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Somali sambusa is a spicy meat mixture folded into a dough pastry and fried. They can be enjoyed in Africa as a snack or an appetizer but they tend to be saved for special occasions.
In supermarkets, these delicious snacks can be bought both frozen, or already fried and ready to eat. Many restaurants also serve them as appetizers.
Sambusa Recipe
This recipe comes from Ilahn Omar, who makes over 100 sambusas each year for Ramadan so that her Muslim friends and relatives have something portable to snack on after sundown. Her trick to being able to put out so many at once? Chinese egg roll wrappers. According to Ms. Omar they taste even better than her homemade dough.
They are fried triangle-shaped pastries with savory fillings, are a popular and tasty snack and they often have spiced ground beef fillings, but vegetarian ones can be found too, with fillings such as lentils, spiced potatoes, and onions.
Sambusa vs Samosa
When I first saw the Somali sambusa, my mind immediately went to Indian samosas. I absolutely love samosas. Sambusa are widely regarded as the African version of the samosa. While they do have some similarities with samosas, they are in fact very, very, different.
SIMILARITIES
- They are both served hot as appetizers or snacks
- Both consist of dough folded around a filling and then fried
- Both burst with flavor from several spices included in their fillings.
DIFFERENCES
The main difference between both are their fillings. Sambusa are filled with a meat and onion mixture while samosa are a vegetarian offering filled with potatoes and peas.
Traditionally, sambusa aren’t accompanied by a sauce while there are several sauces which could accompany samosas. Lastly, the spices inside a sambusa include cumin, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, cloves and cinnamon. Samosa usually contain cumin, chili powder and garam masala.
FAQ’s
What Kind Of Oil Is Best For Frying Sambusa? Can I Save My Used Oil For Later?
There are lots of options when it comes to the oil used for deep frying. Common options include peanut oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, and more. Vegetable oil is the oil I recommend using for deep frying Samosa. It has a high smoke point and once used for frying, can be reused.
Simply let the oil cool down completely, strain it, and return it to a storage container for later use. However, I would personally reuse the oil only once and dispose of it.
How Long To Deep Fry?
A good one should be cooked until crispy and golden brown. This will take about 2 minutes. You will want to keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t burn.
Storage and Reheating
When fried, it is best when it is fresh and the crust is still crispy. Refrigerate cold fried Samosa for three to four days. Make sure the temperature of your refrigerator is set to 40°F (approx. 4.5°C) or colder.
To Freeze, wait till fried samosas are cold, place them in a large, freezer safe container. Seal tightly, and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To Reheat Leftover, for best results, let the frozen Samosa thaw in the refrigerator or on the kitchen countertop. Once thawed, place on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (Approximately 200°C) for 8 to 10 minutes or until heated through and crispy. Alternatively, re-heat in an air fryer for 5 minutes once thawed.
Trying this recipe out at home, it’s easy to see why. The subtly spiced beef filling fries up beautifully in the egg roll wrappers, which brown evenly in just a few minutes with great crackly-tender shells enclosing a juicy, meaty center.
Some suggestions for Amazon links to “DASH Mini Donut Maker”.
Somali Sambusa
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1⅔ cups Luke-warm Water
- 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
Pastry "Glue"
- 3 tbsp. All-Purpose Flour
- 1½ tbsp. Water
Filling
- 1 lb. Ground Beef
- 1 Large Onion chopped thin
- 5 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 tsp. Salt
- ½ tsp. Cumin
- ¼ tsp. Black Pepper
- ¼ tsp. Ground Cardamom
- ¼ tsp. Ground Ginger
- ¼ tsp. Ground Turmeric
- ¼ tsp. Ground Cloves
- ¼ tsp. Ground Cinnamon
- ⅓ cup Fresh Cilantro chopped finely
- Vegetable Oil for frying
Instructions
Dough
- Add the flour to a large mixing bowl and slowly add in the water and oil, kneading as you go. Do this until all of the liquids have been added. If too dry, add a small amount more water. If too moist, add more flour.
- Form the dough into a ball and knead on a flour-dusted surface for an additional 10 minutes.
- Place the ball of dough back into the bowl and cover. Set aside while you make the pastry "glue" and meat filling.
Pastry "Glue"
- Add the flour and water to a small bowl and whisk until a glue-like texture forms. Set aside.
Meat Filling
- Place ground beef, onion and garlic in a skillet and cook over medium heat until no pink remains. Drain of any liquids and then put the mixture in a medium mixing bowl.
- Add the remainder of the filling ingredients and combine well.
Putting It All Together
- Divide the dough into 6 balls. Rolls each ball out into a thin circle. Slice that circle in half, directly down the middle.
- Pick up one of the halve and hold it, flat side down. Take the right edge and fold it about ¾ of the way over towards the left. Now take the left side and do the same towards the right. This should create a pocket.
- Spread a little of the pastry "glue" with your finger where the two sides overlap to bind them.
- Place about 1 ½ tbsp. of the meat mixture into the pocket and press the final flap of dough down over the opening. Use some more of the pastry "glue" to bind. Continue this process until all of the dough is gone and you have 12 sambusa.
- Heat the vegetable oil over medium until it is well-heated.
- Cook, 2-4 at a time. For me it took about 2 minutes on each side to achieve a golden-brown color.
- Remove from the heat and cool on a paper towel covered plate. Let cool and enjoy!!!
