We loved this recipe so much that we begged Shahlo to come over and teach us how to make it before she went home!
Filling
Mix together:
1 kg beef, finely diced or coarsely ground
750 g of potatoes, finely diced
1 onion, coarsely chopped
Sprinkle over and blend thoroughly:
30 ml salt
7.5 ml ground black pepper
2.5 ml ground cayenne pepper
25 ml whole cumin seed
45 ml vegetable oil
Dough
Blend with your hands to form a pliant, smooth dough:
450 ml quite hot water
30 ml salt
225 ml salad oil
1½-2 ℓ of flour
Continue kneading for approximately 15 minutes, pulling the sides up over the top and punching them down into the ball with your knuckles continually. Turn the ball over periodically as you knead.
After kneading, coat the ball of dough with an additional 60 ml of salad oil, spreading the oil with your hands to ensure that the dough is evenly covered, to the point where the dough starts to absorb the oil. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 175. Separate the dough into balls up to 5 cm in size. (Smaller is fine for parties and special occasions, but for an everyday dinner, the samsa are typically made larger.)
Roll the balls out thin, working from the edges and turning the disk as you go. Leave an elongated thickening in the center to form a stronger and more attractive top to the finished samsa.
Place as much as 80 ml of the filling in the center of the disk (depending on the size of the circle of dough, as discussed above). Fold the one side over the other around the filling, aligning them with the elongated thickening you left. Pinch together and then pull the ends over and pinch shut.
Arrange on an ungreased cookie tray, folded side down, allowing 1 cm between the samsa. Brush with a beaten egg.
Bake until golden brown, both on top and bottom, approximately 30 minutes. Allow the finished samsa to cool for an hour or two to avoid burnt mouths, and serve with a good Asian red pepper sauce.