Nigerian meat pie
Nigerian meat pie is a hand pie or turnover and is one of the most popular snacks in Nigeria.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 small onion (1/4 cup, chopped)
- 350 g minced meat
- 2 small carrots (1/4 cup, chopped)
- 2 medium Irish potatoes (1/4 cup, chopped)
- 1 teaspoon dry thyme
- 1 seasoning cube
- dry chili pepper
- salt
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon flour
- Easy pie dough
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, brown paper or aluminium foil. Set aside.
- Pour oil into a dry saucepan or frying pan and place over medium heat.
- When hot, add onions and fry until softened.
- Increase heat to high and add minced meat, fry until the meat has browned.
- Add carrot, potatoes, dry thyme, seasoning cube, dry chilli powder and salt. Stir and add water.
- Cook until potato and carrots have softened but are not mushy.
- Mix a slurry of flour with 2 tablespoons of water, stir and add to the pie filling, stirring the filling as you add.
- Cook until it has thickened well. This will take about one minute.
- Take off the heat and spread it on a plate to completely cool down.
- Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
- Crack the egg into a bowl, add 1 teaspoon water and a pinch of salt and beat to mix.
- Roll out the dough to 1/8" to 1/4" thickness.
- Using a pie cutter or a circular plate, cut out circles to your desired size. I like the cute small meat pies.
- Place pie filling on half of the circle making sure to leave some space around the edges.
- Rub a little egg around the edges.
- Fold the empty side of the pastry over the filling to cover it and meet the edge on the other side of the circle to form the letter D.
- Crimp the outer edges by hand or with the tines of a fork.
- If using a pie dough cutter, place the circle on the side with the serrated zigzag edges, put some pie filling and close pressing hard to seal.
- Place individual pies on the prepared sheet.
- Snipe a hole at the top of the pie or prick with a fork.
- Brush the pies with the egg wash.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.
- Serve and enjoy your Nigerian Meat Pie with a drink. Try my Healthy beetroot juice, refreshing Afterglow Mocktail, Carrot/orange juice, Chapman or Virgin pina colada.
Notes
- The pie filling should not be watery. If it is, add more flour slurry to thicken it further. This is to avoid it making the pastry soggy.
- Ensure the pie filling is completely cool before filling the pie. If it is still warm, it will increase the temperature of the dough, melt the butter and you will end up with a crumbly, oily and soggy pastry.
- The Nigerian meat pie filling can be stored well sealed in a freezer bag or container in the freezer.
- Store pie in the freezer and reheat from frozen in the microwave or oven.
- Any excess filling can also be mixed with scrambled eggs or used to fill tortilla wraps or pita bread. It can be used to toss pasta.
- Do not use any water releasing vegetables, it will make your pastry soggy.
