Recipe Of The Week: Cheese Sambusa
- Reem zahid
- May 26, 2018
- 4 min read
Sambusas, are these thin pastry triangles filled with yummy stuff, then fried (or baked, if you wanna go the innocent route) until golden and crunchy. The filling is usually savory, like minced meat or vegetables or cheese. Sambusas are believed to have originated in Central Asia, but they’re also super popular in South Asia, the Arabian peninsula, the Mediterranean and some parts of Africa.
They are the nicest appetizer year round, but for some reason, they’re mostly associated with the fasting month of Ramadan. Most often than not, you’ll find a platter of some type of sambusa highlighting an Iftar (meal of breaking fast in Ramadan) spread.
The inside of this sambusa will remind you of slightly saltier cheese fries. Oh yeah, we’re not kidding around here. But you know how cheese fries become so rubbery after they cool down to the extent of being inedible? Well these don’t do that! Cream cheese is the key here. The addition of cream cheese to the mozzarella, keeps the filling nice and soft and creamy, even upon cooling. Just a tiny bit of feta adds saltiness and depth of flavor so it’s not mild. You could use any salty, creamy white cheese of your choice instead or omit it all together. Alternatively, you could swap the mozzarella with any similar melty cheese combo you prefer! Feel free to spice the mixture up if you’re in the mood. Italian seasoning, mint, or some heat would be perfect here.
INGREDIENTS: - 22 sambusa sheets, about half of a 500g package (could be substituted with phyllo dough or spring roll wrappers. *See note), thawed - 350g/ 12.4oz (3 cups) mozzarella cheese (similar melty cheese may be substituted), shredded - 8 squares Kiri or 113g/ 4oz cream cheese, softened - 1½ tablespoons (21g/ ¾oz) creamy, salty white cheese, like creamy feta, barameely or istanboli - 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, for sealing dough - 2½ tablespoons water, for sealing dough - Vegetable oil, for frying INSTRUCTIONS: 1- In a medium bowl, mash together with a fork the cream cheese and salty white cheese until smooth. Add the mozzarella cheese and stir together until well combined. Set aside. 2- In a small bowl, stir together the flour and water until smooth and form a paste similar in consistency to white glue. 3- Working with one sambusa sheet at a time, keep the rest covered under a tea towel, to prevent from drying out. (*If using phyllo or spring roll wrapper, please see note below) 4- Fold and fill the sheet. Start by bringing the top right corner of the sheet, halfway down to the left side. From the top, you should be able to see a triangle forming underneath. Add some of the flour paste to adhere the fold that has formed to the long sheet. Add a little more paste to the right hand side of the sheet. 5- Now bring the triangle that has formed on the left side, down to the right side, landing on the paste you just added. A cone shape should now be formed. Make sure that the corner of the cone is tight and doesn't have a big hole, so the filling doesn't escape during frying. 6- Lift the sambusa sheet from the working surface and let it rest on the palm of your left hand. With your right hand, using a spoon (we prefer using a small ice cream scoop for easy release), stuff the cone with about 1½ tablespoons of the cheese mixture. 7- Place the filled cone/sheet back onto the working surface, and lightly flatten the filling with your hand. Dab some of the flour paste on all the remaining sides.
8- Fold down the filled cone to the left side, then fold down once again to the right side. You should now have a perfect triangle with a little tail sticking out. Bring the tail up and adhere it to the triangle. Now you have a perfectly shaped samosa triangle. Repeat with the remaining sheets. 9- Keep the wrapped sambusas cold in the freezer until you're ready to fry (at least until you heat the oil) or fully freeze and store in zipper lock bags for up to 1 month. Just let them thaw slightly, for 10 to 15 minutes before frying. 10- To fry the sambusas, fill a skillet with enough oil just to cover the bottom of the skillet. DO NOT deep fry the samosas in lots of oil or the cheese will ooze out. Heat over medium heat until shimmering. 11-Place enough sambusas to fill the skillet without overcrowding it. Fry for about 2 to 3 minutes on the first side until golden brown in color, then turn them to the other side and cook for another minute or two until nicely browned as well. 12- Transfer to paper towels to drain then arrange on to a serving platter to serve. Best enjoyed while still warm, so the cheese is still ooey and gooey. When cooled, the cheese filling will remain nice and soft but not melty and oozy.
NOTES
- If using phyllo dough, cut each sheet in half from the long side. Working with one half sheet at a time, cover the remaining phyllo with a damp cloth to avoid drying out. Fold each half sheet in half, so you have a double layer, thin rectangular sheet, similar in size to the samosa wrappers. Proceed with step 4. Note that the phyllo fries a lot faster than sambusa wrappers. Similarly, if using spring roll wrappers, cut accordingly to form a long, thin triangle. - Filled (not fried) sambusas keep really well in the freezer for up to 1 month. You could double (or quadruple) the quantity and store in the freezer in zipper lock bags until needed. Just allow to thaw a little, for about 10 to 15 minutes, until you heat the oil, before frying. They fry really well from frozen.
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