Chinese Samosas 咖哩角

Chinese Samosas 咖哩角 (Cantonese: ga lay gok) was the first snack food I made. A friend’s mom made them for a bunch of us when we went to her house. I remember thinking that these were probably the most delicious things that I had ever tasted! Everybody loved them! The next time her mom made them, I asked if she could teach me and so this is pretty much her recipe. (I also learned to play mahjong at her house too!) This was over 30 years ago! I’m still making them for my friends and family today! Thank you Auntie Cheung!

Many people call these Chinese Samosas 咖哩角 and I have followed suit. But if we translate the Chinese literally, they should be called “curry triangles”. They actually have nothing to do with the Indian samosas. They branched from Portuguese empanadas from Malaysia. Hence, calling them Chinese empanadas would be a more accurate name. The original Chinese samosas have a flakey crust similar to the sausage roll pastry but with curry beef inside. People also call these curry puffs. The other one is the one for this recipe. It’s a cross between the flakey one and the spring roll.

If you like spring rolls and curry, you’re going to love these Chinese Samosas 咖哩角! They are an excellent party appetizer or snack. Every time I make it, I’ll make around 200-300 so that I can freeze some and give some to my friends and family. I tell them that I only make it once a year during Chinese New Year. But I actually made it 3 times last year to finalize this recipe and they were all happy that I did!

When my son was little, he wanted me to make Chinese samosas rather than cupcakes to bring to school for his birthday. And I got so many compliments! Now that my son is older, he wants to hoard them all for himself! These samosas are definitely one of our family’s favorites, it might become your family’s too!

I get my curry powder and curry paste from a little store called Choi Hop Lee 財合利 in Hong Kong (Wanchai).  Their proprietary blend of spices is by far the best I’ve tasted.  So, if you’re ever in Hong Kong, their curry powder would be a great gift idea!  But any curry blend that you like will work fine in this recipe.

After eating fried foods, to cut the heatiness, I like making a healthy tea to balance it out. If you'd like to as well, try my Three Reds Digestive Tea 三紅茶, Apple Fig Tea 蘋果無花果茶, or Longan Red Date Ginger Tea 桂圓紅棗姜茶.

If you like to deep-fry once in a while, consider getting a digital thermometer.  I can now accurately determine the temperature of the oil before putting my food into it.  Now, it’s so easy to get perfect results each time.  No more guessing when the oil is ready. If you’re interested, check out the one I got from Amazon.

Chinese Samosas 咖哩角

You can use any ground meats, chick peas, pressed tofu, carrots, corn and peas.

This recipe is very mild in heat. But you can add some chili powder to make it spicier.

Whatever you decide to add, just be sure that the filling is not too wet or else you may get a lot of oil spatter and discolouring.

If you find these difficult to wrap, you can also choose to wrap them like a spring roll. For spring roll wrapping, refer to my Cantonese Spring Roll recipe.

Approximate cost (CAD) $10

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Resting TIme 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Chinese, Hong Kong

Servings 6 Servings

Calories 1485 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 500 g Ground Beef
• 500 g Potatoes , diced
• 3 Medium onions , diced (300g)
• 1 ½ tbsp Curry Powder
• 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
• 1 ½ tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 2 tbsp Flour for making glue
• 2 tbsp Water for making glue
• 1 pkg Spring roll wrappers (8.5” 20 sheets)
• 1 tsp Sugar for beef marinade
• 1 tsp Light soy sauce for beef marinade
• 1 tsp Cornstarch for beef marinade
• 3 tbsp Oil for stir-frying filling
• 600 ml Oil for deep-frying

Instructions

 

• Marinate beef with 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp tight soy sauce and 1 tsp cornstarch. Mix well and set aside
  
• Dice potatoes into small pieces (approx. 4mm) and set aside
  
• Dice onions into small pieces (approx. 4mm) and set aside
  
• In a pan or wok, heat to medium high heat. Add 1 tbsp oil, brown the beef and remove from heat. Leave the oil in the pan
• Add onions and fry until just softens and remove from pan
• Add 2 tbsp oil to the pan and add potatoes. Fry until cooked
• Add onions and beef back into the pan and mix
• Make a well in the pan and add 1 ½ tbsp curry powder, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 ½ tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar in the well, fry the sauces on its own for 10 seconds and mix well with the filling. Turn off heat
  
• Remove the filling from the pan and let cool. Depending on your room temperature, this may take around 1 hour
  
• Make the glue by combining 2 tbsp flour with 2 tbsp water. You can also use a beaten egg
• Cut the spring roll wrappers into 3 even strips per sheet using kitchen shears or knife. Put the wrappers back in the package or under plastic wrap to prevent drying
• When the filling has completely cooled you can start wrapping
• Make a cone at one end of the wrapper, add approx. 18-20g of filling, fold the long end over the filling opening, tuck the end of the wrapper into an edge and seal with the glue mixture or egg
• Repeat step 12 until all the filling and wrappers have been used
• You can freeze them at this point if you are eating them at a later date
• Heat oil to 165˚C or 325˚F. Add Chinese samosas to the oil. Do not overcrowd to prevent oil temperature from dropping too much
  
• Fry until golden colour and remove from oil. Approx 3-5 minutes
• Rest on cooling rack for 5 minutes
  
• If frying frozen Chinese samosas, do not thaw. Fry at 165˚C or 325˚F for approx. 8 minutes or until golden colour. Then let rest on cooling rack for 5 mintues
• Serve

Nutrition

Calories: 1485kcalCarbohydrates: 68gProtein: 25gFat: 125gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 66mgSodium: 1298mgPotassium: 752mgFiber: 5gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 28IUVitamin C: 21mgCalcium: 82mgIron: 6mg

Keyword Appetizer, Beef, Curry, Deep Fried, Samosa

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