Lamb Samosas

A decent allotment snack or a superior appetiser for a curry.

This is probably an Anglican version of the samosa, made with filo, and herbed up with mint instead of coriander (I do not like coriander. If you like it, feel free to replace or join up with the mint in this recipe). I would have liked to have made proper samosa pastry, but the day I made them I was running late, and flipping through my recipe books in rather a panic, I could not find any samosa recipes at the time that did not stipulate filo. Well, fine. They were still quite delicious. They taste rather less Anglo-Indian if you only use one layer of filo, rather than two (although, harder to make without breaking) and use ghee to oil the sheets rather than melted butter. Makes loads. But they freeze well.

Ingredients:

• 500g packet of lamb mince
• 1 onion, roughly chopped 
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 green chillies, finely chopped (reserve half a chilli for adding near the end)
• oil for frying
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsp of amchoor powder or juice of one lemon
• Mug of water
• 1 carrot, cut into medium dice
• Frozen peas, I used three small handfuls. Wish I could be more specific.
• Small handful of mint (and/or coriander)
• Ghee
• Packet of filo

At least a couple of hours before you wish to eat, In a large frying pan, over a medium heat, add a small splash of cooking oil and cook the cumin seeds for a few minutes, until they smell aromatic. Add the onion, garlic and most of the chilli and cook down until softened and the onion is beginning to turn golden. Turn up the heat and add the mince, and cook until browned all over. Add the salt and pepper and the dried spices and cook for two or three minutes over a moderate heat, stirring to combine. If adding lemon, do so at this point and then stir through, before adding a mug of water. Turn the heat down and let this all simmer away for ten minutes before adding your vegetables. Now, turn the heat right down as far as you can and continue to let the lamb and veg cook down for at least another twenty minutes until it is a very dry mixture. Add your mint, and the remainder of the chopped chilli and leave to cool.

Turn the oven on to preheat to gas 6 or 200c. Coat two baking sheets in oil. Clear a wide space on your worktop. Take the filo out of the pack and cover with a damp tea towel and then, one or two sheets at a time (depending on your attitude to risk), take out and coat the top layer with ghee. Cut the layers of filo into four equal lengths; I found any smaller than this made for cute but irritatingly fiddly samosas. Put a tablespoon of lamb onto the end of the filo strip and then fold up, triangularly, until the end of the strip (plenty of vids and diagrams on the interwebs demonstrate this far better than I could. Seal the end up. Paint with ghee. Rinse and repeat until mixture is finished. Bake 25-35 minutes. Serve with dip, or in a packed lunch.