Sambousek Dough and Freezing It for Ramadan
Sambousek dough keeps frozen for 3 months, but you need baking paper between the sheets or it fuses into a single block. And filled sambousek is frozen raw, spread out on a tray first, before it goes into a bag.
- Prep
- 70 min
- Cook
- —
- Total
- 70 min
- Calories
- 70
Sambousek is the most popular Ramadan starter, and making it before the month saves an hour a day. Homemade dough is cheaper and thinner than shop-bought, if you make it properly.
Method
-
1
Knead well
Mix the flour, salt and sugar, add the warm water and oil and knead for 15 minutes until the dough is smooth and very elastic. The long kneading develops the gluten you need for thin stretching.
⏱ 17 min -
2
Long rest
Cover the dough with cling film and leave it an hour. Resting relaxes the gluten so it stretches without springing back or tearing.
⏱ 62 min -
3
Ball and rest again
Divide into egg-sized balls, brush each with oil, cover and leave another 20 minutes. The oil prevents drying and makes rolling easier.
⏱ 24 min -
4
Roll with cornflour
Roll each ball so thin you can see your hand through it, dusting cornflour, not flour between each sheet. Cornflour separates; flour fuses.
⏱ 30 min -
5
Cut
Stack the sheets and cut them into strips 8 cm wide with a sharp knife or a pastry wheel. These strips are what you fold into triangles.
⏱ 10 min -
6
Freeze with baking paper
Put baking paper between every 5 strips, wrap the stack in cling film and then in a freezer bag. Without the paper they fuse into a block you cannot separate.
⏱ 10 min -
7
Freezing filled sambousek
If you have filled them, spread them on a tray not touching and freeze for two hours, then transfer to a bag. That way you can take out exactly how many you want instead of a fused block.
⏱ 15 min
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Tips that actually matter
- Cornflour, not flour, between the sheets — flour fuses, cornflour separates.
- Baking paper between every 5 strips when freezing, or you get one solid block.
- Filled sambousek fries straight from the freezer without thawing.
- The dough needs 15 minutes of kneading — less and it will not stretch thin.
People also ask
How do I stop the sheets sticking together?
Dust cornflour between each sheet as you roll — cornflour separates, unlike flour which absorbs moisture and fuses. And when freezing, put baking paper between every 5 strips.
How do I fry frozen sambousek?
Straight from the freezer without thawing, in oil at 170°C for 4-5 minutes. Thawing softens the dough so it bursts in the oil and the filling escapes.
How long does it keep frozen?
Empty dough 3 months, filled sambousek two months. Meat fillings shorten the time compared with cheese — and always write the date on the bag.
Cook mode
Sambousek Dough and Freezing It for Ramadan
-
1
Knead well
Mix the flour, salt and sugar, add the warm water and oil and knead for 15 minutes until the dough is smooth and very elastic. The long kneading develops the gluten you need for thin stretching.
-
2
Long rest
Cover the dough with cling film and leave it an hour. Resting relaxes the gluten so it stretches without springing back or tearing.
-
3
Ball and rest again
Divide into egg-sized balls, brush each with oil, cover and leave another 20 minutes. The oil prevents drying and makes rolling easier.
-
4
Roll with cornflour
Roll each ball so thin you can see your hand through it, dusting cornflour, not flour between each sheet. Cornflour separates; flour fuses.
-
5
Cut
Stack the sheets and cut them into strips 8 cm wide with a sharp knife or a pastry wheel. These strips are what you fold into triangles.
-
6
Freeze with baking paper
Put baking paper between every 5 strips, wrap the stack in cling film and then in a freezer bag. Without the paper they fuse into a block you cannot separate.
-
7
Freezing filled sambousek
If you have filled them, spread them on a tray not touching and freeze for two hours, then transfer to a bag. That way you can take out exactly how many you want instead of a fused block.
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