An elongated muscat pumpkin or a butternut squash: both are dense and sweet. Avoid fodder pumpkins and other watery kinds, which make a soggy filling.
Pumpkin samsa is a seasonal Uzbek bake for autumn and winter, when firm, sweet pumpkins come to the market. Pumpkin, onion and a pinch of spice give the filling its sweet and savoury taste. It is a meatless version of the classic meat samsa, and in the cold months Uzbek families bake it as a filling, warming snack.
Method
- 1
Make the dough as for classic samsa: roll it out, spread it with butter and roll it up into a log.
- 2
Peel the pumpkin, scoop out the seeds and cut the flesh into 5 mm dice.
- 3
Finely dice the onions and mix them with the pumpkin.
- 4
Add the melted tail fat, salt, pepper and zira, and stir well.
- 5
Leave the filling to stand for 10 minutes so the pumpkin releases its juice and the onion softens.
- 6
Roll each piece of dough out into a round and put a spoonful of filling on it.
- 7
Pinch the edges together into a triangle and place on a baking tray, seam side down.
- 8
Brush with egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- 9
Bake at 200 °C for 30 minutes, until the crust is a deep golden brown.
- 10
Leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Cook's tips
- Use a sweet, dense pumpkin such as a muscat pumpkin or a butternut squash; watery varieties make a soggy filling.
- Do not leave out the tail fat or butter: without fat, pumpkin samsa comes out rather dry.
- For texture, you can add a handful of pumpkin seeds to the filling.
- Freshly baked pumpkin samsa is traditionally served with honey or a good katyk (a thick Uzbek soured milk).
FAQ
Pumpkin samsa: common questions
Yes: use butter or ghee instead of tail fat, and the texture will still be right.
At the very least salt, pepper and zira. If you like, add a pinch of nutmeg or ground coriander. Cinnamon is not used in Uzbek samsa.
It tastes best on the day it is baked and keeps for 2 days in the fridge. Reheat it in the oven at 180 °C for 8 minutes and the crust will crisp up again.
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Get the ingredients at Arkan Bazar
You will find rice, spices, dried fruit, nuts, non flatbread and tea for most of these recipes on our counter at Riga Central Market, Nēģu iela 7, open daily from 09:00 to 17:00.