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Sambusa with Viane, Aline, Magnifique, Emily, Josephine, & Francin


Viane’s interview included his sisters and cousins. He mostly stepped back to care for the youngest kids, giving space for his family to share their recipe and its significance. For this family, sambusa is a celebratory dish. While growing up in Tanzania, sambusas sold by street vendors were too expensive. The cousins often smelled them, but had not actually tried sambusa until they arrived in the U.S . Now that they have a few more resources, they love to make sambusa when big groups of family and friends get together.

“This is a food you make for parties,” explains Viane’s sister Aline, but watching them, we realized making the dish is itself kind of a party too. Shaping, filling, and frying 60 individual sambusas can be a joyous activity when many cousins gather around a table to do it. The family members explained that it has to be done this way; otherwise, it would simply be too much work. They played music, laughed, gently ribbed each other for holes in their dough, and patiently taught younger siblings their techniques. While the oldest siblings remember Tanzania well, some younger sisters have spent more of their lives in the U.S., so cooking Tanzanian dishes together also provides a connection back to home. The ingredients for the sambusas are found in local stores like Walmart, and they use available items like Mexican-style tortillas for the dough. But Viane’s dad still orders staples like dried salted fish, which are shipped all the way from home.

For Aline and Magnifique, the eldest sisters in each set of siblings, cooking for their siblings and cousins is a way to take on responsibility on the way to adulthood. They both imagine cooking for themselves and their families when they get married and eventually have their own children. Knowing how to use what is available to make big family meals is practice and preparation. With everyone on different school and work schedules, a dish like sambusa brings the family to the table-–literally. Toward the end of the interview, Viane left to pick up his dad from work. They arrived just in time to share in the overflowing bowl of golden sambusas and compliment the work that went into the dish. 


Sambusa Recipe

Servings: Makes 60 sambusas, serving 15-30 people depending on how much other food is going to be served.
Time: ~90 minutes with many hands


Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch of cilantro
  • 1 head of celery
  • 2 green bell peppers
  • 2 colorful (red and orange) bell peppers
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 bunch of scallions
  • 5 lbs of ground beef
  • 30 8in flour tortillas
  • Goya sazon ajo y cebolla powder (2 packets)
  • 3 tbsp chicken or beef bouillon
  • 2 tbsp cinnamon
  • ginger to taste
  • neutral oil for frying
  • 1/2 cup of flour


Instructions:

  • Prepare your vegetables:
    • Dice all of the veggies (pepper, onion, celery, scallions, cilantro)
  • Prepare the dough (can be done simultaneously by a different person):
    • Mix the flour with water at about a 3:1 ratio or to create a slurry. This will act as the glue for your sambusa pouches.
    • Cut the tortillas in half
    • Fold each tortilla into thirds, forming a triangle with a curved top and a point at the bottom.
    • Using your finger, use the slurry as a “glue” to glue two of the layers together and to close all seams and corners except the top. Each tortilla should become a triangular pouch with a closed bottom that comes to a point, one side that is one tortilla layer, and another side that is two tortilla layers. Leave the top open so that filling can be added. You will seal it up later.
  • Once the vegetables are ready, prepare the meat (dough preparation can continue simultaneously):
    • Heat about 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a large pan.
    • With a mortar and pestle, grind the bouillon, cinnamon, and Goya powder together.
    • Add the onions to the oil and cook until soft.
    • Add the spice mixture and stir to combine.
    • Add the meat and cook until about half way to brown.
    • When the meat is about half cooked, drain out the excess liquid and then add the peppers and celery. Continue to cook until all of the liquid is gone and the meat is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.
  • Compose the sambusas:
    • Remove the meat from the heat and stir in the cilantro
    • Using a slotted spoon, or being careful to squeeze out the oil from the filling, spoon about a tablespoon of filling into each dough pocket. Then fold the top of the pouch slightly and use the flour and water slurry to seal the top of the pocket. Make sure not to over stuff the sambusas, or they will burst open.
  • Fry the sambusas:
    • Pour about 4 to 6 inches of oil into a deep, heavy bottomed pot. I can be a small pot to conserve oil. Heat until a bit of dough or water sizzles.
    • Then fry the sambusas a few at a time until just golden. Depending on the depth of your oil you may need to flip the sambusas half way through cooking.
    • Use a slotted spoon or strainer to remove sambusas and place on a plate or in a container lined with paper towels.
  • Let cool slightly, then serve. Sambusas are best eaten at a party!