Coming all the way from India to the Arab world, meat samosas are a side dish accompanying the main course during most meals at which they are served, but during Ramadan, the pastry is a staple dish on the iftar table.
Although the samosa was originally triangular and deep fried, it can now be cooked in various ways, including by being air-fried or baked, and is made in different shapes like squares and semi-circles.
While there are many stories of how and when samosas arrived in the region, the most famous and unanimously agreed-on story is that about a century ago, Hadrami merchants brought the golden, crunchy triangles from India to Yemen during the English colonization of the two countries, and then, to the rest of the Arabian Peninsula through commerce, or traveling for Hajj and Umrah.
The price of a samosa in a market goes up during Ramadan because of its high demand, not to mention the huge variation in shapes and fillings. Meat samosas are by far the most popular on the iftar table, followed by cheese samosas and vegetable samosas.
Here’s how you can make this simple dish:
To make the tasty meat samosa, you need to have 300g of minced lamb meat, 1½ tbsp of pine nuts, 1 tbsp chopped coriander, 1 tbsp chopped parsley, 7 spice, salt, pepper, flour and water paste, samosa pastry sheets, and frying oil.
Put the meat in a pan and fry until the meat turns brown, then add the spices, salt, pepper, pine nuts, and coriander and mix well. Let the meat cool down before filling the samosa.
Fold the wrapping sheet into a cone and add the meat, then fold it into a triangle and close it with the paste. After you are done filling and folding all the samosas, fry them on medium-high heat until they turn golden brown, and serve them on the iftar table.
Ramadan Recipes: Meat Samosa
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Ramadan Recipes: Meat Samosa
- The price of a samosa in a market goes up during Ramadan because of its high demand, not to mention the huge variation in shapes and fillings
Mini op-ed: Recognising a shift in how people relate to wellness, self-care
DUBAI: I have spent nearly a decade working in the beauty industry in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and Ramadan always has a way of prompting change; in habits, in priorities, and in the routines people have been carrying without question. Speaking from my own corner of the industry, one of these habits is often hair removal.
Saudi Arabia’s beauty and personal care market was valued at about $7.56 billion in 2025 and is set to grow to an estimated $8.03 billion in 2026. Within that growth, personal care encompassing the daily (sometimes unglamorous) routines hold the largest share. But market size alone does not tell the full story. A study conducted at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, found that three quarters of Saudi women experienced complications from temporary hair removal methods, including skin irritation, in-grown hairs and hyperpigmentation. A separate 2025 study published in the Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences found that laser hair removal was both the most considered and most commonly undergone cosmetic procedure among Saudi respondents, yet dissatisfaction with cosmetic procedure outcomes was reported by nearly half of all participants. The numbers point to a gap not in demand, but in results.
When I launched a specialized electrolysis practice in the UAE in 2016, it was with a clear gap in mind; safe, regulated, permanent hair removal for the region’s specific needs. The range of hair types here and the prevalence of conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, demanded a method that works across all of them. Electrolysis is the only method recognized by the US Food and Drug Administration and American Marketing Association as achieving true permanent results, regardless of hair color or type.
Despite this, awareness in Saudi Arabia remains limited. Part of this is familiarity, laser has dominated the conversation for years, and electrolysis, which requires more sessions and a licensed electrologist’s precision, has struggled to break through. Part of it is education. Many clients who come to us have never heard of electrolysis; they come because they have exhausted everything else.
Right now, Saudi Arabia is in the middle of a genuine transformation in how people relate to wellness and self-care. The beauty market is maturing, consumers are asking harder questions of the brands they choose and Vision 2030 has not just shaped the economy, it has shaped how Saudis are showing up in their own lives. In that context, the idea of choosing permanence over repetition lands differently.
Mariela Marcantetti is a beauty industry entrepreneur based between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
