Sambousek is an ancient pastry whose name echoes the Persian sanbosag, and food historians credit it as the ancestor of the Indian samosa, carried east along medieval trade and conquest routes around the thirteenth century. In Lebanon the little half-moons became party food par excellence, folded by the dozen and crimped by hand for weddings, feast days and the long evenings of Ramadan.
The shell shatters with a crisp, blistered crunch into a buttery dough, then gives way to warm, fragrant meat studded with pine nuts. The cheese version oozes and stretches in long molten threads.
A little oil worked into the dough shortens the gluten so the fried shell stays tender and flaky rather than hard. Cooling the filling before folding prevents steam from softening the dough and bursting the seams during frying.
Variations
Fill with akkawi or halloumi cheese instead of meat, bake or air-fry instead of deep-frying, use ready-made dough or wonton wrappers, or add a squeeze of pomegranate molasses to the meat
On the Palate
Where Sambousek Lebanese sits in the Lebanese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 40 min
- 140 min
Make a soft dough from flour, oil, a little salt and warm water; knead until smooth, then rest 30 minutes.
- 212 min
Toast the pine nuts, then brown the minced meat with chopped onion, cinnamon, allspice, salt and pepper.
- 310 min
Stir the pine nuts through the meat and let the filling cool completely.
Watch outLet the filling go completely cold before folding — warm filling steams the dough and bursts the seams in the oil.
- 48 min
Roll the dough thin and cut out rounds with a cutter or glass.
- 515 min
Spoon filling onto each round, fold into a half-moon and crimp the edge tightly to seal.
Watch outCrimp the edge tight with no air trapped inside — a loose seal springs open and leaks filling into the fryer.
- 65 min
Heat oil to about 180C/350F for frying.
- 710 min
Fry the sambousek in batches until deep golden and crisp, turning once, 2-3 minutes.
Watch outHold the oil around 180 degrees — too cool and the shell drinks oil and turns greasy instead of crisp.
- 83 min
Drain on paper towels and serve hot with lemon wedges.
