Baked Keema Patties with Puff Pastry: Easy, Flavourful Ground Meat Snack

Introduction

These baked keema patties are without a doubt, an East meets West recipe. The keema (mince meat) filling is so versatile and I use it to fill samosas and spring rolls. The puff pastry element adds a healthier way to eat the filling, and they can be baked in the oven instead of being deep fried. It also only requires a small amount of oil to cook the mince meat, again giving a healthier take to this puff pastry samosa.

Baked keema patties are incredibly versatile, making them suitable for an afternoon snack or a lovely starter for a formal dinner. You can always change the lamb mince for chicken mince, or any other mince you prefer. However you decide to eat them, they are definitely a crowd pleaser.

These samosa puff pastry’s are also the perfect starter you can prepare in advance and pop in the freezer, ready to put straight into the oven and bake when needed. Puff pastry keema is an incredibly moreish combination, so I can without a doubt assure you, they do not last long, be prepared to make more! The spring onion in the recipe is really the key ingredient, it adds a subtle crunch to the filling.

Why make these pastries

I probably like many other Muslims would often go into our local bakery and see sausage rolls, Cornish pasties or chicken pies and unfortunately they would never be halal. So I couldn’t eat them, I would stick to my cheese and onion pasty instead.

When in my twenties, and the ease and accessibility of ready rolled puff pastry making it’s way into the hands of my mother, these ground meat snacks evolved into our household. They have been a staple ever since. The versatility of puff pastry allows for so many different adaptions on this recipe. I have often added grated cheese on top of the keema as another variation to these pastries. This then evolved into my pinwheels. I no longer have FOMO (fear of missing out)!

They are also a great meal to whip out on no notice when you realise you haven’t actually made anything for dinner. Steam some vegetables and give it to the kids with some ketchup and you have a nice and easy dinner down.

Shape of the keema pastry

My son, who like is mother is real foodie. When we lived down South, he would eat these pastries when visiting his Nano’s house (maternal grandmother) every few months. He literally would inhale them! When we moved to Yorkshire, he asked his Nano to make them. However he couldn’t remember what they were called (being only 5 years old at this point), so he asked his nano to look at his finger as he outlined a semi circle on the table. My mum immediately realised he wanted these keema pastries! That’s how much he loved and remembered them!

You can make the baked keema patties into any shape of your liking. My mum makes the semi circle shaped pastries, however I prefer to make triangular shaped pasties as there’s less cutting involved and in addition, less wastage of the puff pastry.

You will need a fork just to crimp the edges of the pastry shut once filled with the mince meat filling. A prick on top with the fork again to allow any steam to escape when cooking at you are done. Couldn’t be easier.

Keema pastry as a Ramadan starter

These easy meat patties are also a great starter to prepare in advance for Ramadan (Islamic month of fasting). You can complete the first eight steps of the recipe and then freeze them until you the day you want to cook them. They freeze for up to three months.

Brush them with egg wash and then bake them from frozen. However you will need to allow more time for them cook fully, around 30-40 minutes, until they are golden brown.

Serve these spicy meat-filled pastries with roast chicken legs for the ultimate starter collection at your dinner party, and do not forget to serve with a chutney!

See my video on Instagram or TikTok to see how to make this dish!

Ingredients for keema puff pastry

Time 30 minutes to make the filling, 20 minutes minutes to bake

Feeds 8-10 ( 30 pastries approximately)

• 1/2 tablespoon of rapeseed oil
• 500 grams of lamb mince meat
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
• 3 green chillies finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon of garlic finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon of ginger finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon of garam masala
• 1 teaspoon of ground coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 tsp of red chilli powder
• 5 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh coriander (around 40 grams)
• 6 spring onions finely chopped (around 80 grams)
• 1 onion finely chopped (do not use a food processor)
• Puff pastry sheet- pre rolled (you will need 4-5 rolls)

Method

Mince

1. Heat the oil, turn the heat to low then add the cumin seeds, green chillies, garlic and ginger. You do not want to brown the garlic ginger, to do not over fry.

2. Add the lamb mince, and turn the heat to a medium heat. Add the salt, red chilli powder, 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala and cook for 15 minutes. Make sure you use the back of the spoon to break up the lamb mince and clumps do not form.

3. Let the lamb mince cool down. Once cooled, add the fresh coriander, spring onions, onion, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala and 1 teaspoon of coriander powder. Mix it all through. You can taste the mixture at this point to see if you are happy with the spices, salt etc. Add to your taste.

Making up the pastries

4. Then you will need to make the keema pastries shapes. Open up the pre rolled puff pastry sheet on your worktop, use a sharp knife to cut down the middle of the sheet, lengthways. Then cut down the width of the sheet, twice, evenly spread down the length. This should give you 6 squares in which to make the keema patties with.

7. Get a tablespoon of the mince filling and place into one corner of cut puff pastry, fold over to make a triangle shape.

8. Nudge back in any keema filling that spills out, then gently press down the edges. Use a fork to crimp the edges fully.

9. You can then pop the keema patties in sandwich bags and freeze. If you want to eat immediately, beat an egg and brush the pastries with the egg and pop in the oven for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Serve immediately with a lovely mint chutney!