Lamb Samsa with Cumin (Country Pastries)
Triangular pastries of clarified butter dough, filled with minced lamb seasoned with cumin and onion, baked in an oven (or tandoor). Crispy outside, juicy and fragrant inside.
Triangular pastries of clarified butter dough, filled with minced lamb seasoned with cumin and onion, baked in an oven (or tandoor). Crispy outside, juicy and fragrant inside.
When you cross the Khyber with a hungry army and the wind bites your fingers, you do not dream of pilaf — you dream of samsa. My cooks prepared them the night before, the dough thin as parchment, the meat well-spiced with black cumin. We slipped them into saddlebags, and at the halt, they were still good. On campaign, a soldier who eats well is a soldier who charges straight. That is all my military science, or nearly.
- •Wheat flour — enough for a firm dough (wrapper)
- •Fat-tailed sheep tail fat — a good piece, melted (flakiness and cooking)
- •Minced lamb (shoulder) — as much as the dough (filling)
- •Onion — two, finely chopped (filling)
- •Black cumin (caraway) — a generous pinch (spice)
- •Salt and pepper — to taste (seasoning)
Lamb Samsa with Cumin (Country Pastries)
Triangular pastries of clarified butter dough, filled with minced lamb seasoned with cumin and onion, baked in an oven (or tandoor). Crispy outside, juicy and fragrant inside.
Why this dish? Samsa (ancestors of samosas) were the quintessential marching food of Timurid armies. During his campaigns between Kabul and India across the Hindu Kush passes, Babur and his soldiers needed portable, nourishing food. The sealed pastry kept the meat edible longer.
When you cross the Khyber with a hungry army and the wind bites your fingers, you do not dream of pilaf — you dream of samsa. My cooks prepared them the night before, the dough thin as parchment, the meat well-spiced with black cumin. We slipped them into saddlebags, and at the halt, they were still good. On campaign, a soldier who eats well is a soldier who charges straight. That is all my military science, or nearly.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wheat flour — enough for a firm dough (wrapper)
- Fat-tailed sheep tail fat — a good piece, melted (flakiness and cooking)
- Minced lamb (shoulder) — as much as the dough (filling)
- Onion — two, finely chopped (filling)
- Black cumin (caraway) — a generous pinch (spice)
- Salt and pepper — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour — 300 g (dough)
- Cold butter — 100 g (flakiness)
- Cold water — 100 ml (binder)
- Salt — 1 tsp (dough)
- Minced lamb — 300 g (filling)
- Onions — 2 medium, finely chopped (filling)
- Cumin seeds — 1 tbsp (main spice)
- Black pepper, ground — ½ tsp (seasoning)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
- Egg yolk — 1 (egg wash)
Method
- Make the dough: mix flour and salt, rub in cold butter cubes with fingertips until crumbly. Gradually add water to form a ball. Wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.
- Make the filling: mix raw minced lamb with finely chopped onions, cumin, pepper, and salt. Knead well.
- Preheat oven to 200°C.
- Roll out dough to 3 mm thickness. Cut into squares about 12 cm per side.
- Place a generous spoonful of filling in the center of each square. Fold into a triangle and seal edges firmly with a fork.
- Arrange samsa on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Brush with egg yolk.
- Bake 25-30 minutes until golden and crispy.
- Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
How it was made : Samsa (a word of Persian origin, related to Sanskrit samosa) were cooked in a clay tandoor, stuck to the inner wall of the oven. The dough was enriched with melted dumba rather than butter. They were a staple for caravans and armies moving along the Silk Road.
The contemporary twist : Shape the samsa into half-moons instead of triangles and serve with a yogurt dip with toasted cumin.
Sources : Baburnama, trans. A.S. Beveridge — mentions of campaign provisions · Mack, Glenn R., Food Culture in Russia and Central Asia, Greenwood, 2005
Babur · Charactorium
