Mutton / Lamb

Originally made by the Indians and Cape Malays but loved by all! A savoury pastry (in the form of a triangle) filled with spicy curry fillings and deep fried until golden brown. The fillings vary from mutton to chicken, potato and corn.

Ingredients for the dough:
375 g cake flour
15 ml melted butter / margarine
5 ml lemon juice
250 ml cold water
5 ml salt

Ingredients for the filling:
500 g Minced mutton / lamb
2 ml Turmeric
5 ml Salt
1 Large clove garlic
1 Piece of ginger
1 Green chilli, crushed
10 ml Chopped coriander leaves
1 Large onion, finely chopped
3 Spring onions, finely chopped
2 ml Garam masala
20 ml Butter, melted

Oil for frying

Dough
Sift the flour and salt together, add enough cold water to make a firm dough.
Add the lemon juice, knead the dough gently until pliable.
Divide the dough into 12 pieces and roll each into a ball.
Roll out 6 balls on a floured surface and shape them into 10-cm diameter rounds.
Brush each round with melted butter and sprinkle with flour.
Stack the rounds leaving the final round ungreased and unfloured. Roll out the stack into a very thin, large round and trim the sides to form a square.
Heat an ungreased baking sheet in the oven at 230C until very hot, remove from the stove and place the dough square on it.
Turn the dough square over a few times until the dough starts puffing up.
Remove the square from the baking sheet as soon as this happens. Repeat the procedure for the remaining 6 balls of dough (so you end up with two big squares).

Filling
Cook the meat with a mixture of the garlic, ginger, turmeric and salt minced together. Add the chilli and coriander leaves.
When almost dry, add the onions and cook until the liquid has evaporated, stirring often to prevent from forming lumps.
Add melted butter, allow the mixture to cool down.
Add the spring onion and masala.

Samoosas
Cut the prepared dough squares into strips 8 cm wide and 25 – 30 cm long.
Separate into layers before the pastry cools.
Cover with a damp cloth to prevent the dough from drying out while making the samoosas.
Holding a strip of pastry in your left hand, pull the bottom corners across and fold it up to form as a triangle with sharp corners and a pocket in which to put the filling.
Fill with about 10ml filling, then continue folding the pastry across the top of the triangle to seal off the opening. Tuck the edges round to form a triangle.
Seal the remaining edge with a paste of flour and water and pinch the two bottom edges together.
Leave in a cool place for about half an hour before cooking.
Fry the samoosas in hot oil for 10 minutes or until golden brown, turning them often.
Remove and drain.