Making your own sambusa dough is no light task but there are times when you just want to make it yourself. Maybe you cant find the spring roll/sambusa wrappers in your grocery store, or maybe you want to get the bubbly, crispy texture that the homemade one gives, or maybe you just want to play around with your new dough roller, which was my main reason. JHere I showed you two ways to make the dough. The first is with a dough roller, which I realize is not a kitchen appliance which most people have. So the other method is just to toss it out by hand and it still worked out nearly as well, the only disadvantage being a bit more waste and the chance of ripping the delicate dough. There are many other ways to make it by hand also, but this way works well for me since I dont really like using a rolling pin. But if you dont feel comfortable tossing the dough you could use a rolling pin, its really just preference.

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1 1/4 cup water

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 tbsp. oil

Extra flour for coating the dough

How to make

1.       Mix all ingredients together and knead until smooth. Dough should be soft but not sticky. You may need to add more water or flour to achieve the right consistency.

2.       Split the dough into equal size balls. Below I show two different methods for rolling out the dough, one is using a pasta machine roller and the other is by hand. If you are using a dough machine, I would split them into 8 small balls and if you are going to toss them out by hand I would make 4-6 larger balls, according to the size baking pan you are going to use. Let the dough relax for about 30 minutes.

3.       For the first method: Take one of the small dough balls and coat it in flour. Turn on the dough machine and put the dough through on the thickest setting, for my dough roller this is number one. Then change the setting to the next thickest setting, number 2, and put the dough through again. At this point, I folded over the sides of the dough (see video) in order to get the dough a bit more narrow.  Then I put it back through on number 1 and 2, and finally 3 and 4. If the dough becomes too long or thin for you to work with you can cut it into 2 or 3 pieces. I also continue to coat the dough with flour as I am working with it so that it doesn’t stick to the machine. 

4.       I cut my dough into 2 or 3 rectangle shaped pieces, about the right size for sambusa wrappers. Then I trim the ends if they are uneven. Coat the dough very well with flour and place them on a baking sheet stacked about 3 high. It’s very important to make sure they are coated well with flour otherwise they will stick to each other and become unworkable. Cook these in a 200 F oven for about 4-5 minutes, or until the dough is partially dry and firm. It shouldn’t be dry enough to crack but it should be just firm enough so it holds it shape when you are ready to work with it. The point is not to cook the dough, but just to get it firm and sturdy.

5.       For the second method: Take one of the large dough balls and coat in flour. Press into a large circle on the table and then pick it up and stretch it between two fists gently until it grows larger. Stretch the dough over the bottom of a flat baking sheet, trying your best to keep it even in thickness. Let the dough relax for 5 minutes to prevent it from shrinking, then cut it into rectangle shapes.

6.       Bake it in a 200 F oven for 4-5 minutes and then remove from the pan. Trim off any excess, I try to go for a rectangle shape.

7.       Coat well with flour and stack and place in plastic wrap for storage. You can leave it for a few days in the fridge or longer in the freezer until you are ready to use it.

8.       To fold into triangles, I try to cut a 60 degree angle on one end. Then I place the filling down in the shape of an equilateral triangle. Then carefully fold the triangle over, so that whatever side was pointing down is now pointing up. Continue this movement until you reach the end of the dough. Trim off any excess and if the end is too dry you can add a bit of water or water/flour mix to help it stick together so it doesn’t come apart during the frying. Check out the video for more details!

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