Samosas are great for finger food at parties, or just for snacking at home. I usually make a big batch and put some in the freezer. You’ll be delighted when you feel like snacking, and have these easily available! Even though they are at their best when they’ve just been cooked, they are still fine other times too, they just don’t have that crispy skin anymore. I’d say the most common filling for these would be mince lamb, but I know a few people who are not too keen on lamb, so you could also substitute with beef, or even make the filling vegetarian!
Pastry
225g plain flour
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
80ml warm water
Filling
500g minced lamb
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 large cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tsb finely chopped root ginger
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp paprika powder
2 tbsp lemon juice
handful of fresh chopped mint leaves
extra vegetable oil for deep-frying
1. Measure the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the oil and water, then knead to a firm, smooth dough.
2. Cover the dough ball with cling film, and rest in the room temperature for about 30 minutes.
3. Whilst the dough is resting, prepare the filling. Heat the oil in a frying pan, then cook the onion, stirring, until browned lightly. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli and all the spices. Cook, stirring, until the mixture is fragrant. Add the lamb, cook, stirring. Break the pieces with your cooking utensil into small pieces as they are cooking. Once the lamb is cooked, remove the pan from the heat. Stir the lemon juice and mint in. Taste to check you are happy with the amount of lemon and mint, and add more if required. Let the mixture cool.
4. After the resting time, divide the dough into 12-14 pieces. Roll each piece into thin oval shapes, then cut in halves. Using flour and little flour and water, make slightly thick paste – this will be used as ‘glue’ when building the samosa together.
5. With the round side facing you, flick the right hand side edge of the thin dough so that it overhangs on the left side – but leaving a corner of the dough exposed at the top left hand corner.
6. Coat the exposed little flap with the flour / water paste, then fold it over the main part of the samosa.
7. Place the dough pocket on your hand, in between your thumb and other fingers, in a cone shape, then fill with the cooled filling.
8. Place on the table, brush the second overhanging flap with the paste, then seal over the samosa.
9. Once you have completed filling your samosas, heat vegetable oil in a deep pot for deep frying to 180°C / 356°F. Don’t fill the pot more than half way, as the oil may overflow when you add the samosas in. 
10. Deep fry the samosas in batches until they have a nice golden colour and appear crispy. Remove from the hot oil and drain on kitchen tissue.
11. The cooked samosas are at their best when eaten straight after being cooked. Enjoy!
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