Iraqi Chickpea Sambousek
Throwback to: this recipe from the post of March 3. Actually, while these are from the same batch as that, the photo here is newer. I put most of the unbaked Sambousek in the freezer, and experimented recently to see the difference between baking the frozen ones, and pan-frying them. Baking them was easier but took longer. Frying them, covered, took less time, and I liked the results a little better. Maybe next time, I'll just fry them, and then freeze them. Well, anyway, they were tasty, and they're all gone now!
Allrecipes Website, Sambusaks (Sumboosaks) with Chickpeas, recipe by Nurit Cusack
Iraqi Chickpea Sambusak
(Baked Filled Pastries)
This was from a recipe on the Allrecipes website. I usually like to make Hamantashen (triangular filled cookie/pastries) at this time of year for the Purim holiday, but this year decided to try something different. This savory recipe is a traditional Iraqi Purim goodie. It's meant to be deep-fried, but here, I've baked it. I made a dozen of these a few days ago, and put them in the freezer. Perhaps I'll try pan-frying some of the others. The filling is easy to make, and can be made separately, the day before, and left in the fridge. The dough is also easy, and needs only 10 minutes to rest. The trick when filling the Sambusak is, don't over-fill. You need some plain dough for the edges where the top and bottom of the dough meet, so they'll stick together and stay closed. If there's a bit of filling on that part of the dough, it won't seal well. I liked this simple recipe.
Allrecipes Website, recipe by Nurit Cusack, Sambusaks (Samboosaks) with Chickpeas
Chickpea Sambousek,
with Spaghetti
Here's another pic of leftover Chickpea Sambousek (like a Middle Eastern samosa). (You can see the last post for more details on that.) This time, I felt like I wanted to pair it with some spaghetti and sauce; I have no idea why. I boiled some spaghetti in a small amount of water. When it was just about done, I added some canned crushed tomatoes, and then green peas for color and more veggies. I cooked it all together until it seemed done enough. ... The hand model is myself, although I tried to stay out of the photo. Anyway, I liked this unusual pairing.
Chickpea Sambousek
Sambousek are Middle Eastern turnovers, like samosas. Here they are featured with crunchy Indian snack mix, whole-milk yogurt, and applesauce, for a light meal the other day. The Sambousek were leftovers that I'd frozen unbaked a while ago. All I had to do, was put them on a baking sheet, brush them with egg wash, and then bake about 30 minutes. (At other times, I've just sprayed oil on them, instead of egg wash.)
Iraqi Chickpea Sambousek,
Manga Pachadi (Mango Chutney),
& Bread Gulab Jamun
This is another late-evening snack-meal, consisting of: leftover Iraqi Chickpea Sambousek (like baked samosas), Manga Pachadi (Mango Chutney), and Bread Gulab Jamun (upper right).
The gulab jamun recipe is from Kabita's Kitchen, and features dumplings made of bread and milk. I added too much milk, so then I had to add flour, but it was still a very sticky dough. That's why the dumpling doesn't look like the usual. Also, as I can't eat deep-fried food, I decided to bake them, instead. Several recipes online suggested baking at 325 F, and then putting them under the broiler. I don't like the broiler, so I just increased the temperature to 425 F. After it was baked, I soaked the gulab jamun in sugar-syrup, which contained rosewater as well as some coconut-sugar syrup.
It was close enough to real gulab jamun for me, for now. I'm sure I'll try it again, some time soon. The last time (actually the first time) I made gulab jamun, long ago, it came out exactly as it was supposed to, and I'd like to try to achieve that again.
Iraqi Sambousek (Chickpea-Filled Pastry Pockets)
This recipe is from Janna Gur's Jewish Soul Food. Since I can't have butter, I used a smaller amount of coconut oil in the pastry, instead. I baked them, as I can't eat deep-fried food, but the taste didn't suffer for that.
This recipe made many sambousek, of which I baked the amount that fit on one baking sheet, and froze the rest unbaked.
The main thing I would do differently next time, would be to do each of the steps on a separate day (make filling, make dough/refrigerate or freeze, fill and bake/freeze pastries). That would make life easier, and it would be more fun to bake these. The recipe is well-written. Scrumptious!
