp garam masala
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 bunch of fresh coriander, chopped

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Once hot, add the cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick and let sizzle. Add the onions and cook on a medium/low heat for 5 minutes before adding garlic, ginger and chillies. Cook for another 5 minutes, if the mixture starts sticking, add a splash of water. Add the dry spices and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the minced lamb and fry with the spiced onions for about 5 minutes until browned, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Mix in the potatoes, turn heat to low, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked. Add the peas, garam masala and salt, cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Finish with the lemon juice and fresh coriander.  Drain off any excess fat then set aside to cool slightly.

Now the pastry. This is what makes a great samosa as opposed to an okay samosa.  The pastry must be thin, not as thin as filo but pretty thin and I'm going to tell you how to achieve this. A lot of recipes do not use the layering recipe and end up with a thick pastry. You can cheat if you like and buy some spring roll pastry and cut into the shapes as described below.

Samosa Pastry:

500g plain white flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
4 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
Approx. 200 ml hot water (boiled with a bit of cold added)

Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add the oil and lemon juice and rub into the flour, add the water and mix until it comes together. Knead until smooth and make walnut sized balls. 

Heat a tava or non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. On a floured surface, roll out 2 of the balls into 5 inch discs.  Spread a thin layer of sunflower oil on one of the discs and place the other one on top.  Add more flour to the surface and roll out the 2 discs into one large circle of about 8-9 inches making sure the thickness is even all over.

Place this circle of dough onto the pan and dry fry for about 30 seconds on each side. You don't want too much colour on them. Place the pastry onto a slightly damp, clean tea towel and peel the 2 layers apart be (careful as it will be hot). Turn the top layer upside down and place back on top of the other layer. Fold the tea towel on top to keep them from drying out.  Repeat with the rest of the balls and keep stacking them on top of each other.

Once they are all made, you need to cut them into the right shapes.

Now you are ready to fold and fill. (told you it's time consuming).First make some glue by mixing plain flour with warm water until you have a paste about the consistency of double cream.

I'll show in pictures but basically, you bring one of the top corners on the short edge to meet a point on the long edge.Make sure to hole it as small as possible. Fold the flap  over and glue and you should now have a pocket to fill.  Fill with the filling but not too full or you will find it difficult to close.  Fold the top flap over and glue to close the pocket, again ensuring that the holes in the corners are very small.

Finally, deep fry them in sunflower oil until golden brown and eat hot with a chutney of your choice. I like tamarind chutney.

If you would like to freeze them, put them flat on a tray until frozen then put into a container. Do not put them unfrozen in a container otherwise they will stick together and could rip the pastry.

I know it seems like a lot of work but trust me, it's totally worth it when you eat them and shop bought are never as good.