Ingredients
Filling
- 250 gblanched almonds
- 100 gsesame seeds
- 120 gcaster sugar
- 1 tspground cinnamon
- 2 tbsprose water
- 1 tbsporange blossom water
Pastry
- 12 sheetsmalsouka or brik pastry (filo is the substitute)
- 1egg white, lightly beaten, for sealing
- oil for shallow frying
Syrup
- 300 gsugar
- 250 mlwater
- 1 tbsplemon juice
- 1 tbsprose water
- 1strip lemon peel
To finish
- 2 tbspsesame seeds, toasted
- 1 tbspchopped pistachios
Directions
- Make the syrup first and let it cool completely. Simmer the sugar, water, lemon juice and peel for 10 minutes until slightly thickened, then take it off the heat and stir in the rose water. Cold syrup on hot pastry is what makes samsa crisp; hot on hot makes it soggy, and this is the whole trick of the dish.
- Toast the almonds and the sesame seeds separately in a dry pan until they smell nutty and colour lightly, then cool. Sesame burns in seconds and will make the whole filling bitter, so keep it moving and take it off early.
- Grind the almonds and sesame coarsely — a little texture is wanted, not a paste. Mix with the sugar, cinnamon, rose water and orange blossom water to a filling that just holds together when squeezed.
- Cut each pastry sheet into three long strips. Keep the rest under a damp cloth: malsouka and filo dry out and crack within a couple of minutes of being uncovered.
- Put a heaped teaspoon of filling at one end of a strip and fold the corner over it to make a triangle, then keep folding the triangle over itself down the length of the strip, as you would fold a flag. Seal the last flap with egg white and press the edges firmly.
- Shallow-fry in 1 cm of oil at about 170°C (340°F) for 2–3 minutes a side, until deep gold and blistered. They colour fast, so work in small batches and watch them.
- Lift each one straight from the oil into the cold syrup, turn it over, leave it for 30 seconds and lift it onto a rack. Scatter with toasted sesame and pistachio while still tacky.
Technique
- Hot pastry into cold syrup, never the reverse. The temperature difference is what pulls the syrup into the layers and leaves the outside crisp.
- Thirty seconds in the syrup is enough. Left to soak they go limp, and there is no recovering them.
- Malsouka is thinner and stronger than filo and fries to a blister rather than a shatter. If using filo, double the sheets.
Substitutions
- Almonds can be half replaced with pistachios or walnuts.
- Honey thinned with a little water stands in for the sugar syrup and gives a heavier result.
Variations
- Made in quantity for Ramadan trays across Tunisia and Algeria, alongside baklawa and makroudh. The triangular fold and the name are shared with the savoury Central Asian samsa, which is a different dish entirely.
History
Folded from malsouka sheets around a toasted almond-sesame filling, fried, then drenched in lemon and rose syrup for Ramadan trays.
Frequently asked questions
What is Samsa?
Samsa is a dessert from Tunisia: layered pastry squares of almond and sesame steeped in rose syrup. Folded from malsouka sheets around a toasted almond-sesame filling, fried, then drenched in lemon and rose syrup for Ramadan trays.
How long does Samsa take to make?
Samsa takes 50 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes makes 24. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Samsa?
Yes, within limits. Almonds can be half replaced with pistachios or walnuts. Honey thinned with a little water stands in for the sugar syrup and gives a heavier result.
What is the most important thing to get right in Samsa?
Make the syrup first and let it cool completely. Simmer the sugar, water, lemon juice and peel for 10 minutes until slightly thickened, then take it off the heat and stir in the rose water. Cold syrup on hot pastry is what makes samsa crisp; hot on hot makes it soggy, and this is the whole trick of the dish.
