Trying to get creative with some more food for my littlest non-eater, I started experimenting with more meals to do with pastry or “pie crust” as she loving calls it. Then I remembered I have a set of 3 different sized samosa makers that I purchased 10 or more years ago and are hiding in the back of the pantry. With these nifty gadgets and pastry, my daughter was excited to help. I have made them a few times over the last few weeks for her, and the first time she ate 6 in a row, the whole thing, meat filling and all!!! My husband and I couldn’t believe it! She promptly ate another 5 for her lunch the next day.
The next time I made it, I unfortunately did not cut up the vegetables fine enough and she ate until she hit a big bit of vegetable then stopped with the filling and just ate the pastry. So I will not be making that mistake again! Keep the veggies small and cooked well so they are nice and soft. I have made the samosa filling with ingredients suitable for the failsafe diet.
Miss 3 loved them plain, miss 5 with Pear Ketchup, my 9 year old, my husband and I loved them with the pear chutney. They are great in lunch boxes for school or for finger food entertaining. These freeze well too.
Beef Samosas:
10 strands of Saffron
1 leek
1 clove garlic
6-8 brussel sprouts
Small handful of fresh parsley
20g rice bran oil
3 medium potatoes
1 choko
1 tablespoon Vegetable Stock Concentrate
2 tabsp rice malt syrup
200ml water or syrup from tinned pears
1/2 cup (100g) red lentils
800g beef mince
Salt to taste
Short crust pastry sheets
Put the strands of Saffron into a little bowl and soak in 1 tablespoon boiling water.
Prepare Potatoes and chokos by peeling and chopping into small cubes (just bigger than a pea).
Chop leek & garlic in Thermomix bowl for 2 sec on speed 7.
Add brussel sprouts and parsley, chop for 2 sec on speed 7
Add Oil, cook for 3 minutes at 100° on speed 1.
Add stock, rice malt syrup, saffron with the water and 200ml of water or syrup from tin pears and lentils.
Stir on speed 3 for 3 sec.
Add mince and cook at 100° for 5 minutes on reverse speed 1.
Stir mince with spatula, add potatoes and choko.
Cook for 20 minutes at at 100° reverse speed 1. After 3 minutes, give a stir through the lid with the spatula.
Pour into thermoserver for 10 minutes or until ready to make the samosas. Add salt to taste.
If mince apears too runny, put small amounts of it at a time into a colander over a bowl to drain slightly. If it is too runny it will stop the pastry from sealing well.
Pre-heat oven to 180°.
Using the samosa cutter, cut out rounds from the pastry. (If you don’t have one of these gadgets, an egg ring, a glass or something else round will do the trick and seal the edges together using a fork). Place a small dessert spoonful of mince into the middle. Brush edge with beaten egg. Fold together to seal. Place on a tray lined with baking paper. Brush with egg. Cook in oven for 20 minutes or until light golden brown and cooked.
Pear Chutney:
10 strands of saffron
1 tablespoon boiled water
3 shallots
1 clove garlic
1 825g tin of pears in syrup
110g brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon citric acid
40g whiskey
In a small bowl, place the saffron and boiled water and set aside.
Put shallots and garlic into Thermomix bowl. Chop on speed 6 for 3 seconds.
Take 3 pear halves and dice. set aside. I found cutting some with a knife gave a better texture to the chutney. If I had a tin of soft pears, they pureed too quickly in the thermomix.
Spoon the rest of the pear halves into the thermomix bowl, then pour half of the syrup in. Chop on speed 4 for 2 sec.
Add the diced pears, brown sugar, salt, citric acid, whiskey and saffron with the water.
Cook at 100° on reverse speed stir for 20 minutes or until reduced and thick with the MC (measuring cup) off and the basket on top so the steam can still escape.
Serve Samosas with a little bowl of chutney on the side.
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