Lukhmi

A flat square pastry whose dough is made with yoghurt instead of water.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

300 g maida, plain white flour
150 ml plain yoghurt
4 tablespoons ghee, for the dough
1 teaspoon salt
500 g minced mutton
2 onions, chopped fine
3 tablespoons ginger and garlic paste
3 green chillies, chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, for the filling
a handful of coriander leaves
2 tablespoons lime juice
oil for deep frying

Method

THE DOUGH IS MADE WITH YOGHURT INSTEAD OF WATER, AND THE PASTRY IS A FLAT SQUARE. Its article gives three ingredients -- MINCE MEAT (QEEMA), FLOUR AND YOGURT -- and then one instruction: PREPARE THE DOUGH IN YOGURT, MIXING IT THOROUGHLY UNTIL IT BECOMES VERY SMOOTH, AND STUFF IT WITH MINCED MEAT. No water anywhere. And the shape is stated as a fact about the thing: THE LUQMI IS A FLAT SQUARE PASTRY.
WHICH IS WHAT SEPARATES IT FROM A SAMOSA. A samosa's pastry is maida, ghee and water, folded into a triangle or a tetrahedron, as on its own page. This is maida, ghee and yoghurt, rolled and cut into squares. The yoghurt makes a shorter, softer pastry that blisters rather than going glassy.
ITS NAME IS THE SIZE. The article takes luqmi from LOQMA OR MORSEL IN ARABIC -- one mouthful, which is why the squares are small.
MIX THE DOUGH UNTIL IT IS GENUINELY SMOOTH, AND REST IT AN HOUR. The article's emphasis is on the mixing: THOROUGHLY, UNTIL IT BECOMES VERY SMOOTH. Rub the ghee in first, then bring it together with the yoghurt and knead it ten minutes.
COOK THE MINCE UNTIL IT IS COMPLETELY DRY. Onions, ginger and garlic, then the mince broken up small, then the ground spices, then twenty minutes until the fat separates and there is no liquid left. Lime and coriander off the heat. Cool it completely.
ROLL THE DOUGH THIN AND CUT IT INTO SQUARES. Two sheets, about two millimetres, cut into ten-centimetre squares. Filling on half of them, a second square on top, edges pressed and then crimped with a fork.
SEAL THE EDGES PROPERLY AND PRICK THE TOPS ONCE. An unsealed lukhmi fills with oil. A single prick lets the steam out without opening the seam.
FRY THEM AT A MEDIUM HEAT UNTIL PALE GOLD, AND SERVE THEM AS A STARTER. Four or five minutes, turning once. Its article notes kheemey-ki-luqmi is still served as a starter at Hyderabadi weddings and celebrations.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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