🥟 Sambusa
Crispy pastry with meat or vegetable filling — Swahili coast snack.
Sambusa in English is samosa. Meat samosa recipe (sambusa za nyama) — Tanzania street food with step-by-step instructions.
Best places for Sambusa
-
Samora Samosa — beef sambusa Samaki Samaki — Dar es Salaam
-
Sambusa — Mikahawa ya mitaani Dar es Salaam Meat and veggie sambusa
-
Sambusa — Forodhani Gardens Zanzibar Ramadan sambusa
Ingredients
- 3 cups Flour
- 400 g Minced beef
- 2 Onions
- 1 tbsp Ginger and spices
- 3 cups Frying oil
- 2 tbsp Oil for dough
- 3/4 cup Water
- to taste Salt
How to cook Sambusa
Sambusa is the East African samosa — triangular pastry filled with meat or lentils, folded and deep-fried until crisp. Eaten at iftar, celebrations and Dar-Zanzibar street stalls. Meat sambusa is the classic Tanzanian version.
- Mix flour, salt, oil and water into smooth sambusa dough; rest 20 minutes.
- Dice onions; fry minced beef with onions in oil until meat is cooked.
- Add ginger, spices and salt; cool filling until dry-ish.
- Divide dough into 12 balls; roll each into a small circle.
- Cut circle in half, wet edges and form a cone.
- Fill cone with meat, fold into triangle — classic coastal samosa shape.
- Seal edges firmly so filling does not leak while frying.
- Heat oil in a deep pot to medium.
- Fry sambusa in batches until golden and crisp.
- Drain on paper; serve with tamarind chutney or chili sauce.
Tips
- Meat filling must be dry — wet filling bursts the samosa.
- Triangular fold is the classic coastal samosa shape.
- Medium oil and not overcrowding keeps sambusa crisp.
Goes well with
Frequently asked questions
- Sambusa in English ni nini?
- Sambusa in English ni samosa — triangular pastry filled with meat or vegetables. Beef samosa = sambusa za nyama.
- Jinsi ya kupika sambusa za nyama?
- Jinsi ya kupika sambusa za nyama: andaa mchuzi wa nyama, funga kwenye mkate wa sambusa, kasha au kaanga. Samosa recipe — hatua kamili hapa chini.
- Samosa recipe Tanzania?
- Samosa recipe Tanzania (sambusa) — meat-filled pastries fried until golden. Popular street food in Dar, Zanzibar and coast.
- Jinsi ya kupika sambusa za mchele?
- Sambusa za mchele hutumia mkate wa mchele badala ya unga wa ngano — andaa filling sawa, funga na kuka.
Delivery apps
Learn to cook
Discover real Dar nightlife
From $56 CAD / guest
Usiku wa chakula na burudani halisi jijini.
Omba ofa kutoka kwa watoa huduma
Panga Safari
Venture through the spice farm
From $77 CAD / guest
Tembea shamba la viungo na onja ladha za kweli.
Omba ofa kutoka kwa watoa huduma
Panga Safari
Swahili Sensations cooking experience
From $211 CAD / guest
Jifunze kupika vyakula vya Kiswahili.
Omba ofa kutoka kwa watoa huduma
Panga Safari
Zanzibar Spice Tour With The Local Guide
From $56 CAD / guest
Ziara ya viungo na mwongozaji wa ndani.
Omba ofa kutoka kwa watoa huduma
Panga Safari