Watching rugby or drinking a few Beers with a couple of Samoosas is just about as South African as Braai and Boerewors

Samoosa's

This recipe was brought to South Africa by Indian immigrants and has now become a favourite snack of all South Africans.

Dough
375 g cake flour
5 ml salt
250 ml cold water
5 ml lemon juice
15 ml melted butter or margarine

Filling
500 g mutton or lamb, minced
2 ml turmeric
5 ml salt
1 large clove garlic
1 piece root ginger
10 ml freshly chopped coriander leaves
1 green chilli, crushed
2 medium onions, finely chopped
15 ml melted butter
4 spring onions, finely chopped
2 ml garam masala
sunflower oil

To make the dough, sift the flour and salt together and add enough cold water to make a stiff dough. Add the lemon juice and knead the dough gently until elastic. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and roll each into a ball. Roll out 6 balls on a floured surface and shape them into 10-cm diameter rounds. Brush each with melted butter or oil and sprinkle with flour. Stack the rounds leaving the final round ungreased and unfloured. Roll out the stack into a large, very thin, round and trim the sides to form a square. Heat an ungreased baking sheet in the oven at 230 C until very hot, remove and place the dough square on it. Turn the square over several times until the dough puffs up slightly. Remove the square from the baking sheet as soon as this happens. Repeat for the remaining 6 balls of dough.

To make the filling, cook the meat with a mixture of the turmeric, salt, garlic and ginger pounded together, the coriander leaves, and the chillies. When nearly dry, add the onions and cook till the liquid has evaporated stirring often to prevent lumps forming. Add the melted butter and allow the mixture to cool and add the spring onion and garam masala.

To assemble, cut the prepared dough squares into strips 8 cm wide and 25 to 30 cm long. Separate into layers before the pastry cools. Cover with a damp cloth to prevent drying out while making the samoosas). Holding a strip of pastry in your left hand pull the bottom corners across then fold it up to form as triangle with sharp corners and a pocket in which to put the filling. Fill with 10 ml filling then continue folding the pastry across the top of the triangle to seal off the opening. Tuck the edges round to form a neat triangle. Seal the remaining edge with a paste of flour and water and pinch the two bottom edges lightly together. Leave in a cool place for about 30 minutes before cooking. Fry the samoosas in hot oil for about 10 minutes, or until golden, turning often. Remove and drain.