The Art of Sambusa Making

Friday after work Mari, Silje, Krista and I went over to our clinical instructor, Zulekha's house to make home made sambusas! I was particularly excited about this endeavor because they have become a favorite staple of mine here in Tanzania and I wanted to see if I could make them when I got home. I can't make any promises, as they were quite a bit of work. I will say that nothing beats a fresh homemade sambusa!

Zulekha's daughter showing us how to prepare Sambusas. First by chopping the green peppers, carrots, onions, and pilipili

Then you mix all the chopped veggies with the ground beef for the filling. 

Next, you take the manda leaves and intricately fold them  to make a  pocket for the meat.  For the "glue" we used wheat flour and water.

Scoop some of the filling and then fold the rest of the leave over using more glue to close the triangle.

And then you end up with TONS of sambusas ready for frying! 

Voila, the finished product. 

And then you chill out, because that was hard work! 

Zulekha also made a wonderful meal for us of rice and cow liver. I can't necessarily say I loved the cow liver, as it was a little strange. However, after all the sambusas and the meal I have never been so full in my life! We left her house with TONS of leftover sambusas for breakfast and lunch.

Hopefully I will be ambitious enough to try this project at home!


- K