O'zbek somsalari tayyorladim!

In case you're an uneducated loser who can't read Uzbek (you know who you are), the title of this entry means "I made Uzbek somsas!"  What is a somsa, you ask?  I described it to my roommate as what might result if a samosa and a knish got married.  Monday was my last day of my beloved Uzbek class--not to mention the date of our final exam--and so I resolved on Sunday to try my hand at Uzbek cookery in recognition of the occasion/to cushion the blow of screwing up the test (as I was sure to do).  

Seeing as Central Asian food may be the least vegan-friendly cuisine on the planet, my somsa-making marked a truly historic occasion--they were quite possibly THE FIRST VEGAN UZBEK FOOD EVER.  It can be done!  Whether or not it actually is done, unfortunately, I'll have to find out the hard way--if I'm not back in Ann Arbor next semester, you may safely assume that I died of malnutrition in Kyrgyzstan.  Remember me well, and may this recipe be my epitaph.

Uzbek Somsas

Ingredients:

For Dough:

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup soft silken-style tofu

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

warm water

2 tablespoons margarine, melted

2-3 tablespoons soymilk (original or unsweetened)

Directions:

Make the dough first.  Start by sifting together the flour and salt in a large bowl.  Whiz the tofu and olive oil in a blender or food processor until smooth; add tofu mixture to flour and mix to combine.  Then add warm water a little bit at a time, mixing until a dough starts to form.  When the dough gets too stiff to mix with a fork, knead it with your hands.  Add enough warm water that the dough is soft and flexible, but not so much that it becomes sticky (if this happens, add a bit more flour).  Let the dough rest for 30-45 minutes.

On a well-floured surface, roll the dough out into a rectangular shape.  It should be about 1/2-3/4" thick.  Pour melted margarine onto the sheet of dough and, using your hands, spread the margarine until the entire surface is greased.  Then, starting at one of the rectangle's short edges, tightly roll up the dough into a log (margarine-side in).  Wrap the dough log in plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours.  Make your filling during this time (see recipes below).

Once the dough has chilled, unwrap the log and place in on a well-floured surface.  Slice the dough into coins about 1 1/2"-2" thick.  Making sure the surface is very well-floured, roll each coin out into round, 1/3"-thick circle.  Your circles should be about 5" in diameter--a little larger or smaller is okay.  In the center of each, drop a heaping tablespoon of the filling of your choice.  Now would be a good time to preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Now for the creative part: shaping your somsas.  Uzbek somsas come in three traditional shapes: round, triangular and square.  Having read in some probably-completely-unreliable online source that triangular somsas are considered the most authentic and aesthetically pleasing in Uzbekistan, I opted to take the triangular route with my first batch.  This involves folding in three sides of the dough circle till they meet in the middle and the dough has a roughly triangular footprint.  Then pinch the edges together, completely sealing the filling inside the dough.  Make sure the edges are sticking together well; if they look like they're coming apart, wet your fingers a little to make the dough a bit stickier and try again.  Once the somsa is shaped, use a pastry brush dipped in soymilk to lightly paint the top and sides.

As you may have guessed, you follow the same general procedure to make the other somsa shapes.  To make squares, fold in four of the sides of the dough circle; to make round somsas, just gather and pinch together the dough edges above the filling.  Round ones are the easiest to make, but the other shapes aren't much harder.  Remember to glaze each one with a little soymilk.

Place somsas on a greased baking sheet and bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes, until the dough is golden and lightly browned around the edges.  Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then move to a wire rack.  These can be served hot or cold, and are definitely intended to be finger food.

Pumpkin Filling:

1 small sugar pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and seeded

1 small onion

salt, pepper, sugar to taste

Dice pumpkin into small cubes, about 1/4"-1/2".  Dice onion small.  Combine pumpkin and onion in a small mixing bowl; season to taste with salt, pepper and sugar.  Mix well.  If you intend to make the filling in advance, don't add the salt until right before you assemble the somsas.

Spinach Filling:

Approximately 4 cups fresh spinach

1 bunch fresh cilantro

1 small onion

a splash of oil (I used olive)

1-1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

salt and pepper to taste.

Dice onion small  Heat oil in a medium frying pan; add onion and cook over medium heat until golden, about 5 minutes.  Add spinach and saute until just wilted.  Add cilantro, coriander, salt and pepper; saute until greens are well-wilted but still verdant (don't let them turn brown and slimy).  Remove from heat.

Somsas are most often filled with meat (usually mutton), but pumpkin- and spinach-filled varieties are also traditional and common.  Looking at my recipe, you might think that somsas seem pretty vegetarian-friendly and wonder what I was complaining about earlier in this post.  For the record, skeptics, I should note that the recipe from which I adapted mine called for butter, 2 eggs and 5 ounces of lamb fat (yes, lamb fat).  Oh, and it was the only recipe I could find that didn't contain meat and/or mayonnaise.

Kyrgyzstan, here I come.