Sambos

Ingredients

Wrappers

• 30spring roll wrappers, cut into strips
• or thin homemade pastry

Filling

• 500 gminced beef
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 2cm ginger
• 3spring onions
• 1 tspturmeric
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspcurry powder
• 2 tbspchopped parsley or coriander
• salt and pepper

Alternative filling

• 300 gcooked potato and peas
• or shredded chicken

To seal

• flour and water paste

To fry

• oil, for deep frying

To serve

• sakay, Malagasy chilli paste
• a squeeze of lemon

Directions

1. Fry the onions, garlic and ginger until soft and golden. Add the mince and cook it hard, breaking it up thoroughly. Break the meat up finely, because sambos are small and a lump of mince makes them impossible to fold neatly. Cook it until it is completely dry, about 15 minutes.
2. Cook off every trace of liquid. A wet filling steams inside the pastry and bursts it open in the oil, which is the one failure that matters. Add the turmeric, cumin and curry powder and cook 2 minutes. Stir in the spring onion and herbs and season.
3. Chill it if you can, because cold filling is much easier to fold and does not soften the wrapper. Cut the spring roll wrappers into long strips about 6 cm wide.
4. Keep the strips under a damp cloth as you work, because they dry out and crack within a minute of exposure. Fold the corner over diagonally to make a triangle, then keep folding the triangle along the strip.
5. Line each fold up exactly with the last, which is what gives the neat sealed triangle. Use less filling than you think. Seal the last flap with flour and water paste.
6. Flour paste rather than water, because water alone does not hold in hot oil. Press all the edges and check for gaps. Heat the oil to 180°C (355°F).
7. Fry them in batches for 2 to 3 minutes until golden and crisp. Drain them on a rack rather than on paper. Serve them hot with sakay on the side. Sakay is the Malagasy chilli paste, made with chilli, garlic and ginger, and it is genuinely hot.

Technique

• Ready-made spring roll wrappers are what most people use and are widely sold.
• They freeze well raw and fry from frozen.
• Sakay is sold in jars and is worth making fresh.

Substitutions

• Any thin pastry sheet cut into strips.
• Chicken or vegetable filling in place of beef.

Variations

• With potato and pea filling.
• With shredded chicken.
• Made larger, as a fuller snack.

History

The samosa carried to Madagascar by Indian and Comorian traders on the Indian Ocean routes, now sold at every street corner.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sambos?

Sambos is a street food from Madagascar: small triangular fried pastries stuffed with spiced meat or vegetables. The samosa carried to Madagascar by Indian and Comorian traders on the Indian Ocean routes, now sold at every street corner.

How long does Sambos take to make?

Sambos takes 50 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 30. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Sambos?

Yes, within limits. Any thin pastry sheet cut into strips. Chicken or vegetable filling in place of beef.

What is the most important thing to get right in Sambos?

Flour paste rather than water, because water alone does not hold in hot oil. Press all the edges and check for gaps. Heat the oil to 180°C (355°F).