Melton's samosa king enters pie awards for first time

Keran Turakhia founded his Samosa Wallah brand back in 2017 and his tasty treats have been devoured by customers ever since, going down particularly well at the town’s annual East Midlands Food Festival.

For years he has lobbied the organisers of the pie awards, which are being held again this week at St Mary’s Church in his home town of Melton Mowbray.

Traditionally, samosas have been excluded from pie competitions because they are fried, and competition rules require pies to be baked.

To meet the technical criteria, the brand has this year introduced a Samosa Wallah Baked - featuring the same signature fillings, but encased in pastry designed specifically for baking.

It will be judged tomorrow alongside more than 1,000 entries from across the nation and Keran is dreaming of scooping the coveted Supreme Champion prize when the trophies are presented back at St Mary’s on Friday.

On his battle to have his samosas accepted into the competition, Keran said: “We’ve been asking the same question for years.

“People eat two samosas for lunch, just like a pie.

“They eat them for tea, just like a pie. So why aren’t they treated like one?”

Being entered in the pie awards challenges long-held assumptions about how samosas are positioned in the UK.

Often marketed as Indian restaurant starters, samosas are, in fact, traditionally eaten on their own as a snack or light meal.

“Samosas aren’t just starters when eating Indian,” Keran added.

“They’re a genuine pie alternative.”

The baked version is also lower in oil and fat, offering what the company describes as a lighter but an equally ‘very, very tastee’ option.

He added: “The samosa predates many British pie traditions.

“It’s portable, pastry-wrapped, filled, and eaten as a meal. In practical terms, it functions exactly like a pie.”

Another local piemaker – Brockleby’s Pies – is hoping for more success in this week’s British Pie Awards after winning the Supreme Champion trophy three years ago with its delicious Moo & Blue Pie.

That pie is entered again this year, along with the company’s Kiwi, Maharaja Chicken and Ali Baa Baa pies.

The pie awards coincides with British Pie Week and to celebrate it, Brockleby’s Pies will be hosting its second pie-eating contest on Saturday, from 11am.

The winner will get a £300 prize for eating a pie in the quickest time – the event will be held at the company’s shop in Church Street which was opened in October.

The Plough Inn, at Hickling Basin, has entered nine pies into this year’s British Pie Awards, hoping to build on last year’s success in multiple categories.

Its mother and daughter team, Tara and Shannon, are returning to compete once again in the Pub Pie category, alongside additional entries in the Fusion and Vegetarian classes.

All of their pies are hand-made on site at pub, with Tara and Shannon and over the past year they have become a defining feature of the menu, regularly selling out and drawing customers specifically for pie nights.

The pub is offering special pie promotions this week and hosting a new pie challenge involving eating six pies in one sitting.