Denise says:

These are flaky sesame seed crusted pastries which are filled with a savoury beef or cheese mixture. They are traditional pastries for Chanukah and Shabbat from the Egyptian, Syrian and Iranian Jewish communities.

Sambusak, also known as simbusak or samboussa may be either half-moon shaped or triangular. They are popular throughout much of the Middle East, Northern Africa and Eastern Africa. The origin of the name is uncertain. The "-ak" ending is characteristically Middle Persian.

These are often prepared by folding a thin circular piece of dough over the filling, either in half to form a semicircle or at three edges to form a triangular shape. The resulting pastry is shallow fried on both sides or baked.Traditional fillings are: chickpeas, onions and peppers; minced meat and onions; cheese (usually feta, spinach or halloumi).

Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Makes: 50

Ingredients:

For the Dough
500g plain flour
2 teaspoons salt
225g margarine
120ml cold water

Cheese Filling
350g feta cheese or cream cheese
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
50g pine nuts
2 eggs – lightly beaten
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Topping
1-2 eggs lightly beaten – to glaze
100g sesame seeds/ black onion seeds

Method

1) To make the pastry dough, place the flour, salt, margarine and water in a food mixer. Whizz together until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl clean. Cover with cling film, flatten and leave in the refrigerator until ready to use.
2) For the cheese filling, combine the cheese, cinnamon, eggs, baking powder, salt and pine nuts.
3) Pre-heat the oven to 200 C/ 400 F/ Gas mark 6.
4) Roll out the pastry dough so that it is ½ cm thick. Stamp out 7 cm circles.
5) Place a teaspoon of filling in the centre and fold the dough in half. Tightly crimp the edges with a fork. Repeat until all the dough and filling are used up.
6) Glaze the filled pastries with a little beaten egg and then roll into a plate of sesame seeds so that they are completely coated.
7) Bake the sambusaks on a tray lined with baking parchment paper for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown.
Tagged in: Chanukah, Cheese, Egyptian, Middle Eastern, Pastry, Shabbat