Help with baked sambusas / savory triangular cone pastries

December 28, 2018 7:13 AM

Does anybody have experience making sambusas? Or samosas? Or similar? I want to try to make Ethiopian sambusas, but they'll be for a party, so I don't want to make my own wrappers and I also want to bake them in the oven. I think I'm set for fillings, but I'm worried about the wrappers/baking. Does anyone have tips/recipes to help me succeed?

I admit, I'm prejudiced against baked versions of fried snack foods in general, but for the sake of logistics, I want to try. Even if they're not as good as fried, I'd like to get them as crisp and tasty as possible.

I can google recipes with the best of them, but if you have a tried-and-true recipe you use, I'd love to see it!

I have access to many Asian grocery stores, but there are a paralyzingly large number of spring roll / egg roll / wonton / whatever wrapper options. Is there any particular brand I should look for? Characteristics? Ingredients?

Or some recipes call for phyllo. Does that work any better?

I read somewhere that some Indian groceries sell specific samosa wrappers. Is it worth it to try to track these down?

Any wrapping tips to help these things bake up better? Anything else I'm missing?

Thanks in advance!

posted by gueneverey to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

I used to make samosas pretty frequently using a recipe similar to this one, including the baking and the phyllo.

Certainly not the most authentic approach, but it totally works, is way easier, and the result is delicious. Folding definitely takes some practice, but if you make a big batch you'll get the hang of it by the time you're done.
posted by SpiffyRob at 7:36 AM on December 28, 2018

My South African friend introduced me to using plain old tortillas as samosa wrappers! They work great!
posted by cooker girl at 8:21 AM on December 28, 2018

I make samosas using Pepperidge Farm puff pastry. Thaw, unfold, cut along the fold lines, then horizontally into squares (9 squares per puff pastry sheet). Fill, and crimp the edges. Bake at 400 F for about 20 min.

It was authentic enough for my Indian mother (who is otherwise pretty judgey with shortcuts like jarred curry) so I'm happy with it.
posted by basalganglia at 8:33 AM on December 28, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: there are a paralyzingly large number of spring roll / egg roll / wonton / whatever wrapper options

I'm sure there are bad ones out there but I'd just grab the largest ones that don't have something scary in the ingredient list and go with it. They're really pretty simple so it would take some effort to mess them up. You want wheat based ones rather than rice.

Or some recipes call for phyllo. Does that work any better?

Phyllo is good but very different than most samosa style wrappers. It is a lot more difficult and time consuming to work with, as you're creating layers of it and butter and it tears easily.
posted by Candleman at 8:33 AM on December 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

I know you said baked, but I'll give you the process my Indian MIL gave me which is for deep frying.

Peeled boiled potatoes with curry powder and some frozen peas. Get creative with this part.

Use ordinary flour tortillas from any grocery store, with deep frying they'll taste exactly right. Cut the tortillas in half. Make a thick paste with flour and water mixed in a bowl. Use your finger to apply the paste along the straight edge of the half circle tortilla and fold it in half so the pasty edges fuse and you have a somwhat conical structure. Spoon your filling inside (not too much) then use your finger to apply paste to the remaining unfused rounded edges and seal. Immediately and gently lower it into the hot oil. A fry daddy costs about fifteen bucks, and comes with a cover so you can reuse your oil and is a million times less of a mess than frying on the stove.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 9:09 PM on December 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

I've used frozen Goya brand empanada wrappers. It helps to roll them a bit so they're thinner, then cut them in half and use them like you would homemade wrappers.
posted by usedsongs at 4:56 AM on December 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

In a pinch, if you're frying, spring roll wrappers are a lighter/thinner/crunchier substitute.
posted by porpoise at 1:48 PM on December 29, 2018

Please also see this rather apropos FPP
posted by Iteki at 3:12 AM on December 30, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks all for the help. Although I remain intrigued by the puff pastry suggestion, I ended up using spring roll wrappers (Spring Home TYJ) for the sake of cost/scale. I cut the wrappers in half, added filling, folded them up into triangles, lightly brushed the outsides with oil, and baked them at 350 for about 15 minutes. I experimented with baking at higher temperatures, but found the edges were getting too browned before the middle part had a chance to crisp up. They were very tasty, but unfortunately I decided to fold them all up a few days before my party and freeze them, and I don't think they were as good from frozen as they had been when they were fresh. Alas.

Also for the record, I used the filling recipe from the famous (well, "famous" in my mind) Exotic Ethiopian Cooking cookbook, but subbed cooked lentils for the lamb/beef, and it was so good I wanted to just eat it with a spoon.
posted by gueneverey at 7:05 PM on January 13, 2019 [1 favorite]