Making Punjabi Crunchy Samosa always brings joy to my family. These samosas are filled with seasoned ground beef, potatoes, and green peas. The crust is butter based and will leave you mesmerized.
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Punjab is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and the home of many mouth-watering dishes, like samosas. The outer crust of these samosas tastes like homemade pie crust and is usually served with a hot Indian Karak Chai.
🥘 INGREDIENTS YOU'LL NEED
Flour: It is known that Pakistan and India use Atta to make different types of dough but here, we will use all-purpose flour.
Potatoes: Add to the flavor and allow us to use less meat.
Beef: In Pakistan, they use beef and mutton (lamb meat), so you can go for any, and the result will be the same.
Spices: The best samosas are those that have spices but in moderation.
Butter: Adds crispiness and flavor to the dough, making it taste just like homemade pie crust, which is amazing.
Cooking oi: Go for sunflower or corn oil to deep fry the samosa.
🔪 HOW TO MAKE
Step 1
To make the filling, add the ground beef to a hot pan and saute for a few minutes until it releases oil. Add the onion and potatoes, and cook until the onion is translucent. Now, add the spices and salt, and saute on medium-high heat. Then add the green peas.
Step 2
To make the dough, In a bowl, add all the ingredients (except water) and mix well. Gradually add the water and knead until you get a smooth dough. Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
Step 3
Make six equal balls from the dough. Take one ball and roll it out into a circle.
Use a knife to cut the circle into halves. Take one-half and fold it into a cone.
Step 4
Seal along the fold. Place the cone between your thumb and index finger. Fill the cone with the filling. Wet the edges of the dough with water and pinch to seal.
Step 5
Cover the samosas with a cloth and keep them aside for 20 minutes. It's best to keep them in the fridge. In a medium pan, heat the frying oil. Fry the somasas on medium heat until the samosa is golden brown.
💭 COOKING TIPS
- If the meat you use doesn't have enough fat, add two tablespoons of oil while sauteing it.
- The samosa dough should be smooth but a little firm too. Adding more water to the dough will make it difficult to shape it later.
- When frying the Punjabi samosa, it is best not to crowd the pan and fry in batches.
- Fry the samosa on medium-low heat.
- It is important to allow the dough to rest after kneading and let it rest again after shaping the samosas.
- Replacing butter with oil in the dough will not allow the samosa to maintain the crispy texture for long.
🍛 WHAT TO SERVE WITH PUNJABI SAMOSA
You can serve the samosa with Indian tea or with some onion pakoras.
📖 DELICIOUS VARIATIONS
Add different types of vegetables to the samosa instead of potatoes.
You can also add spices like cinnamon or cumin to the dough.
💬 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
If you add less butter and less water to the dough, it will turn hard.
The frying oil must have been hot. However, I like having the bubbles it gives a unique texture to the samosa.
You can, but the flavor won't be the same, and the texture will be dense. Sometimes the samosa absorbs more oil when using atta.
Yes, brush them with oil and bake them in the middle rack of a preheated oven of 180C/350F until golden.
Yes, place them on a baking sheet and pop them in the freezer until they are hard. Later place them in a ziplock bag and freeze for up to 4 months.
Do not thaw that frozen samosa; it will turn soggy after frying. Fry the frozen samosa in medium-low heat oil. The cooking time might increase.
🍲 MORE INDIAN RECIPES YOU'LL LOVE
🌡️ STORING AND REHEATING
Fridge: You can place the samosa in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Freezer: Place the cooled samosas on a baking sheet and place them in the freezer, later when hard, place them in a Ziplock bag and continue freezing them for up to 4 months. You can also freeze the samosa when it is raw the same way. When cooking frozen samosa, fry it without thawing it.
Reheating: To maintain the crispy texture, heat the samosa in a preheated oven 180C/350F for a few minutes.
📖 Recipe
Punjabi Crunchy Beef Samosa
Ingredients
FOR THE FILLING
- 350 grams ground beef
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 medium potato chopped
- ¼ cup green peas I used frozen
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon ginger powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder
TO FRY THE SAMOSAS
- 2 cups of oil
FOR THE DOUGH
- 2 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ cup melted butter
- ½ cup warm water you may need less
Instructions
MAKING THE FILLING
- In a pan, add the ground beef and saute for few minutes or until it releases oil.
- Add the onion and potatoes, and stir until the onion is translucent. Add all the spices and salt, and saute some more on medium-high heat.
- Reduce the heat and cook until the onion turns light brown, the beef is cooked, and the potatoes are tender.
- Add the green peas and cook for another three minutes. Keep aside to cool.
- NOTE: No oil was added to the filling since the beef had enough fat to cook everything with. If you are using ground beef with less fat add two tablespoon oil when sauting the beef.
MAKING THE DOUGH
- In a bowl, add all the ingredients (except water) and mix by rubbing the ingredients together with your hands.
- Gradually add the water and knead until you get a smooth and not sticky dough. The dough should have a little firmness to it.
- Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
PREPARING THE SAMOSA
- Make six equal balls from the dough. Take one ball and roll it out with the rolling pin into a medium thickness circle around 6 inches. (This dough won’t need dry flour to roll).
- Use a knife to cut the circle in half.
- Take one half and fold it into a cone. Seal along the fold by pressing it between your fingers.
- Place this cone between your thumb and index finger. Fill the cone with the filling. It might take two tablespoons or a little less. Do not overfill.
- Wet the open edges of the cone with water and pinch the sides together to seal. Now you should have a triangle shaped samosa. Repeat this step with the rest of the dough and filling.
- Cover the samosa with a cloth and keep it aside for 20 minutes. preferable in the fridge if your kitchen is hot.
- In a medium frying pan, heat the oil. Add the samosas but do not crowd the pan. Fry on medium heat until the samosa is golden brown from all sides. The frying time may take from 7 to 8 minutes.
Notes
- You can use mutton (lamb meat instead of beef).
- Fry in medium-low heat.
- You can make the samosa size smaller or bigger.
- Add chopped green chilies for more heat to the filling.
Angie@Angie's Recipes
Crunchy wrapper and savoury beef filling...they are totally irresistible. The filling can be used as the bun filling too. Well done, Muna.
munatycooking
Thanks dear! You can really be creative with this recipe, even make it vegetarian 🙂
ami@naivecookcooks
You are so on point with these samosas Muna!! I grew up eating fresh piping hot samosas with even hotter chai and lots of spicy green chutney! You reminded me of back home with these samosas! Now I wish I was your neighbour as these look so delicious!!
munatycooking
I wish we were neighbours too, I can sneak into your kitchen and taste all the yummy dishes you make 🙂
Nagi@RecipeTinEats
Okaaaaaay. This looks delicious! Everything is on point!I can't wait to try this!
munatycooking
It is addictive Nagi but in a nice way 🙂
Cassie
I can't believe I managed to make something like this! They were delicious. Friends and their kids loved them. The only change I made was to par boil the potato before adding it, as I'm picky when it comes to hard potatoes. Will make again. Had extra mixture left as I used more beef, had it on a wrap the next day. Yum.
munatycooking
Wow! You made my day. Thank you so much for the feedback 🙂
Bebette
Can I use pastry flour (soft) if I don't have all purpose flour ?
munatycooking
I'm not sure if it will work but if you try it do let me know ho it came out!
Kelly
Can this be made with lamb mince
munatycooking
Hi kelly, it tastes even better with lamb mince but when I made it I only had beef 🙂
Cook With Nisha
so yummy!! delicious 🙂
munatycooking
Thank you Nisha 🙂
Amy
Thank you for the delicious recipe they turned out perfectly! 😍 i would like to freeze them in batches would you suggest cooking them then reheating once defrosted or freeze before cooking and then cook on a tray in oven from frozen? Maybe i will give each way a go and see what result is best 😊
munatycooking
Hi Amy, Thank for your comment 🙂 . You can cook them and freeze them then reheat them in the oven, or, freeze them before frying and when defrosted fry them in hot oil!
Jo
These were gorgeous! I also made a chicken version, using the same spices and they were so yummy. They also freeze really well, although I did cook them lightly first and the cooked them on 160 for 40 mins then turned them off with 10 mins at 220 to crisp them up. I also defrosted in the microwave, but they lose the crunchiness. Still gorgeous though!
munatycooking
Thank Jo for your comment 🙂
Anike
I tried your recipe and it was AMAZING! All my family loved the samosa. Thanks for sharing 🙂
munatycooking
Thank you Anika 🙂
Terri
Could you use flour tortillas also?
munatycooking
Hi, You can't use flour tortillas to make samosa. Hope this helped!
SarahJane
HI - what would you add to make these just a tad bit spicier? More chili powder?
When I made them first time they were really good, but lacked a bit of spice and perhaps needed a bit more salt...
Thank you
munatycooking
Hi Sarah, with salt you can add it according to your taste, I sometimes add more salt when I make it for my sister 😉. You can add red chili flakes to make it spicier and it adds more flavor too!
Liz
Oh my! I made these today after thinking about it for a long time. I doubled the recipe because I have a lot of adult sons.
These are delicious. I served them with mango chutney I bought at a specialty market.
Honestly, I could just eat the fried dough without any filling. The cumin seed adds so much savoury 🤗
munatycooking
I'm so happy that you liked it and the mango chutney must have made it taste awesome. Thanks for giving my recipe a try ☺