This is an authentic keema samosa or lamb/beef samosa recipe that tastes just like the one you get on the streets in India and Pakistan. The keema samosa filling can be put together in 30 minutes and it is bursting with flavors, spicy, aromatic, and juicy.
A keema samosa is a triangular-shaped snack that has a fried or baked crispy thin crust. It is filled with savory lamb or mutton keema filling that is loaded with spices, onions, and herbs.
The samosa crust is made of samosa sheets (recipe from funcooking.co.uk) similar to a spring roll wrapper. You can also use filo pastry wrappers (recipe from Spruceeats.com) instead of or make your own pastry dough.
Depending on the ground meat used in filling they are called beef samosa, lamb samosa, mutton samosa, or simply meat samosa.
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Interestingly, the aloo samosa is the first love of all South Asians, the Lamb or beef keema samosa gets the limelight in meat-lover Pakistani and North Indian foodies.
Origin
Keema Samosa is love! A true entree that fits any meal or snack and has been alluring South Asia for almost 8 centuries. Samosa is a true darling that pleases all cultural variants with enormous variety in the filling ranging from meat mince, mashed potato, and sweet coconut to lentil and paneer filling.
All these again come in tikka, tandoori, Chinese, cheese, and smoked flavors. What are your samosa innovations?
Most people think Lamb Samosa originates from Indian Mughal Era, as Ibn Batuta describes in his travel book. It is actually from Central Asia or the Middle East.
It came through the travel route and became popular when mince-filled fried triangle pastries were served in the court of Delhi Sultanate by Middle Eastern and Central Asian cooks of the royal kitchen.
Some samosa recipes from the blog are chicken samosa and vegetable samosa and I'll post aloo samosa soon.
Why this recipe is perfect?
- Samosa Filling: I love lamb samosa, so compromising on filling was unlikely. I tested this recipe multiple times and claim that this is the best lamb or keema samosa filling that will make you want more and more.
- Samosa sheet tips: Use a samosa sheet that is neither very thick nor thin. If your samosa sheets are very thin consider adding an extra patch of the sheet under the filling for a thicker crunchier bite.
- Sealing: Folding the samosa correctly is important so the oil doesn't leak in the filling while frying.
- The triangle shape: Those beautiful triangles are a true delight to the eye. Just practice getting that perfect shape.
- Freezer-friendly: This lamb samosa recipe uses partially cooked onions making the samosa freezer friendly.
You might also try these snacks keema cutlets, keema aloo patties, chapli kebab, keema naan, and shami kebab. Or give this Dominican Quipe a try. It is made of bulgar wheat but is very similar to Samosa.
Ingredients and Substitutes
The visual of keema samosa ingredients are labeled and clear, read below to find substitutes.
- Ground meat: Use any ground meat you want like lamb, beef, or chicken. I'm using lamb mince for this recipe that has 20% fat.
- Spices: Most of the spices are common Indian spices. The only difference is roasted and grounded cumin seeds and coriander seeds that I use in most of my Mince recipes. And it lends so much flavor. Just dry roast cumin seeds and coriander seeds on medium heat for 1 minute and grind it. You can always do it in large quantities and use it in all keema recipes.
- Onion and green onions: I used two types of onion in this recipe. Just make sure to chop your onion in the food processor and squeeze the onion water and discard. Measure onions after squeezing the water.
- Herbs: I used a combo of mint and cilantro but you can switch one herb for other. Chives or green garlic would taste great too.
- Chat masala: This ingredient is optional and helps give the recipe chat patta flavor.
- Chilies: The onions make the mince have a sweeter tinge. The chilies balance it. The samosa is moderately spiced with all those chilies as onions and herbs add a lot of bulk.
- Samosa patti or spring roll wraps: You can easily find samosa patti or spring roll wrappers in Indian stores or Chinese stores or even online. If you have filo pastry in hand, you can use that too. Cut spring roll wrapper in half to make rectangular samosa strips.
- Wheat flour: Usually wheat flour and water paste are used to glue the samosa sheets together. You can use plain flour or cornflour too.
- Oil: Any neutral oil can be used for frying.
How to make it?
Keema Filling
- Take ground lamb, spices, and ¼ cup of water in a pot, mix well and cover it. Cook for 15-20 minutes on medium heat until the keema is cooked.
- Dry out any excess water on high heat if needed. Keep stirring and be patient. Like this, mince should be absolutely dry.
- Mix all remaining filling ingredients in hot keema immediately. The heat of the pan will cook the onions and herbs.
- Your filling is ready. Add green chilies as many as you like.
Tips
- This is the basic and most authentic samosa filling. Do a taste test and adjust salt or spices if necessary.
- Samosa needs a spicy filling because they are wrapped in thin roti-like strips that mellow downs a lot of samosa heat.
- If you find filling less spicy just add some Chat masala or extra chilies for a chat pata flavor.
- You can try other samosa filling too.
Fold and fry Samosa
- Mix little wheat flour with water to make 'samosa sealing paste'.
- Check the image below or video to see how to fold Samosa. This makes about 14 medium samosas. Check the Samosa Patti recipe here. You can use spring roll wrappers too.
- Fry samosa on medium heat for 3-4 minutes until golden and crispy.
- Serve hot lamb samosa with imli chutney or spicy green chutney.
How do you fold?
- Check the ratio of length and width of the strips. The strips should be at least 3 times longer than the width. If not, you can slice off a little width to make it properly sized. The samosa can be bite-sized, medium, or large. So it is the ratio that matters.
- Note in step two you can see a perfect triangle underneath.
- Pick the right top of that triangle and fold it to match the bottom edge.
- Now you have a pocket to fill. Fill the pocket then fold the top to cover and roll the edges on the side for that perfect triangle.
- Use the flour paste to glue the edges. Try your best to seal it well and not let oil fill in the pocket while frying. Enjoy!
Expert Freezing Tips
Yes, you can freeze a keema samosa easily as mince filling and spring roll wrappers or samosa Patti both are freezer friendly. Spread samosa on baking trays in a single layer and freeze. When samosas are rock solid after 2 hours, transfer samosa to zip lock bags or air-tight containers and freeze.
Make sure the onion in the filling or other veggies is completely cooked, otherwise, they might give you a stale aroma.
The onion needs only a little heat that will change the color to translucent, similarly, other veggies need enough heat to deactivate the enzymes and increase shelf life.
You can also freeze extra samosa Patti or spring roll wrapper. Just make sure to bring it completely to room temperature before working. About 30-40 minutes. Remove from the pack and cover with a barely damp towel to keep it moist while working through the samosa folding process.
Hungry for more fried snacks? Check these!
If you try this keema samosa recipe, I'd LOVE to hear your feedback in the comments. Your 5-ratings motivate me to do my best. Stay connected for more recipes and videos on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube.
📖 Recipe
Keema Samosa Recipe
Ingredients
For keema filling
- 250 grams ground meat, lamb or mutton or beef
- ¼ cup water
Spices
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- ½ tablespoon coriander, roasted and grounded
- ½ tablespoon cumin, roasted and grounded
- ½ tablespoon red chilli powder , or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt , or to taste
Other
- 1 cup finely chopped onion, measure after squeezing excess onion water.
- ¾ cup green onion, finely chopped
- ¼ cup green coriander, chopped
- 2 tablespoon mint leaves, chopped
- 1 teaspoon chat masala , or as per taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2-3 tablespoon green chillies, finely chopped
- 12 to 14 samosa patti , or spring roll wraps, see notes
- 2 tablespoon wheat flour , mixed in little water to make paste.
- Oil, to fry
Instructions
- In a pot, take mince, water and ingredients mentioned under spices list. Cook for 15 -20 minutes on medium heat or until water dries. Remove from heat.
- Immediately mix all remaining ingredients of somasa filling in the hot mince.
- Fill and fold the samosa with prepared filling and seal the ends with wheat flour and water paste.
- Fry samosa in small batches on medium heat for 3 minutes until crispy.
- Remove to a paper towel to absorbs excess oil. Serve hot.
Notes
- Ground meat: Use any ground meat with 20% fat like lamb, beef, or chicken.
- Spices: Just dry roast cumin seeds and coriander seeds on medium heat for 1 minute and grind them. You can always do it in large quantities and use it in all keema recipes.
- Onion: Make sure to chop your onion in the food processor and squeeze the onion water and discard. Measure onions after squeezing the water.
- Herbs: You can switch one herb for other. Chives or green garlic would taste great too.
- Chat masala: This ingredient is optional and helps give the recipe chat patta flavor.
- Chilies: The onions make the mince have a sweeter tinge. The chilies balance it. The samosa is moderately spiced with all those chilies as onions and herbs add a lot of bulk.
- Samosa patti or spring roll wraps: You can easily find samosa patti or spring roll wrappers in Indian stores or Chinese stores or even online. If you have filo pastry in hand, you can use that too. Cut spring roll wrapper to half to make rectangular samosa strips.
- Wheat flour: Usually wheat flour and water paste is used to glue the samosa sheets together. You can use plain flour or cornflour too.
- Oil: Any neutral oil can be used for frying.
- Un-cooked samosas can be stored in the fridge for 24 -30 hours.
- Or freeze for 2 months. Freeze separately in a tray then transfer to a freezer bag.
- Leftover fried samosas can be stored in a paper bag on the counter for 6-8 hours in a cool place. Reheat in an oven or deep fry again.
- Preheat-oven at 350 F. Sprays the samosa with oil on both sides. Then place samosa on a baking tray lined with butter paper. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until crispy and has golden marks. Flip the samosa to the other side after 10 minutes for equal cooking.
Fola says
Thank very delicious made it for Christmas. I used lamb mince everyone commented that it was juicy and very nice!
Mariam Sodawater says
Hey Fola, I always make these with lamb mince as my family prefers lamb over beef for health concerns. Tastes great.
Huguette says
Tastes just great Thank you for the recipe!
Mariam Sodawater says
I'm so glad to have your feedback and a 5-star rating. I personally love this recipe!
Kashaf Abbas says
Salam hru ? Ur website is really amazing...excellent recipes ...but i m really having problem ...pics are not diplaying ...kindly help me out...thx ...good work keep it up
Recipe 52 says
Thanks a lot dear Kashaf. I don't know how to help you as pics are visible on my website. I don't know what is the problem at your end.