🇰🇬 Kyrgyz Cuisine

Samsa

Baked Meat Pastry

Prep Time 60 min

Servings 8

Difficulty Medium

Calories 320 kcal

Flaky pastry triangles filled with seasoned lamb, onions, and cumin, baked in a tandoor oven until golden and crispy. A popular street food throughout Kyrgyzstan.

Ingredients

500g flour
200g butter or lamb fat
200ml water
1 teaspoon salt
500g lamb, finely diced
3 onions, finely diced
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 egg for glaze
Sesame seeds

Instructions

1 Make dough from flour, water, and salt; rest 20 minutes.
2 Roll dough thin, spread with softened butter, fold and roll 3 times.
3 Cut into squares.
4 Mix lamb, onions, cumin, pepper, and salt for filling.
5 Place filling on each square, fold into triangles, seal edges.
6 Brush with egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds.
7 Bake at 220°C for 20 minutes until golden.

Did You Know?

In bazaars across Kyrgyzstan, samsa vendors start baking at dawn, slapping the raw pastries onto the inner walls of clay tandoor ovens where they bake suspended over hot coals.