🥟 Meat samboosa
Meat samboosa are thin pastry triangles filled with minced lamb cooked with onion and warm spices, then fried until crisp and flaky. The filling is savoury and juicy, the shell shatters at the first bite. They are the classic opener of the Ramadan iftar table across the Gulf, served hot alongside soup and dates.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g minced lamb
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 1 tsp baharat, ½ tsp cumin, ½ tsp black pepper
- A handful of chopped parsley
- Salt to taste
- 24 samboosa pastry sheets (strips)
- Oil for frying
Method
- Fry the onion in a dry pan or with a little oil until soft, add the lamb and cook until browned and dry.
- Season with the spices and salt, stir in the parsley and let the filling cool.
- Place a spoonful at the end of each pastry strip and fold into a triangle, sealing the edge with a little water.
- Fry in hot oil until golden on both sides and drain on paper towels. Serve hot.
How to make it lighter
- Bake instead of deep-frying: brush with 1 tbsp oil and bake at 200 °C until golden — far less fat is absorbed.
- Count them: two or three pieces with a large salad make a lighter iftar than a whole plate.
- Drain fried pieces on paper towels and fry at the right temperature (about 175 °C) so the pastry soaks up less oil.
History
Filled fried pastries of this kind spread across the Middle East, Central Asia and India through medieval trade routes, and the name goes back to the Persian sanbosag. In the Gulf and Saudi Arabia, samboosa is closely tied to Ramadan, when it is made in large batches and served at iftar.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →