Samoosas

Samoosas are a smaller South African version of the Indian samosas. They feature minced beef and packed with traditional spices. You can keep uncooked samoosas in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days, or in the freezer for up to three months.

• makes

  48

• prep

  40 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 cm piece ginger, finely grated
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 500 g minced beef
• 1 cup firmly packed coriander leaves
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 125 ml (½ cup) milk
• 24 sheets (2 packets; 21.5 cm square) spring roll pastry
• vegetable oil, to deep-fry
• tomato wedges and coriander sprigs, to serve

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a frying pan over high heat. Cook onion for 2 minutes or until softened. Add garlic, ginger, curry powder and spices, and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add beef and cook, breaking up lumps, for 3 minutes or until browned. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in coriander. Cool.

Whisk together egg and milk in a bowl. Cut each pastry sheet into 4 strips and cover with a clean, damp tea towel. Place 2 strips, slightly overlapping, vertically on a work surface, so the short sides are towards you. Brush underside of overlapped edge with egg wash to seal and form one long strip. Bring up bottom right-hand corner to overlap left edge of the strip and tuck under to create a triangular pocket. Place 2 tsp beef mixture into pocket and fold triangle over to seal. Keep folding over the triangle until you reach the end of the strip. Seal edges with egg wash and place on a lined oven tray. Repeat with remaining pastry and beef mixture.

Fill a deep-fryer or large saucepan one-third full with vegetable oil and heat over medium heat to 180°C (or until a cube of bread turns golden in 10 seconds). Working in batches of 5, carefully drop samoosas into oil and fry, turning halfway, for 4 minutes or until crisp and golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Serve on a plate with tomato wedges and coriander sprigs.

Photography by Christopher Ireland.

As seen in Feast magazine, Jan 2012, Issue 5. For more recipes and articles, pick up a copy of this month's Feast magazine or check out our great subscriptions offers here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.