Ugly but So Delicious Lamb Samosas w/ Rice Paper Wrappers (GF)

A mash up of two samosa recipes led to this ugly but delicious dish that was too good not to share. The use of rice paper wrappers from the NYT potato samosa recipe gave the perfect crunch followed by the delicious Indian spiced filling from Nadiya's Kitchen's "easy aromatic" recipe for lamb samosas. Fry or bake up just enough to eat while they are hot; the rest can be frozen for a later time. Enjoy them plain, or with your favorite dipping sauce (tamarind, mint, or coconut).* 

My Paleo Marin Rating: 3 Persimmons**

Ingredients:

For the Filling:

1 pound ground lamb

1 -2 tablespoons ghee or neutral tasting oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon chili flakes

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1" ginger, peeled and minced

2 medium Yukon potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/8" thick cubes

3/4 cup frozen green peas

Handful of fresh cilantro (coriander), chopped

For the Wrapper:

Image from Amazon here

14 - 8 1/2” Rice Paper Spring Roll Wrappers

Note: NTY recipe called for 14 - 8" squares, cut into 3 triangles that made 42 samosas; I used the uncut 8" round wrappers to make 12 large samosas 

Pan of warm water

2 tablespoons gluten free flour 

2 tablespoons water

Directions:

For the Filling:

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan to medium. Fry the ground lamb until browned, about 5 minutes. Push to one side and add the cumin seeds, chili flakes, and chili powder; brown until spices sizzle in pan. 

2. Add the garlic, ginger and garam masala and cook through for about 1 minute. Stir all ingredients together. Add the potatoes, cover and cook over medium low heat for about 15 minutes.

3. Add the peas, and cook for another 10 minutes uncovered over low heat until the potatoes are cooked through.

4. Take the mixture off the heat and allow to cool. Add the chopped cilantro and stir it through. Mixture can be stored in a covered bowl in fridge for up to 2 days.

For the Wrappers:

Prepare a baking sheet with waxed paper or a silpat sheet. Mix the flour and water together in a small bowl to make a paste to secure the ends of the wrappers. Add warm water to a baking sheet or tin large enough to soak a rice paper wrapper.

1. Dip one sheet of the rice paper in the warm water until it softens. Remove from water and lightly dip on towel to remove excess water. Lay it out on the prepared baking sheet. 

2. Add a dollop of lamb filling to the center of the circle. Fold up the bottom of the circle to form a straight  edge. Fold back one side toward you to form a trianagulated shape; do the same with the other side. Flip the samosa over and secure the ends with the flour paste. Repeat until all the filling is used.

Note: It's best to just fry up as many as samosas as you will eat at one time as the rice paper wrappers got gummy when cold. Extra samosas can be frozen to simply pull out and fry at a later date.

To Fry the Samosas:

1. In a frying pan, add about 1/2" cooking oil. 

Note: In order to use less oil, I used a 9" pan and cooked two at a time. 

2. Heat oil to medium high and add the samosas, being careful to keep them apart as the rice paper is sticky. Fry on one side for about 3 minutes or until browned; turn and finish cooking the other side, 1-3 minutes. Place cooked samosas on paper towels to drain.

To Bake the Samosas: (Note: I did not try this.)

Preheat the oven to 400º F. Line a 1" deep baking sheet with foil and cover the bottom with about 1/8" - 1/4" oil.

1. Using tongs, coat the samosas with oil on both sides. Bake for about 6-8 minutes total per side, turning half way through. Transfer to a cooling rack lined with paper towels and serve.

Recipe makes about 12 samosas using the whole round rice papers. 

#paleo #samosas #lamb #ricepaper #chilis #chilipeppers #chilliflakes #garammasala #Indian #indianfood #indiancooking #glutenfree #dairyfree #nondairy #coriander #cilantro #Nepali #nepalcooking #Asian #Asianfood #Japanese #instarecipes #recipes #NYT #nadiaskitchen

* Sauce brands and recipes offered as suggestions only; I have not bought or made them).

Filling Recipe adapted from Nadiy's Kitchen recipe here.

Wrapper recipe adapted from the New York Times recipe here.

**My Paleo Marin Rating between 1-5 Persimmons

I try out these recipes so you don't have to (and modify them for Paleo where possible). The rating will reflect my opinion of the final result in terms of taste, ease of preparation, nutrition, and sometimes, cost.