Farmaas - Traditional Mince Wheels

When I think about farmaas, I think about a savory egg dipped swiss roll. It is not as flashy in South Africa, like the usual samoosas and pies but are also a great treat after a long day of fasting and even great to keep on hand for your kids for lunch.

I am still unclear of the exact origins of this snack. I understand that it is really an ancient recipe, enjoyed by people all around South Asia. This recipe was passed on from my grandmother to my mom, who taught me. I taught my kids, my son loves the recipe because it feels like he is creating an art project rather than actually cooking.

This is a delicious traditional snack and an absolute favorite of mine. It is a must have during Ramadaan. Preparation time is not too long, it is best served fresh, but it also okay if you eat it cold and even if you heat it up in the microwave.

As most snacks, there are multiple ways of making this. The best part for me is that all the ingredients I used in South Africa are readily available in the Netherlands.

As a disclaimer, I cannot make enough snacks because I have limited fridge and freezer storage. Whereas in South Africa, I enjoyed the pleasure of "American Style" Fridge with a chest freezer, I am now limited to a single door fridge and freezer combo. So I usually prepare smaller batches more frequently. Feel free to add more to the below to suit your needs, in total I was only able to make 3 rolls from the ingredients.

I hope you enjoy.

South African Ingredients

• 1/2 onion

• A tablespoon of freshly cut chilli

• 1 tablespoon of ghee or oil

• 300g of mince (chicken or meat or even vegan if you like)

• 5 garlic cloves

• A few coriander leaves

• 1 teaspoon of crushed ginger

• 1 teaspoon of salt

• 1 teaspoon of pepper

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

• 3/4 teaspoon of jeera powder

• 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala

• 1 teaspoon of paprika or any masala of your choice

• 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes

• 150 g of sour cream

• 2 eggs to prepare wheels

• 30 sheets of Springroll Pastry

• 1 egg for dipping when prepared

Netherlands Ingredients:

• 1/2 onion

• A tablespoon of freshly cut chilli

• 1 tablespoon of ghee or oil

• 300g of mince (chicken or meat or even vegan if you like)

• 5 garlic cloves

• A few stems of Koriander

• 1 teaspoon of crushed ginger

• 1 teaspoon of salt

• 1 teaspoon of pepper

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

• 3/4 teaspoon of jeera powder

• 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala

• 1 teaspoon of paprika or any masala of your choice

• 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes

• 150 g of sour cream

• 2 eggs to prepare wheels

• 30 sheets of Springroll Pastry

• 1 egg for dipping when prepared

Key fresh ingredients when preparing Farmaas

Instructions:

1. In a pan freshly add oil with onion and chopped up chilli, braise this until it is light brown as shown in the picture below.

   

   Onion and chili braised lightly in a pan

   
   

2. Add in your mince and start lightly mixing it around so that it cooks through properly. You can see in the image below for this I have used chicken mince, which requires a bit more effort cooking than meat.

   

   Chicken mince in the early stages of cooking

   
   

3. Add the garlic, ginger and all spices to the mince meat before once it started cooking but when it is already cooked. This way you can still mix the spice in the ingredients well. Add the coriander to the mixture as well.

   

   Half cooked chicken mince with added spices and coriander

   
   

4. Cook thoroughly for another 10 minutes until you can see that the mince is soft and also without any water in the mixture.

5. Once cooked, it is important to leave the filling to fully cool down, this is usually about an hour or so before you start preparing the farmaas.

6. Once your mince has cooled, you need to the eggs and sour cream to a bowl, mix this well. I have included a picture for you to see the consistency.

   

   Mixture of sour cream and eggs

7. Take your spring roll pastry and brush a layer of your egg and sour cream mix over one layer of pastry.

8. Add another layer of pastry, and then add brush your egg mixture, it is important to do this double layer at the beginning only.

   

   Two layers of spring roll pastry with a spread of the sour cream and egg mixture

9. Sprinkle some of your cooled mince over the pastry.

   

   Spread of mince on pastry to show the amount that needs to be spread.

10. Add a layer of pastry, and then the egg mixture and then the mince 8 more 7 more times. 7 times is my preference, but you can also add more or less depending on your needs.

    

    Roll of farmaas being prepared

11. Roll all layers into a swiss roll. At this point you can wrap them up in foil and store each roll in your freezer for when you need them.

12. Prepare a bowl of beaten eggs

13. Cut the roll into 8 slices, dip it in the beaten egg and fry it until golden brown.

Variations:

Changes in mince (ground) meat used

In this recipe, I have added in chicken mince to the recipe, but I use beef mince also. To be honest, I actually prefer the meaty taste.

Dairy Options

The original recipe calls for full cream mixed with eggs as the mixture for the pastry, however, I prefer the sour cream flavor.

Of course, for vegans you can always substitute this for a vegan friendly alternative.

Hope you enjoy it!