Juicy Crispy Keema Samosas - Fried & Air Fried

These better than store-bought beef or chicken keema samosas are crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside and so irresistible! Two folding tutorials in post along with instructions for air frying, pan frying and deep frying!

The Criteria for Homemade Samosas

Unlike Shami Kabab which I have to say are always better FAR FAR FAR superior when homemade, I am actually okay with buying samosas when life gets busy. However, if I am going to make them at home then here is what a Samosa has to be to be worth the effort:-

• more interesting tasting than the standard
• juicy - no dry bits of keema falling out
• pan fry-able, air fry-able, and hold up to deep frying

What makes these Keema Samosas work

• The mix of flavours - especially that delicious herbacious mix at the end give these samosas a freshness and a tang that store-bought just don't have
• Cooking technique - while a lot of samosa recipes will have the onion added in at the end I take a page from my mothers book and saute mine off right in the beginning, the moisture from the onions keeps them juicy
• Air and Pan fry-able: Precooking the onions also means that you don't need to deep fry these samosas because the onion is already cooked tasting.

Samosa Frying: From Air Fry to Deep Fry

In the picture you see three samosas - the middle one is deep fried and the one on the bottom air fried, while the top is pan fried (½ inch of oil).

• Air fried keema samosas: Even with a light spray of oil air fried samosas don't take on the evenly golden hue of their fried counterparts. However, they are still quite crunchy, yummy, and delightfully hands off.
• Pan fried samosas: the exterior gets golden, the inside is pretty juicy, BUT the parts where the samosa touches the pan will get darker than where it isn't in direct contact.
• Deep fried samosa: these are the prettiest, evenly golden, glistening. The oil needs to be pretty high in a large wok to make it work and they will take a little longer to get golden than say pan fried.

What goes in Keema Samosas

These samosas have some standard ingredients, and you can see them all below, but let's talk about a few key ones shall we?

Keema: I use extra lean ground beef or ground chicken. The reason I use extra lean is twofold: regular ground beef has fat that can sometimes have an off putting smell/flavour/texture.

Herby Green Mix: these add moisture and flavour and texture.

Yoghurt: Beef needs this less than chicken, but the added moisture from the yoghurt keeps the mix from being dry and unpleasantly crumbly.

Making the Filling

Finely minced your onion, ginger, and garlic and saute it all together until softened.

NOTE: This recipe has been tested multiple times and although you can use a food processor to make quick work of chopping the onions the flavour and texture are better when finely diced by hand!

Add your spices (except garam masala) and ground meat and aggressively break it up into small pieces on medium-high to high heat. It will cook through fast without the meat releasing moisture.

Turn the heat off, add yoghurt if needed, garam masala, and then your herb mix, mix until wilted and then taste. Adjust if needed and let it cool.

Technique Highlights: Two ways of folding samosas

Easy: Recommend for Beginners

I say beginners, but my mother also makes hers this way and she is no beginner. Step by step below. In this method you will use 1 tbsp of the mix.

What you have done in a nutshell is created a triangle with two equal sides and flipped it on itself until you get to the last smaller triangular flap which gets sealed with some slurry.

Intermediate and Advanced

Fellow nerds here we are making samosas that are an equilateral triangle. Use that as your rough mental guide!

These two approaches are virtually the same, with one difference. In the intermediate version you simply fold over the last flap and seal, and in the advanced you tuck it in. Can I just say that I think you're best off folding and sealing because it's so much quicker and ain't no aunty giving you extra points for fiddly work.

In this method you will use 1.5 tbsp of the mix.

Freezing & Storing How To

Line a tray with plastic wrap / parchment and lay your samosas on it while making them. Place the tray in your freezer for 30 minutes or an hour to freeze. This is called flash freezing and will help the samosa keep it's shape. Transfer to a freeze safe box or ziploc.

Samosa Frying MUST Knows

No matter what approach you take here are three things to remember

• your oil has to be HOT but not smoking before you put your keema samosa in. If it isn't then your samosas will be oily
• maintain temperature - adjust the flame as needed to make sure the oil doesn't get too cold (greasy samosa alert!) or too hot (burn alert!)
• drain on a wire rack - I know I know, you want to just put them on a paper towel and call it a day, but placing your cooked samosas on a wire rack mean they'll drain excess oil and stay crispy longer. Win win.

Made these? Would love to hear what you think! Rate and review below!