Bahrain: Veggie Samboosa
Making Samboosa!
Samboosa has come up on every list I have come across for popular Bahraini recipes and snacks. I love savory pastries and who can resist fragrantly spiced filling in a perfectly fried little package??
Want to join in the fun?
What you will need:
Samboosa wrappers/ pastry sheets
Veggie Samboosa Filling (recipe below)
Halloumi or other cheese for filling
Chutneys for dips (more recipes below!)
We made them for part of a little spread for the first race of the year. Pictured is also homemade Hummus with sumac and olive oil, Labneh with Za’atar, a simple chopped salad topped with shredded halloumi cheese, and a grain salad inspired by Ottelenghi’s Plenty. I always get tempted by the 3 foot long flatbreads (sangak) at my local Middle Eastern shop, so we got that too to dip in hummus and labneh, along with some fresh herbs.
As occurs with a lot of dishes, the spelling of these vary, I have seen samboosak, sambosa, samboosa, and samosa as well. Whichever way you spell it, you can usually find the samboosa pastry sheets in the frozen section at a Middle Eastern market. I used aman brand.
Veggie Samboosa Filling
Makes enough filling for about 30 Samboosas (double this recipe for a full package of 60 Samboosa wrappers, or fill the other half of the wrappers with cheese or meat fillings)
Vegetable mix
¼ cup olive oil
1 ½ cups yellow onion (1 medium onion), diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup yellow potato, diced
½ cup green onion, chopped
¼ cup shredded carrots (1 large carrot)
1-2 serrano or small chili peppers, minced
¼ cup pureed tomatoes
½ cup sweet peas (defrosted if frozen)
Spices
½ teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoons turmeric
¼ tablespoon coriander
¼ tablespoon cumin
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ tablespoon salt
Herbs
¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced
½ cup fresh parsley, minced
1 tablespoon fresh mint, minced
In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, add the onions and cook until translucent and brown at the edges.
Add the diced potatoes and mix thoroughly, cook until potatoes are halfway done, add the minced garlic and spicy green peppers, cook until fragrant about 2 minutes.
Add the carrots and green onions, mix thoroughly and cook until they are wilted in, another 1-2 minutes.
Add all the dry spices and gently mix in by folding so as not to crush the cooked potatoes.
Add the tomato puree, and sweet peas and cook for 3 - 5 minutes or just until peas are tender.
Set aside until ready to fill samboosas.
To make the Samboosas
Place a samboosa pastry sheet on a clean flat work surface and place 1½ tablespoons of the vegetable filling on one end and fold samboosa into a triangle. Set on a tray or plate until ready to fry. Repeat with the remaining filling and pastry sheets.
Fry samboosas in hot oil (about 350°F) until golden, about 2-3 minutes each side.
Best eaten while still hot.
Adapted from Sifra Foods
Cheese Filling
For the cheese filling, simply grate whatever cheese you like (Halloumi, Mozzarella, Feta) and put 1 1/2 tablespoons on a samboosa sheet, fold it into a triangle, and fry!
*If you would like to see a photo-by-photo folding demo, the blog The Matbakh, shows it nice and clearly.
Dips
Super Simple Tamarind Chutney
¼ cup tamarind concentrate
3 tablespoons agave syrup
1 teaspoon garam masala
Mix all ingredients in a small bowl or jar
Adapted from a recipe in the back of Issue 31 of Adventure Journal
Mint-Cilantro Chutney
2 cups mint leaves
1 cup cilantro
1 green chili
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
⅛ cup water, or more as needed
Blend all ingredients in a food processor, adding water as needed until preferred consistency is reached.
Adapted from Some Indian Girl
Looking for other Bahraini recipes?
You can see the whole collection of Bahraini Recipes and find more inspiration with Middle Eastern Recipes.