Ready to make some Paleo Curried Meat Pies—a.k.a. better-for-you grain-free and gluten-free hot pockets?
Longtime Nomsters know that I don’t publish a lot of paleo baking recipes—mostly because I know I’ll gobble up all my test batches with abandon. But once I’ve tasted something that I really, really, really want to make grain-free, I’ll make a rare exception to my no-baking rule. And then, I go nuts, experimenting over and over again ’til I crack the code.
One of the dishes that have gotten this treatment is my mom’s curried meat pies. When I was a kid, my mom used to bake up these buttery hand pies stuffed with a fragrant, curried ground beef filling. These portable pies were my first introduction to fusion food—flaky and savory pastries filled with Indian curry-spiced meat by way of a Chinese mommy. This type of melting pot cuisine is totally my jam.
If you’ve been checking out my Instagram Stories, you know I’ve been experimenting for weeks. Now, at long last, I think I’ve succeeded in creating a portable meat pie that’s both reminiscent of my mom’s, but also completely nut-free and grain-free. These unfussy hand pies are a breeze to throw together—especially when stuffed with leftover Spiced Keema. Sure, they’re pretty rustic looking (a.k.a. kinda ugly), but that’s part of their charm!
No leftover Spiced Keema? I’ve filled these pies with leftover Pot Sticker Stir-Fry, Instant Pot Spicy Pineapple Pork, and basically whatever leftover cooked protein I had sitting in my fridge. You can make a variety of homemade hot pockets with whatever you have on hand as long as the filling isn’t too wet. These pies freeze and reheat well, too, so you can make them ahead and stock ’em in your freezer.
P.S.—I’ll say it again: I’m no paleo baking expert, so before you ask, let me just tell you now that I have no idea what happens if you decide to substitute another flour for the cassava flour or arrowroot flour. If you successfully experiment with other flours or fats, please let us all know in the comments so we can benefit from your baking prowess!
Time to make Paleo Curried Meat Pies!
Makes 18 pies
Ingredients:
- 2 cups (256 grams) cassava flour
- ½ cup (64 grams) arrowroot starch/flour
- 1½ teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¾ cup (168 grams) ghee, softened but not liquid
- 3 large eggs, divided
- ½ cup room temperature water, more if needed
- 1½ cups leftover Deconstructed Samosa (Spiced Keema)
Equipment:
- Large bowl
- Whisk
- Measuring spoons
- Liquid measuring cup
- Dry measuring cups
- Scale (optional)
- Rolling dowel
- 4½-inch round stainless steel cutter
- Dough scraper (optional)
- Two rimmed baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Pastry brush
- Stainless steel wire rack
Method:
Preheat the oven to 400° F with the rack in the middle position. Measure out the cassava flour, arrowroot powder, kosher salt, and ground turmeric into a large bowl.
Whisk to combine.
Add the ghee and two eggs to the dry mixture.
Mix well with your hands until the dough is crumbly and the the ghee and egg are well incorporated.
Slowly add the water a little at a time, and knead well until a pliable dough forms.
If the dough feels too sticky, you can add a little more cassava flour. Conversely, if it feels too dry and crumbly, add a little more water, kneading in a few drops at a time. If the dough feels overly soft and delicate, cover it in a bowl and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes so you can work with it more easily.
Dust your work surface with cassava flour. Next, grab a rolling pin and roll out the dough so that it’s about ⅛-inch thick. The dough can be a little sticky, so feel free to roll the dough between two pieces of parchment paper or plastic wrap. (A dough scraper can also be very helpful in pulling the dough off the work surface.)
Use a 4½-inch round stainless steel cutter to punch out the dough rounds.
Gather up the dough outside the circle cut-outs, and use it to form another ball of dough. Roll out this dough ball to ⅛-inch thickness, and punch out more dough rounds.
Repeat until you can’t form any more rounds. You should end up with about 18 dough rounds.
Add 2 tablespoons of chilled leftover Spiced Keema…
…to each circle of dough. Fold the dough over the top and pinch the edges together with your fingers. Don’t overfill the pies or you won’t be able to seal them! Arrange the meat pies on two rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper, making sure they’re evenly spaced.
Whisk the remaining egg in a small bowl…
…and brush the egg wash over the top of the meat pies on one (not both!) of the trays. Use a sharp paring knife to cut three slits on the top of each pie. Cover the other tray of pies with plastic wrap or a clean towel—you don’t want the pies to dry out while the other tray is in the oven.
Pop the first tray of pies (the ones with the egg wash applied) in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the tray 180° and bake for 10-15 minutes more or until the tops are golden brown.
Place the pies on a wire rack to cool to room temperature (or, at the very least, to a temperature that won’t burn off the roof of your mouth).
Right before the second batch of pies goes in the oven, brush on the egg wash, and cut three slits into each pie. Bake off the remaining pies per the instructions above and…voila!
You can keep these hand pies in a sealed container in the fridge for about 4 days or freeze them for up to 4 months. They can be reheated in a toaster oven set to 350°F for about 8-10 minutes from the fridge, or 10-15 minutes straight from the freezer.
Heat ’em up and take them with you!
Now, who’s ready to make some paleo hot pockets?
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Paleo Curried Meat Pies
Ingredients
- 2 cups cassava flour
- ½ cup arrowroot powder
- 1½ teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¾ cup ghee softened
- 3 large eggs divided
- ½ cup room temperature water more if needed
- 1½ cups Deconstructed Samosa (Spiced Keema)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F with the rack in the middle position. Measure out the cassava flour, arrowroot powder, kosher salt, and ground turmeric into a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Add the ghee and two eggs to the dry mixture. Mix well with your hands until the dough is crumbly and the the ghee and egg are well incorporated.
- Slowly add the water a little at a time, and knead well until a pliable dough forms. If the dough feels too sticky, you can add a little more cassava flour. Conversely, if it feels too dry and crumbly, add a little more water, kneading in a few drops at a time. If the dough feels overly soft and delicate, cover it in a bowl and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes so you can work with it more easily.
- Dust the work surface with cassava flour. Next, grab a rolling pin and roll out the dough so that it’s about ⅛-inch thick. The dough can be a little sticky, so feel free to roll the dough between two pieces of parchment paper or plastic wrap. (A can also be very helpful in pulling the dough off the work surface.)
- Use a 4½-inch round stainless steel cutter to punch out the dough rounds.
- Gather up the dough outside the circle cut-outs, and use it to form another ball of dough. Roll out this dough ball to ⅛-inch thickness, and punch out more dough rounds. Repeat until you can’t form any more rounds. You should end up with about 18 dough rounds.
- Add 2 tablespoons of chilled leftover Spiced Keema to each circle of dough. Fold the dough over the top and pinch the edges together with your fingers. Don’t overfill the pies or you won’t be able to seal them! Arrange the meat pies on two rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper, making sure they’re evenly spaced.
- Whisk the remaining egg in a small bowl and brush the egg wash over the top of the meat pies on one (not both!) of the trays. Use a sharp paring knife to cut three slits on the top of each pie. Cover the other tray of pies with plastic wrap or a clean towel—you don’t want the pies to dry out while the other tray is in the oven.
- Pop the first tray of pies (the ones with the egg wash applied) in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the tray 180° and bake for 10-15 minutes more or until the tops are golden brown.
- Place the pies on a wire rack to cool to room temperature (or, at the very least, to a temperature that won’t burn off the roof of your mouth).
- Right before the second batch of pies goes in the oven, brush on the egg wash, and cut three slits into each pie. Bake off the remaining pies per the instructions above and…voila!
- You can keep these hand pies in a sealed container in the fridge for about 4 days or freeze them for up to 4 months. They can be reheated in a toaster oven set to 350°F for about 8-10 minutes from the fridge, or 10-15 minutes straight from the freezer.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Perfect! Made this tonight, using leftover carnitas and taco meat to make two flavors. BIG timesaver: I used a small cookie scoop for the dough and just pressed them flat in my tortilla press (between two sheets of plastic wrap to help against sticking and make filling/folding easy). No rolling, cutting, shaping, scraping, etc. Only needed a few tablespoons of water, as we live in a very humid climate. Even made two with Dalfour Strawberry jam as a tiny treat! Came out like cute little pop tarts.
I rolled out the individual dough balls, then filled them, and used the parchment to fold the dough over.