This video was entirely too much fun to make.
Eden Egziabher is the chef and owner at Makina Cafe, an Ethiopian and Eritrean food truck. I love her and her cooking and her energy. The doro wat (chicken stew) is so freaking good— you’ve simply got to go try her food.
Eden and I have been talking about cooking together for a while now and sambusas made sense.
Most people associate sambusas with samosas, the South Asian street pastry filled with potatoes, onions, and peas, but interestingly, they originated in the Middle East in the 10th century, specifically Iran. According to the Times of India, “the first official mention of samosa was found in Iranian historian Abolfazl Beyhaqi’s work Tarikh-e Beyhaghi, where it was referred to as ‘Sambosa’.”
Who knew.
I didn’t even realize that when Eden and I decided that that was what we were going to make, which makes the fact that we decided to make the filling based off the popular Iranian dish, ghormeh sabzi, wild as hell!
Eden typically makes her sambusas with lentils or another legume, as well as parsley, cilantro, and scallions. Ghormeh sabzi uses cilantro, parsley, and scallion, as well as fenugreek, red kidney beans, and stewed meat.
Ghormeh sabzi also has plenty of Persian limes in it to add to it’s vibrant flavor, so to achieve that, we used black lime powder. I had just gotten some from Burlap and Barrel, and had never used it or cooked with it before, so was excited to do so in this.
And boy, it did not disappoint.
It’s bright and tangy and tart and I want to use it on and in everything always now. We also used it in the yogurt dipping sauce that we made to go along with the sambusas. If, for some reason, you don’t want to get it, you can probably finish the sambusa filling with some lime zest and juice, but honestly, I recommend getting your hands on some black lime powder, because you will not be disappointed.
A lot of people make their own dough for sambusas or use fillo dough, but Eden uses flour tortillas and it was such a game changer. They get super golden and crisp when fried and were so flaky, not to mention very easy to work with. I know some of you are probably wondering, “Could I use corn tortillas?” and, honestly, idk, try it and comment below to let us all know your results.
Either way, you gotta make this recipe. I’ve made this recipe a couple times now and froze some sambusas (without frying) to use at some point in the future (just going to have to defrost them before frying) and I can’t wait for that day.
Makes 14-16
Prep time: 25 minutes
Total time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
for the dipping sauce:
5.3 ounces|150 grams yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
¼ teaspoon black lime powder
jalapeno flavored hot sauce, to taste
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
for the sambusas:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for deep frying
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
¾ teaspoon turmeric
1 small bunch cilantro, minced
1 small bunch parsley, minced
1 (15.5 ounce|439 gram) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
¾ teaspoon black lime powder
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
7-8 (6-inch) flour tortillas
DIRECTIONS
Make the dipping sauce: Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Make the sambusas: Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium skillet over medium-high. Add the scallions and onion and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 to 2 minutes longer, then stir in the cilantro and parsley. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until WHAT, about 20 minutes. Stir in the lime powder, turmeric, and beans and season with salt and pepper. Using a potato masher, lightly mash everything and cook 3 minutes more, then remove from the heat and cool completely.
In a small bowl, mix the flour with 2 tablespoons of water to form a paste.
Heat a medium cast-iron skillet over medium-high. Working with one tortilla at a time, heat it in the skillet, flipping once, about 30 seconds. Wrap in a towel and repeat with the remaining tortillas.
Cut the tortillas in half, keeping them wrapped in the towel when not using them. Working with one tortilla half at a time, roll it to form a cone, taking care that there is no hole in the tip. Using your finger, dip your finger in the flour paste and seal the edges of the tortilla. Stuff the cone with 1 to 2 tablespoons of the filling, then seal again with the paste, pinching the top shut. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.
Heat 3-inches oil in a large saucepan until a deep-fry thermometer reads 375°F. Working in batches, cook the sambusas until golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce.
Sambusas!