I have come across variants of samsa in different countries: Central Asia, India, Europe, and even America. But, of course, the beloved will forever remain the one that we bought in a small stall in Odessa market “Noviy bazaar”: fresh, only from tandoor, real Uzbek treat. Perfect for the hungry us after the morning bazaar 🙂 This recipe was brought from Uzbekistan. So that even without the “home” tandoor, having cooked samsa in an ordinary oven, we could feel our favorite taste again 🙂
I have come across variants of samsa in different countries: Central Asia, India, Europe, and even America. But, of course, the beloved will forever remain the one that we bought in a small stall in Odessa market “Noviy bazaar”: fresh, only from tandoor, real Uzbek treat. Perfect for the hungry us after the morning bazaar 🙂 This recipe was brought from Uzbekistan. So that even without the “home” tandoor, having cooked samsa in an ordinary oven, we could feel our favorite taste again 🙂- Prep time: 30 minutes, plus 30 minutes’ resting
- Cook time: 25 minutes
- Makes: 30-35
- Difficulty: easy
- Course: pastry
- Cookware: rolling pin
- Cuisine: Uzbek
Ingredients
- 700 g flour
- 1 egg
- water
- 400 g lamb fat or lard
- 1 kg pumpkin
- 250 g sheep cheese
- salt
Cooking method
Step 1
Pour flour into a large bowl. Add egg, salt. Gradually adding water, knead the hard dough. It shouldn’t be too soft and sticky, and should be harder than the dough for the dumplings. Wrap the dough in cling film and let rest for 30 minutes.
Step 2
Peel and grate the pumpkin on a medium grater. Grate cheese or crumble it with your hands. Do not mix the fillings.
Step 3
Heat oven to 180˚C. Melt lamb fat in a saucepan. Sprinkle the working surface with flour for rolling out the dough. Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll each piece thinly (up to about 1 mm thick), brush with melted fat and make into a tight roll. Cut it into small pieces 2-3cm. Place each part vertically (cut side on a table) and roll it into a small circle. Roll out all the dough in the same way.
Step 4
Put pumpkin and cheese in each circle of dough. Tighten the edges carefully: they must be completely closed so that the juice does not leak out. You can make samsa in different shapes: round, rectangular, square. Cover the baking sheet with parchment paper and transfer the samsas. Bake for about 25 minutes.
My tips and tricks:
When you roll out the dough, don’t be afraid if it breaks. It doesn’t matter for us, because we will roll it out again. Samsa, like no other dish, is easy to experiment with. Variants of its fillings tend to be endlessness: beef, chicken, pork or lamb mince with onions, fish, liver, potatoes with peas, vegetables, eggs, and even dried fruits.
- 700 g flour
- 1 egg
- water
- 400 g lamb fat or lard
- 1 kg pumpkin
- 250 g sheep cheese
- salt
- Pour flour into a large bowl. Add egg, salt. Gradually adding water, knead the hard dough. It shouldn't be too soft and sticky, and should be harder than the dough for the dumplings. Wrap the dough in cling film and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Peel and grate the pumpkin on a medium grater. Grate cheese or crumble it with your hands. Do not mix the fillings.
- Heat oven to 180˚C. Melt lamb fat in a saucepan. Sprinkle the working surface with flour for rolling out the dough. Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll each piece thinly (up to about 1 mm thick), brush with melted fat and make into a tight roll. Cut it into small pieces 2-3cm. Place each part vertically (cut side on a table) and roll it into a small circle. Roll out all the dough in the same way.
- Put pumpkin and cheese in each circle of dough. Tighten the edges carefully: they must be completely closed so that the juice does not leak out. You can make samsa in different shapes: round, rectangular, square. Cover the baking sheet with parchment paper and transfer the samsas. Bake for about 25 minutes.