SAMSA
Whose appetite is not wet by the very word and whose imagination is not fed with images of far flung lands where colorful sellers prepare this delicious finger food in the tandir oven, from where the wonderful aroma of freshly baked dough and the juicy meat stuffing fills the air.

To recall your culinary memories of Central Asia, why not bake your own Samsa back home... Here's the recipe.

THE DOUGH
1 kg flour to which you add 3dl water and 100g oil or butter. Knead it all into a compact loaf, cover with a cloth and leave it standing for 30 min.

THE FILLING
1 kg beef or lamb meet if handcut into fine cubes, same with 1kg oignons. In Asia they add pices of mutton fat, you may or may not follow this part of the original recipe.You could try your own version with bacon...

All these cut up ingredients go into a big bowl for the seasoning. Salt, Pepper,differen tfreshly cut Herbs, you like it hot and spicy or mild and tasty?

FOR ADDED TASTE
And depending on your plans for after, you could add a couple of cloves of garlic, put them through the garlic press, add quickly roast this paste in hot olive oil till it turns a golden color. Remove from the heat source and add chilly, just a hint of it.

This paste is a great addition to spice up other dishes too and can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 weeks if container properly sealed.

For an even juicier consistency of the meat mix, you could add some yoghurt (not the diet type though).

This filling sits for an hour in a cool place.

After one hour the filling needs to be kneaded thoroughly, to blend the different juices well. Not with a mixer, not with a spoon - do not hesitate to use both hands. Add one glass of hot water and work it into the meat mix.

PREPARING THE DOUGH PADDIES
Prepare small dough balls, by means of the rolling pin flatten them out to a handsize sheet. We are not producing dumplings so keep the sheets more on the thick side.

FILLING & FOLDING
Heap a spoon full of meat filling onto each round sheet and fold them either into a triangle or the shape of an envelope. Or you could be really creative and come up with your own technique. The main thing is to seal the seams well by working them into each other.

Lay out the raw samsa on a baking sheet and even better on baking paper. Brush them with a bit of oil. Now in the oven at 240degrees C for 30 to 40 min.

The oven fresh, crispy and golden samsas are laid out on a paper towel. Since the Samsa crust is by now all dried up, brush another layer of oil onto the surface. Ready. Serve yourself.

BON APPETIT!

SHARP & USEFUL TIPS
In Central Asia, Samsa without plenty of cut up meet is unthinkable. This means knives need to be sharpened often and thoroughly. Thus, buy a pjala or kasushka bowl to bring back home, and use the bottom rim to slide your knife across and sharpen it. This for frequent in between sharpenings. Works fast and easy. Guaranteed.

By the way, Jizzak is renowned for being the area with the best Samsa in Uzbekistan and honestly, Uzbek's drive hundreds of km's when they get that Samsa craving...