Sambusa recipe

Somali sambuus are triangles of paper-thin layered pastry, rolled into a cone and filled with dry beef spiced with xawaash, raw onion, green chili and cilantro, then deep-fried.

1 hour and 45 minutesmedium11 ingredients

Ingredients

• 450 g ground beef
• 300 g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp xawaash spice blend
• 1 red onion
• 1 green chili
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 2 clove garlic
• 0.25 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 750 ml vegetable oil
• 200 ml water

How to make Sambusa

1. Mix 300 g flour, 1/1 tsp salt and 2 tbsp oil, then add about 200 ml water little by little and knead 5 to 10 minutes into a smooth, soft dough. Cover and rest 15 minutes.
2. Cook 450 g ground beef in a dry pan over medium heat with 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 tsp xawaash (a toasted, ground blend of cumin, coriander seed, cardamom, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves and turmeric), 1/1 tsp black pepper and 3/4 tsp salt, breaking it up, until every drop of liquid has evaporated: the filling must be dry. Let it cool completely.
3. Stir 1 finely diced red onion, 1 chopped green chili and a large handful of chopped cilantro into the cooled meat.
4. Divide the dough into 6 balls and roll each into a 20 cm disc. Stack the discs, smearing a little oil and dusting flour between each layer, press the edges together and roll the stack out to 30 cm.
5. Cook the stack in a dry pan over medium heat for 2 minutes, flip and cook 1 more minute without browning. Cut it into quarters and peel the layers apart while still warm: you get 24 thin sheets. Keep them under a cloth.
6. Mix 2 tbsp flour with 2 tbsp water into a glue. Hold a sheet with the right angle toward you, roll it into a cone and seal the seam with the glue, fill it with a heaped spoonful of filling, then fold the top flap over and glue it shut into a tight triangle.
7. Deep-fry the sambuus in oil at 175 °C for about 3 minutes per side until golden and blistered, drain on paper towels and eat warm.

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