Meat pie

  Meat pie is a pie with a filling of meat and/or other savory ingredients. They are popular in United Kingdom, Nigeria, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa. 

   Nigerian meat pie is a delicious snack filled with vegetables [usually potatoes and carrots] and minced meat. The Nigerian meat pie is often confused with Spanish Enpanadas, these two snacks have similar shapes,  but the process of preparation and the fillings used for both snacks differs a lot.

                   Nigeria Meat pie filling Ingredients

300g of minced meat [ground beef]

3 medium-sized carrots

2 medium-sized irish potatoes

1 cooking spoonful of vegetable oil

seasoning of choice [but preferably]__bouillon cubes [maggi cube], 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

    Preparing ingredients for the Nigerian meat pie.

1.Grind or mince the meat

2.Wash and scrape the carrot, peel the irish potato, rinse these vegetables [carrots and 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 minced meat to the pot and stir well till the minced meat looses its pink colour.

     Now, add 1 cup of water to the pot, add the stock cube, thyme and curry. Cover the pot and leave it 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.

Tips: The 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, and here are the ingredients required
4 cups flour
3 sticks margarine
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of water
* Break an egg, beat it and set aside foe later use.
* Grease the oven tray that you will be using; do this by rubbing a little margarine inside the tray. This helps to prevent the meat pie from burning.. You can also make use of baking sheets.
   Put the 4 cups 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.
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 170 degrees 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 desired size.
Remove the excess dough, and then scoop some of the meat pie filling and place in the centre 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. 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 onto 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. It helps to give the meat pie a golden sheen.
Place the meat pies in the preheated oven and leave to bake for 35 minutes or until the meat pie is lightly browned.
The meat pies are ready when they are lightly brown.