I'm happy to share with you our family recipe for baked samosas. You can make these with beef or chicken. I will also post a vegetarian take on these as well. This is our go to recipe for samosas and we love how these turn out baked, especially in the T-Fal Actifry. Since we bake our samosas and use extra lean meat, these are quite healthy and low in calories.

Ingredients:
Samosa Wrappers - we don't make these at home out of convenience. You can buy them locally.
2 pounds extra lean beef or chicken
2 chopped white onion
1/2 to 3/4 cup of chopped cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon of ginger
1 tablespoon of garlic
1 tsp of cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of salt
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tsp of crushed green chillies (optional, add more if you like them spicy)
2 tablespoon of olive oil or coconut oil

Paste for closing/sealing the samosas:
2 tablespoons of spelt flour/whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons of water

1) Cook the meat in a pot on medium heat with a little bit of water. Add garlic, ginger, green chillies, salt and pepper while cooking.
2) While meat is cooking, chop your onion and cilantro finely and keep aside.
3) Once meat is browned and cooked, remove from stove and let it cool.

4) Once cooled, add cinnamon powder, chopped onion and cilantro and lemon juice.
5) Make the paste to seal the samosas by mixing flour and water (as per quantity in ingredients list).

6) You are now ready to stuff the wrappers. Start with one wrapper and fold inward diagonally to create a triangle and the fold up to create a little pocket with a top flap to close. Fill with meat mixture to the top. Be careful not to overfill or your samosa may burst as the wrappers are quite thin.
7) Use your paste and apply it to the top of the flap and close the pocket. Voila! Your samosa is ready!

8) Brush some olive oil/coconut oil to the top and bottom of the samosa and bake at 400 degrees F for about 14 min (flip half way) or bake in the T-FAL Actifry (top level if you have the dual level one) until they brown (usually 5 to 7 mins).
9) You can freeze them too and cook when needed. No need to thaw/defrost.

Makes approx: 40-50
Calories per beef samosa just for the filling: 52, Fat: 3g, Carbs: 1g, Fiber: 0g, Sugars: 0g, Protein: 5g, Sodium: 16mg
Calories per chicken samosa just for the filling: 38, Fat: 3g, Carbs: 1g, Fiber: 0g, Sugars: 0g, Protein: 4g, Sodium 19mg

Approx calories for one wrapper: 43, Fat: 1.2g, Carbs: 7g, Fiber: 0.2g, Protein: 0.9g, Sodium: 194mg

This is another traditional East African recipe also known as Khima Chapati (Spiced beef Flatbread). Traditionally you make the dough from scratch and stuff it with spiced beef but in this variation, you can buy spelt or organic wheat tortillas and make the stuffing (spiced beef with egg on top). It makes for a easy, delicious version that can be great as a main entree item or appetizer. Everyone, including the kids love this recipe and it works great for a packed lunch item as well.

Ingredients:
2 pounds of extra lean beef
8-10 spelt or organic wheat tortillas
1 chopped white onion
1/2 cup of chopped cilantro leaves
8 - 10 eggs (mixed)
1 tablespoon of ginger
1 tablespoon of garlic
1 tsp of cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of salt
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tsp of crushed green chillies (optional)

Paste for closing/sealing the tortillas:
2 tablespoons of spelt flour/whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons of water

1) Cook meat with a little bit of water on medium heat.
2) While meat is cooking add ginger, garlic, salt and pepper.
3) After meat is cooked remove from stove and let cool.
4) Add cinnamon to meat while it's cooling.
5) After it has cooled, add chopped onion, cilantro, lemon juice, green chillies (optional) and mix well.
6) Make paste for sealing the tortillas by mixing flour with water. The consistency should be like a glue paste.

7) Take 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the beef (depending on the size of your tortilla) and place in the middle of tortilla.

9) Use the paste and spread on outer edges of tortilla and then wrap the mixture in the middle by folding the sides and then the ends to create a little packet.

10) Lightly brush olive oil or coconut oil onto frying pan and saute your tortilla packet on both sides on low to medium heat until golden brown.

Makes 8 to 10 Manis/Stuffed Tortillas:
Calories per Mani: 357, Fat: 18g, Carbs: 16g, Fiber: 6g, Protein: 28g, Sugars: 1g, Sodium: 217mg

The kids love these! They are quite simple to make and you can vary the taste depending on what you prefer. This is a basic, classic recipe that you can then add to depending on whether you like it spicy or not. We bake ours instead of deep frying them, so they are low in calories and saturated fat.

Ingredients:
1 pound of  extra lean ground beef (you can use ground chicken or turkey instead of beef)
8-10 soft tortillas (spelt, or blue corn & garbanzo or organic whole wheat)
2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 cup of shredded skim mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 tsp of paprika
2 tsp of garlic powder
2 tsp of cumin powder
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp of black pepper
2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro leaves
1 medium chopped red onion

1) Add 1 tablespoon of oil in pan with chopped onion and saute for a few minutes.

2) Add ground beef to pan and cook on medium heat.
3) Add a bit of water to break up the meat.
4) Add all the dry spices (paprika, garlic, pepper, onion powder, cumin, black pepper)
5) Add lemon juice once meat is cooked and browned.
6) Add chopped cilantro.

7) Take a tortilla and split in half and brush a little bit of oil on the top evenly. You can make full sized ones as well. I prefer the smaller size for the kids.
8) Add meat mixture and top with a bit of cheese.
9) This is were the variations come in. You can add guacamole, salsa, jalapeno peppers, beans, rice etc...
10) Roll the half of the tortilla and brush the top with oil.
11) Bake in the oven at 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes and then broil for a couple of minutes to brown.

Enjoy with vegetable soup or salad.
Makes approx. 16 to 20 taquitos
Calories per taquito: 163, Fat: 8g, Carbs: 14g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 9g, Sodium: 169 mg, Sugars: 1g

This, is another recipe from my mom's collection of recipes that turns out delicious and is pretty healthy and gluten free. The best part is that it is pretty simple to make and only requires a handful of key ingredients. It makes a great appetizer!

Ingredients:
2 cups chickpea flour
1.5 cups of warm water
1 egg
1/2 tsp of chopped/crushed garlic
1/2 tsp of chopped/crushed ginger
1 tsp of salt
1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 tsp of red chili powder (optional)
1/2 tsp of chopped green chili peppers (optional)
1 - 2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil

1) Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

2) Add 1/2 cup of batter to a heated frying pan and swirl mixture around with ladle to create a thin layer of mixture.

3) Cook for about a minute or until bubbles appear and then gently flip crepe.

4) Cook for another minute and then slide onto plate.
5) Repeat until you've used up all the mixture.
6) Serve with yogurt or chutney.

 Makes approx. 15 to 20 crepes
Calories per crepe: 72 calories, Fat: 3g, Carbs: 8g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 2g, Sugar: 3g, Sodium: 15mg