The Persian version of the samosa. This triangular snack takes lavash bread and fills it with a spicy vehetable mixture before frying to crispy perfection! PS they are vegan too!
A Little History on this Triangular Snack
Did you know that the samosa has a Central Asian origin? The earliest recipes are found in 10th–13th-century Arab cookery books, under the names sanbusak, sanbusaq, and sanbusaj, all deriving from the Persian word sanbosag. In Iran, we have a version which we call Sambuseh. These delightful little parcels filled with meat and / or vegetables were introduced to the Indian subcontinent in the 13th or 14th century by chefs from the Middle East and Central Asia.
The Persian Version
The key difference with the Persian sambuseh is that we use lavash bread (a thin flatbread usually served with kebabs) as the outer casing. In Iran the lavash bread has large air pockets so it creates an amazing pattern on the Sambuseh that looks a little like bubble wrap in crispy fried bread form.
The fillings for sambuseh vary from meat and vegetable to vegetables only. My preferred filling for a samosa / sambuseh is veggie so the recipe I have developed below is virtuously meat-free. In fact the sambuseh, themselves, are vegan. The accompanying dip can be adapted by using a plant-based yogurt to make this recipe fully vegan. I have also been drawn to spices more common to South Asian cuisine including the use of chilli, mustard seeds, garam masala and ginger. The coriander and mint dip I have accompanied the sambuseh with is also inspired by South Asian cuisine.
Feel free to experiment with vegetables and / or meat fillings. And leave out and / or include spices as desired. I encourage people to experiment with and put their stamp on recipes. What I hope I am providing you is ideas for you to expand your catalogue of recipes, which you can dip in and out of.
How to Serve Sambuseh
The sambuseh can be served with any sauces and pickles you fancy. This recipe has a coriander and mint dip to go with it but I also serve mine with mango chutney and some chopped tomatoes and red onion, dressed with fresh coriander and a squeeze of lime juice.
You can also serve this alongside with Meygoo Dopiyazeh(Persian prawn, pepper & onion curry).
You can find a short video of me folding the Sambuseh to help with the recipe through the link to my Instagram below.
Just scroll across and you can see the video…
Sambuseh-e Sabzijaat
Ingredients
Sambuseh
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 red onion (finely diced)
- 4 cloves garlic (crushed or minced)
- 1 thumb size ginger (grated)
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp dried red chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 450 g cooked potatoes (boiled and peeled) (finely diced)
- 85 ml water
- 1 cup peas
- 1 cup sweetcorn
- 1 tsp garam masala
- Juice of half a lime
- Small bunch fresh coriander (finely chopped)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- 10 sheets lavash bread
- Vegetable oil (to fry the sambuseh)
Coriander & Mint Dip
- 70 g fresh coriander (stalks included)
- 10 g fresh mint leaves
- 6 tbsp Greek yoghurt
- Juice of 1 lime
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Coriander & Mint Dip:Add all ingredients to a blender / nutribullet / food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning and / or lime juice to taste. Pour into a container (i.e. jar) cover and place in fridge until you are ready to serve the sambuseh.
- Sambuseh:Place a frying pan or skillet on medium-high heat and add oil. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and heat until they start to sizzle.
- Add red onion and cook until they start to caramelise. Add garlic and stir in and repeat process with ginger, turmeric and chilli.
- Add tomato purée and stir until the mixture is evenly coated. Add the cooked, finely diced potatoes and water and stir into the mixture. Follow with peas and sweetcorn. Lower the heat and stir the mixture until the potato is a little mashed into the mixture.
- Add garam masala, lime juice, fresh coriander, salt and pepper and stir. Taste and adjust seasoning / lime juice to your preference. Turn the heat off and let it cool before filling the lavash bread pockets.
- To make the lavash bread pockets - cut into long strips about 10 cm in width. Lay the long rectangle strip on your work surface with the short edge facing you. Fold over the right half of the lavash strip to form a triangle with the long edge facing downwards, then fold the bottom of the triangle up so the long edge faces up. Then take the left corner of the triangle and fold up to the right hand corner to make the final triangle pocket. You will be left with a flap to tuck in after filling the sambuseh. Fill the sambuseh pocket with some filling, making sure not to overstuff. Then trim the flap of the sambuseh pocket and cut diagonal strip off one of the corners of the flap so you can tuck it in. Tuck the flap in and put the finished sambuseh aside until you are ready to cook. Repeat the process until you have used all the filling (makes between 20 to 25 sambuseh).
- To cook the sambuseh, half-fill a deep, heavy-based pan with vegetable oil and heat until a cube of bread dropped in sizzles and turns golden-brown in 30 seconds (please be careful with the hot oil and do not leave unattended). Fry the samosas in small batches for 4-5 minutes, or until golden-brown and crisp. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
- Serve with the mint and coriander dip, mango chutney and some chopped tomato and onion, dressed in fresh lime juice as pictured above.
