samsa
Samsa
On market days in Talas my mother held my hand tight through the crowds, and we always followed the smoke to the tandoor in the corner of the bazaar. The baker slapped the samsa onto the hot clay wall and lifted them off blistered and golden, and we shared one, burning our fingers, before we bought a single vegetable.
At home a hot oven works beautifully. My mother’s secret was to chop the meat by knife, never mince it, and to be generous with the onion. Her other secret was to eat the first one standing at the counter.
Ingredients servings
- Dough
- 500 gplain flour
- 250 mlcold water
- 1 tspsalt
- 100 gsoft butter
- Filling
- 500 glamb shoulder with its fat, chopped into 5 mm dice
- 3 onions, finely chopped
- 2 tspcumin seed
- 1 tspblack pepper
- 1.5 tspsalt
- To finish
- 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tbspblack or white sesame seeds
Method
- Mix the flour, water and salt into a firm dough. Knead 10 minutes, cover and rest 30 minutes.
- Roll it out as thin as you can into a large rectangle. Spread with the soft butter, roll up tightly into a long log, wrap and chill 30 minutes.
- Mix all the filling ingredients well with your hands.
- Cut the log into 12 rounds. Stand each cut side up and press and roll it into a 12 cm circle, thinner at the edges.
- Put a heaped spoon of filling in the middle. Fold three sides in to make a triangle and pinch the seams firmly. Place seam-side down on a lined tray.
- Brush with egg, sprinkle with sesame and bake at 220 °C for 25–30 minutes until deep golden. Eat hot.
From my kitchenPumpkin samsa is the autumn version: swap the meat for diced pumpkin, keep the onion, and add a little extra butter.
With love from my kitchen to yours,Jibek
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