Indian Samosa Cups

I was thinking of making samosas for dinner tonight, but wanted a little simpler assembly and decided to fill muffin cups with my tasty meat filling and just top each with a “cap” of pastry. These came out delicious! We had them as a main course, but you could serve just one as a side dish with your favorite curry recipe! I will definitely be making them again, as my husband just loves Indian food. I used my regular Peggy’s “Flour” Pie Crust recipe to complete this dish. This recipe is not suitable until you reach the grains rung of the Atkins OWL carb re-introduction ladder (near goal weight).

MEAT FILLING INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 T. olive oil

3 oz. yellow onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp. fresh ginger root, minced

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

½ tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. ground coriander

¼ tsp. sea salt

2 Roma tomatoes, chopped

¼ c. cilantro, chopped

1 medium 6″ carrot, peeled & chopped fine

1 T. fresh mint, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & chopped fine

2 tsp. Garam Masala

CRUST RECIPE: Peggy’s “Flour” Pie Crust at this link.

VARIATION: Substitute lamb for the beef

DIRECTIONS: Make the pie crust per that recipe’s instructions. Set aside for now.

In a skillet, brown the ground beef, onion and carrot until veggies begin to soften, stirring often. Add all other ingredients and simmer about 5 minutes, stirring often, so spice flavors will develop. Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 350º. Form a log of the pie dough and divide into 6 equal portions. Take one portion, pinch off and reserve 1/3 of it (for the “cap”) and press the remaining 2/3 into non-stick muffin cups (I used a jumbo muffin pan to make these). As you press the dough into the cup, press it up to the tops of the slots. Fill with 1/6 of the meat mixture (about 1/3 c.). Repeat these steps for the remaining 5 samosa cups. If there is any meat mixture unused, spread it evenly among the 6 servings. With the 6 bits of dough you pinched off, form small 2-2½” circles of dough with your fingers on a floured surface. Place a “cap” atop each samosa cup. No need to try to seal the edges. Place muffin pan on a baking sheet and pop into hot 350º oven. Bake about 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 6 samosa cups, each contains:

112.2 cals, 8.06g fat, 5.93g carbs, 2.96g fiber, 2.97g NET CARBS, 6.58g protein 216 mg sodium