Sambousé (Iranian Vegan Vegetable Turnovers)

Iranian sambousé are vegan turnovers similar to Arabic sambousek or Indian samosa. These potato-filled hand pies are often served for dinner with a spiced tomato sauce.

If you have a craving for crispy delicious vegan food that is easy and quick to cook, you need to try sambousé.

What is sambousé?

Sambousé is a turnover with different fillings. You find turnovers or hand pies like sambousé in many countries. The specifics of the recipe vary from country to country to fit into each culture.

The main recipe for sambousé is vegan. The filling is a savory combination of potatoes, onions, Italian parsley, and coriander.

To this perfect combination, people add different spices to make a unique taste.

In non-vegan recipes of this dish, meat and cheese are also added.

The vegan recipe you will find in this article shows how this dish is cooked in Iran.

In this recipe, a savory combination of vegetables is stuffed into a special thin bread called Lavash. This wrap is later fried until golden.

Families often serve sambousé for dinner. They serve it garnished and enjoyed with tomato sauce.

The origin of sambousé

Sambousé is a Persian dish. (Persia was an ancient kingdom whose center was located in present-day Iran.)

This dish is famous around the world. In different countries, you find it under various names: Smosa in Pakistan, Sambousek or Sambūsak in Arab countries, and Samosa in India.

Sambousé dates back to the beginning of the 10^th century. In the 11^th century, the Persian historian and writer Abul-Fazl Bayhagi mentioned it in his book, Tārīk-i Bayhagī.

Although Persians have enjoyed this dish for a long time, especially in the south of present-day Iran, it was not until 300-400 years later that the merchants introduced it to the world.

Sambousé vs. sambousek

For most people, it is hard to distinguish sambousé from sambousek. Some may even think they are the same. Although sambousek is one variation of sambousé, they still have differences which I will mention below:

First, the filling. Sambousé is vegan. It is a great option for vegans since it contains only vegetables. Sambousek usually contains meat, cheese, or both.

Second, the bread. To cook sambousé we use lavash which is a thin already-cooked bread. For sambousek the filling is stuffed into dough. The dough and the filling inside of it cook together in the frying oil.

Third, appearance. This is not a rule, but you will usually find sambousé folded like a triangle. While people most often fold sambousek like a shellfish.

Fourth, sambousé is usually enjoyed in Iran, while sambousek is often enjoyed in Arab countries.

Tips for making these vegetable turnovers

For the potato filling, remember to wash your potatoes before boiling them. Otherwise, while boiling, they will break and have an unpleasant taste.

An optional step for the potato filling is to add one teaspoon of salt to the pot as the potatoes boil. This can help your potatoes have a subtle salty taste. If you do so, you should add less salt to your filling mixture later, so it won't be too salty.

You can use chopped frozen parsley and coriander in the filling. But if you use fresh herbs that you have chopped yourself, your Sambousé will taste better.

When chopping the parsley and the coriander, remember we do not want a mouthful of big chunky leaves. And we do not want the herbs to completely disappear because the pieces are so fine. Aim for a middle ground. However, always chop them slightly bigger than what you want in your finished dish. Once you fry them, they lose water and get smaller.

A big secret to having a delicious sambousé is that you should fry the mashed potatoes for a long time. We do not want any lumps in our mashed potatoes. So, you should fry and stir until they are completely smooth. This will also help remove the raw taste and smell of potatoes, giving them a better flavor.

Add the delicate parsley and coriander at the end of the cooking time for the filling and don't fry them too much. We want them to maintain their fresh taste and aroma.

Sambousé is spicy food. So don't be afraid to add more pepper to the filling if you like.

Let the filling mixture cool completely before adding it to the bread. If it is still warm, you can taste and smell the flour in the wrapping bread, which is not nice.

Use fresh soft lavash bread. This way folding will be easier and your Sambousé will look nicer.

To get out the extra oil after frying the Sambousé, you can put the turnovers on a clean kitchen towel for a few minutes.

How to serve and store sambousé

Traditionally we garnish sambousé with tomato sauce. To have a delicious homemade tomato sauce, you need to let your tomatoes boil. Then puree the boiled tomatoes. Finally season them with salt, black pepper, red pepper, sugar, and a little vinegar.

You can store sambousé in the fridge for a few days, but reheat it before serving. It tastes better when you serve it hot.

In Iran, the side beverage for this dish is Iranian doogh (a mixture of water, yogurt, salt, rose petals, and dried mint) or sodas. You can enjoy sambousé with these drinks or any other drink you enjoy.