How to make Nigerian meat pie

Fast and easy way to make meat pie

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1kg all purpose flour

2. 1/3 teaspoon baking powder

3. 250g margarine

4. 2 Pinch of salt

5. 1 egg

6. Half cup of water

INGREDIENTS for the filling:

1. 500g minced beef

2. Chopped onions

3. Arish potatoes (3peice)

4. 2 large carrots

5. 1 knorr cube

6. Pinch of curry powder

7. Salt

8. quarter cup of flour

9. Vegetable oil.

PROCEDURE:

1. Place a pot on the stove and add 4 teaspoon of vegetable oil, allow it to heat up, add chopped onion, stir this for 30seconds, add minced beef, stir it on low heat till its longer chunky, then add salt, curry and Knorr cube. Close the pot for at least 1 minute.

2. Add the already chopped potatoes and carrot, then add a cup of water, stir together and cook this for 5-8minutes.

3. This is optional (you may want to thicken your filling, to do this) mix 4 teaspoon of flour in a little water, gently add this to your filling and stir to avoid getting any lumps. Cook for 1minutes. Turn of the heat and let it cool.

The crust:

1. Sieve 1kg flour into a large mixing bowl, add 1/3 teaspoon baking powder, 2 pinch of salt, and mix this together. Add margarine and mix with hands until you get a bread crumbs like texture then gently add half cup of water and mix until you get a nice Dough.

2. Transfer the dough to your working surface and gently knead dough till it is soft and stretchy.

Note: do not over work the dough put back in the bowl and let it rest for 5-7minutes.

Cut, Fill, Fold and Close

1. Set your oven to 170°C (335°F) and leave to preheat while you continue with the meat pie.

2. Rub margarine on the insides of the oven tray and set aside. This is so that the undersides of the meat pies do not burn or stick to the tray during baking.

3. Break the egg, beat it and set aside, you will need it pretty soon.

4. Knead the dough some more, roll it out to achieve a 5mm thickness. Use a cover of a small pot or a meat pie cutter, to make round cuts on the rolled out dough. Scoop some meat pie filling into the center of the round cuts, the quantity should be such that you can comfortably close the dough without overflows. Rub the egg on the inside edge of the cut meat pie dough. This is to ensure that your meat pie is perfectly sealed and does not open up while it is being baked. Fold one part of the dough to meet the other end and use a fork to press the 2 edges together to close tightly. Place in the oven tray and repeat the previous step till all the cut out dough is finished.

5. Rub the egg on the meat pies. This gives the meat pie a golden brown look when done.

6. Set the tray in the preheated oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. You can confirm that the meat pie is done when it starts browning. It is alright to open the oven to check this.