Chickpea sambusa with spinach and mint

Name: Chickpea sambusa with spinach and mint
Total time: 1 h
Yield: Makes 15
Ingredients: 1 small onion roughly chopped; 400g tin chickpeas drained and rinsed; roughly chopped to make 3 tbsp mint leaves; a handful spinach; 1 tsp fine sea salt; ground to make 1 tsp black peppercorns; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp (optional) dill seeds; 320g pack puff pastry; 1 small egg beaten; 1 tsp black sesame seeds to garnish (optional)

Published: January 12, 2021 at 3:41 PM

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Makes 15

Easy

Total time: 1 hr

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Flaky and buttery samsa, Central Asia’s beloved turnovers are known in Tajikistan as sambusa. Try this version from Dushanbe with with chickpea, spinach and mint, best enjoyed with a cup of green tea

Vegetarian

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Alternatives

Complete the dish

Try these sambusa pastries, then check out more savoury puff pastry recipes including our lamb kofta puffs, spinach and feta pastry and vegan sausage rolls. Now try our recipes for Eid.

Elsewhere in the region, fillings are typically beef, lamb, pumpkin, spinach or potatoes but in Dushanbe there are chickpea ones and, in the springtime, herb-filled variations. This recipe combines the two. Samsa or sambusa are always eaten with green tea – this is especially the case if they’re lamb as the tea cuts through the fat.

Ingredients

Nutrition

1 small onion

roughly chopped
400g tin chickpeas

drained and rinsed
roughly chopped to make 3 tbsp mint leaves
a handful spinach
1 tsp fine sea salt
ground to make 1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp (optional) dill seeds
320g pack puff pastry
1 small egg

beaten
1 tsp black sesame seeds

to garnish (optional)

Nutrition: per serving

kcal111
fat6.4g
saturates2.8g
carbs9.7g
sugars0.6g
fibre1.6g
protein2.9g
salt0.5g

Method

step 1

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and line a large baking tray (or two smaller trays) with baking paper.
step 2

Put the onion in a food processor and pulse a few times, then add 100g of the chickpeas, the mint and spinach, and pulse so it comes together. Put the mixture into a large bowl and stir in 1 tsp of salt, the pepper, cumin, dill seeds, if using, and the remaining chickpeas.
step 3

Lightly flour a worksurface and the pastry, and roll it out to 37cm x 28cm. Using an 8cm cutter, stamp out 15 rounds, then put 1 tsp of the filling in the middle of each one and bring up the edges to create a triangle shape. Press to seal, creating a samosa-style triangle. Repeat with the remaining pastry.
step 4

Put on the baking tray, seam-side down. Brush each one with the egg wash and scatter over the black sesame seeds or a sprinkle of sea salt flakes and a few grindings of black pepper, if you like. Bake for 15 minutes then, when the pastry has fully risen, lower the oven temperature to its lowest setting and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the layers are dry and crispy.

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