I am sure at some point in our lives, we have all been advocates of the 30 second rule when food hit the floor. Or, maybe, in your case it was the 60 second rule? Or the 3-minute rule? Either way, I am not here to judge – but I do have a story for y’all.
Back during my middle school years, my classmates and I would frequent our school café during lunch time. Now, this was different to the lunch room, as in here you got to purchase several Indian snack foods for just a few Dirhams (I spent my middle school years at an Indian School in Abu Dhabi – hence the currency).
Well, this café had some of the very best samosas we had ever eaten. They were so good that if you didn’t pick up a morsel in 30 seconds – someone else would! They were so good that once when a friend found a cockroach in her samosa, instead of throwing the whole thing, she ate around it! No lie! These samosas were legendary – and are the highlight of the menu at every reunion party!
Now, these samosas are a far cry from those samosas. These are made with a version of that chicken keema I shared not too long ago. And, instead of being fried, these samosas are baked.
I experimented with a phyllo crust, and while the flaky phyllo was a textural delight to the chicken keema, it wasn’t exactly as thick as I wanted the crust to be. So, I opted to use some gluten-free crescent rolls I stumbled on – and they were the perfect balance of crust to filling.
It was a bit tricky figuring out the best folding option, and the end result doesn’t look as appealing as the phyllo samosas were, but, y’all, these tasted so good – y’all would just have to try them to believe me. So prep a tall jar of cold lemonade and get to baking!
Keema Samosas Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 Olive Oil
- 1 Onion Chopped
- 2 Grated Fresh Ginger
- 3 Garlic Chopped
- 1 Garam Masala
- 0.5 Turmeric
- 0.5 Coriander Powder
- 1 Paprika
- 0.5 Chili Powder
- 0.5 Cumin
- 0.25 Ground Cardamom
- 0.25 Ground Cloves
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Mint Leaves Chopped
- 1 Ground Chicken
- 1 Peas
- 3 Tomato Paste
- 1 Serrano Pepper Chopped, or jalapeño
- 1 Carrot Grated
- 1 Gluten Free Crescent Rolls
- 1 Egg White Beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Sauté onions, garlic and ginger in a pan with olive oil, over medium heat for about 7 minutes then move this onion mix to the sides of the pan.
- Add in the ground chicken and sauté for about 5 minutes.
- As soon as it begins to brown and extra liquid starts to seep from it, add the bay leaf, the mint leaves, green chili, the cardamom, cloves, garam masala, turmeric, coriander, paprika, cumin, and chili powder and sauté for about another 5 minutes.
- Add in the green peas and tomato paste and grated carrots and let cook for about 3 more minutes, stirring well.
- Remove bay leaf.
- Remove crescent rolls from canister and divide into 8 segments and using a rolling pin, roll these segments out.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of chicken keema mix to the rolled out crescent roll in a position where it can be still folded over. Brush the edges with the egg white and fold over one side and then crimp the edges.
- Repeat till all 8 are made.
- Lay on a parchment lined baking tray and bake for 25 minutes.
- Serve with chutney or sambal oelek.