Easy Recipe For Sambusa Central Asian pastry

Good evening Steemians!
Today I will talk about another great traditional food of central Asians Sambusa. This sambusa recipe is in the top 3 recipes in my recipe book. I could make this sambusa every day if I had the time, and no one in my family would object. It’s that good. Flaky shells are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The meat filling is nicely textured, juicy and flavorful. Make sure to make the full batch – these puppies have a tendency to magically vanish in the blink of an eye
This recipe was inspired by the traditional sambusa (also called samsa) made in Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries. The difference is that it’s a lot less fatty and is baked in the kitchen oven instead of the wood fired tandir oven.

I tried the authentic tandir oven baked sambusa, flavored with smoke, and it was heavenly. I’d been experimenting for quite some time trying to create something similar in my kitchen, until I came up with something slightly different, but it was 100% percent to my satisfaction. It’s superb. I will even go as far as to say that I actually prefer this one to the traditional sambusa. An oven baked pastry sambusa can made with various fillings such as meat, pumpkin, potato if you prefer vegetables.

Cook Time: 30 min
Prep Time: 40 min

INGREDIENTS

200 ml warm water
1 egg
50 grams softened butter
50 ml sunflower oil
1/2 tsp salt
450-500 grams plain flour

For Filling
350 grams of beef rump steak with fat
250 grams (2-3 medium) onions
a bunch of fresh coriander, finely chopped
2 tsp cumin seeds
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp melted beef dripping, for brushing
nigella seeds to sprinkle.

Instructions

1. For pastry -- combine all ingredients except for the flour.
2. Gradually add the flour and knead a non-sticky dough.
3. Cut into 3 even parts, cover with a kitchen towel and leave to rest for ~30 minutes.
4. For filling -- cut the meat and fat in very small pieces using a meat-chopper, alternatively use a knife.
5. Finely chop the onions. This can be done using the chopper as well.
6. Combine the meat, fat, onions, chopped coriander and cumin seeds. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Roll each part of the dough into a very thin sheet.
8. Brush top of the first sheet with a melted beef dripping, wait 10-15 seconds until it is dry then cover with the second sheet.
9. Brush again, cover with the last sheet and then brush again.
10. Roll together all three layers of dough into a big sausage. Cut into 2-2.5 cm pieces.
11. Roll each piece ~2-2.5 mm. Place the filling in the middle, fold in edges to make a triangle and place on a parchment with a seam down.
12. Scatter over the nigella seeds.
13. Bake in a preheated to 200C oven / tandir for ~30 minutes.

If you try this recipe I hope you’ll come back to leave a comment and tell me what you think!