When mixing the flour in water (for the filling thickener), add the flour to a small quantity of water first then add the remaining water later to avoid lumps. br br Nigerian Meat Pie Ingredients: br br Nigerian Meat Pie Dough: br •Plain Flour -- 1 Kg br •Baking Powder -- 1 teaspoon br •Margarine -- 500g br •Salt -- 2 pinches br •Cold Water - ½ cup | 125 ml | 4.2 oz br br Nigerian Meat Pie Filling: br •2 medium-sized Irish potatoes br •2 medium-sized carrots br •500g of minced meat (ground beef) br •1 medium-sized onion br •1 cooking spoon of Vegetable Oil br •Seasoning - 2 Maggi Knorr cubes and 1 teaspoon of thyme br •2 tablespoons of plain flour br •Cold water -- 1 cup | 250 ml | 8.4 oz br •Salt -- to taste br br Ornamental br •1 egg (for rubbing on the pies) br br If your meatpie is too hard, it may be because of any or a combination of some of the following: br br 1. Your oven temperature was too high. The oven temperature should be 170C or 335F br 2. You baked it for too long. Once the meatpie is light brown, it is done. And don't leave it inside the hot oven when done because it will continue to dry up even though you've turned the oven off. br 3 . You did not use enough margarine. It is 500g of margarine for every 1Kg of all purpose flour (plain flour).