#GreenFood : How To Make Nigerian Meat Pie Recipe

   Nigerian Meat Pie is a delicious  snack, filled with vegetables (usually potatoes;carrots) and minced meat.
 This is one of the
sought after snack in any festive gathering.

   The Nigerian meat pie is often
confused with the Spanish Enpanadas, these two snacks have similar shapes, but
the process of preparation  and the fillings
used for both snacks,differs a lot.

   Here’s a detailed recipe and
video showing you how to make the perfect Nigerian Meat pie..enjoy.

Note: The process might look lengthy, but is really isn't , so don't be discouraged *wink, wink*

Nigerian Meat Pie Ingredients:

Nigerian Meat Pie Filling:

• 300g of minced meat (ground beef)

• 1 medium-sized onion

• 1 little garlic/garlic powder(optional)

• 3 medium-sized carrots

• 2 medium-sized Irish potatoes

• 1 cooking spoonful of Vegetable Oil

• Seasoning of choice (but preferably)- bouillon cubes(Maggi / Knorr
cubes),a teaspoon of thyme, a teaspoon of curry

• 2 tablespoons of plain flour(to make a binder)

• Cool water -- 200ml(more or less)

• Salt -- to taste

Nigerian Meat Pie Dough:

• 500 grams Plain Flour

• 250grams Margarine  

• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder (leveled)

• 3\4 teaspoon(a big pinch) of Salt 

• about 75 ml Cool Water (or as needed to get a stiff dough)

 Preparing ingredients for the Nigerian
Meat pie :

**Grind or mince the meat, if
you haven’t done that yet.

**Chop or mince the onions
and set aside

**Wash and Scrape the
carrots,Peel the Irish potatoes, rinse these vegetables(carrot&potatoes)and
cut into very tiny cubes.

Directions for making Nigerian Meat Pie

*First step is to prepare the Meat Pie Filling:

    Heat up the oil on medium
heat.Then add the chopped onions and garlic (garlic is optional), stir fry a bit; add the minced meat to the
pot and stir well till the minced meat looses
its pink color.  


  Now, Add 1 cup of water to
the pot, add the stock cube,thyme and curry. Cover the pot and leave
to boil for about 10 minutes.

    After 10 minutes, add the diced
potatoes,carrots,salt to taste and leave to cook until the vegetables are done.

   Then, dissolve 2
tablespoonful of the plain flour in half cup of cold water . 

   Mix thoroughly
and add the mixture to the meat pie filling in the pot, stir well to get until well incorporated, put off
the heat and leave to cool .

Tip: This flour mixture helps to bind the
filling together and retain the moisture of the meat pie filling when baking. You can use cheese as an alternative.

           The second Step is to prepare
the dough

** Break an egg, beat it and set aside for later use 

** Grease the oven tray that you'll be using; Do this by rubbing a little margarine inside the tray. 

This helps to prevent the meat pies from
burning.You can also make use of baking sheets.
 



*  Put the 500g of flour into a big bowl; add 1 teaspoon of baking powder and a big pinch of salt.Mix well.

* Add the margarine (you can melt the margarine,
to make mixing easier) and mix thoroughly until the mixture looks more like
bread crumbs or sifted garri. 

* Now, gradually add a little water and keep on mixing until you get
a stiff dough. 

* Knead the dough until smooth and leave  to rest for 5 minutes, then place on a lightly
floured surface.

At this stage you can Preheat the oven at 335°F or 170°C and continue with the meat pies.

 * Using a rolling pin, roll the dough on the table, it shouldn’t
be too flat or too thick.

 * With a circular shaped
cutter, cut out some circles; You can make use of any clean object you have, to
get your desired size.(I made use of a bowl *wink* ). 

* Remove the excess dough, and
then scoop some of the meat pie filling and place in the
center of the circular cut dough. Don’t add a lot of filling, so that your meat
pie won't look bumpy at the top.

* Now rub the whisked egg, on
the edges of the dough you are working with. In place of the egg, you can make
use of flour & water mix.This will
prevent the meat pie from bursting open while in the oven.

 * The next step is to fold one side of the
circular dough to join the other part, to form a semicircle. 
Use a fork to press the edges tight and give the meat pie its unique design.

    Now transfer unto the greased  tray and repeat this process for the remaining circles.

* When all the meat pies are
folded, rub the whisked egg on the surface of the meat pies.The egg helps to
give the meat pie a golden sheen, but this is optional.

* Place the Meat pies in the preheated
oven and leave to bake for 35 minutes Or until the meat pies are lightly browned.
You can check it from time to time, if you are not sure of the temperature of
your oven.

    The Nigerian Meat pies are ready when they are lightly brown..Enjoy.

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