The Nenshi Family Samosa Recipe
I JUST realized I never posted this recipe. And it’s one you’ll really want.
Never mind the driving force of social media – word on the street is that the Nenshi family kept Naheed’s team of volunteers in homemade samosas throughout his campaign. His mother, it turns out, is well known for her samosas, and generously agreed to share her recipe via Naheed’s sister, Shaheen. I’ve known Naheed for years (we went to Junior High together) and so a couple days after the election, on arguably the busiest week of his life, I emailed to ask if his mum might share her samosa recipe? Of course he came through.
Then, while we were in New York, he sent recommendations for food, shopping and sight-seeing, tipping us off about a secret burger joint in the lobby of Le Parker Meridien, a swanky New York hotel. And Cafeteria in Chelsea, a very hip restaurant with über fashionable New York hosts -one with a snakeskin eyepatch, even- fantastic food and even a kids’ menu. W had hand-cut fries with truffle oil with his big, made-from scratch chicken fingers and in-house made chocolate ice cream. My point is, he nailed two perfect New York restaurants that had brilliant food while being five-year-old friendly – the guy has good taste, too.
Noorjah’s Samosas

In a large, heavy skillet, cook the ground beef, adding the citric acid and breaking up any lumps. Add all the spices and continue cooking until meat is cooked through. Remove from heat and drain any fat on paper towels. Stir in the onions and cilantro.
In a small dish, stir together the flour and water to form a paste. Fill and fold the samosas. (Note: if you don’t know how to do this, Google it for visuals. Generally you want to fold over the end of a strip of wrapper to form a triangle, form it again to form a pocket, fill the pocket, then keep folding, maintaining the triangle shape, to the end of the wrapper. Use the paste to seal it closed and fill any holes in the tips of the three corners.
In a medium heavy pot, heat a couple inches of oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Fry a few at a time, without crowding the pot, flipping as necessary as they turn brown. Remove with tongs or a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Serve warm.
Ingredients
Directions
In a large, heavy skillet, cook the ground beef, adding the citric acid and breaking up any lumps. Add all the spices and continue cooking until meat is cooked through. Remove from heat and drain any fat on paper towels. Stir in the onions and cilantro.
In a small dish, stir together the flour and water to form a paste. Fill and fold the samosas. (Note: if you don’t know how to do this, Google it for visuals. Generally you want to fold over the end of a strip of wrapper to form a triangle, form it again to form a pocket, fill the pocket, then keep folding, maintaining the triangle shape, to the end of the wrapper. Use the paste to seal it closed and fill any holes in the tips of the three corners.
In a medium heavy pot, heat a couple inches of oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Fry a few at a time, without crowding the pot, flipping as necessary as they turn brown. Remove with tongs or a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Serve warm.
Julie, I remember hearing you talk about this on the Eye Opener and I am thrilled to see the recipe! Thanks for sharing. I have to say, the last 4-5 posts have been outlandishly amazing…
These samosas look scrumptious! Just curious, what kind of chutney accompanies them? Perhaps Noorjah could be persuaded to share that too? Thanks for all the updates from New York.
Thank you so much for these! 🙂
I must try them. Samosas are one of my favourite snacks.
D)
Laurie
I will haver to try this soon, it looks like it could render all restaurant samosas obsolete.
Another way to find citric acid is in the Kosher food section where it would be called sour salt. They also sell it at King Arthur Flour and sometimes in the canning section as it can be used to acidify tomatoes when canning.
-Robin
Of course, you know Naheed is saying “I’ve known Julie forever …” Celebrity is in the eye of the beholder …
can these be baked, i realize that the yummy taste of fried would be lost, but oh those calories! does 350 degrees for about 20 mins sound good?
Hi Julie – I met Naheed last night at a UofC function. What a great guy. I forgot to mention to him that I was planning on making this recipe this weekend!
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