By Avraham Fuzaylov
Purim is a holiday of joy, a day of celebration where the boundaries between the ordinary and the extravagant blur. We dress in costumes, exchange mishloach manot (gift baskets filled with food), feast, and drink a little more than usual—all in the spirit of a story that reminds us of resilience, survival, and turning hardship into triumph.
And just like Purim isn’t complete without the Megillah (the scroll of Esther, read aloud in synagogues), a Bukharian Purim isn’t complete without Sambosai Puryoyi.
These thin, golden, flaky pastries aren’t just food. They’re a ritual, passed down through generations, fried in oil until crisp, and filled with a deeply spiced meat and onion mixture. They aren’t delicate little pastries that sit neatly on a plate—they’re meant to be grabbed with your hands, eaten fresh, hot, crispy, the layers shattering as you take a bite.
It’s the kind of food you fry in bulk, because no matter how many you make, there’s never enough.
A Purim Tradition Unlike Any Other
Purim is known for its sweets—hamantaschen, candies, honey-drenched pastries—but in Bukharian homes, savory belongs on the table too. If Purim is about feasting, then why wouldn’t we balance all that sugar with something crispy, salty, and deeply satisfying?
While many associate Purim food with mishloach manot, Sambosai Puryoyi is not something you pack into a basket. It’s something you serve fresh, straight from the pan, right on the Purim table. The best ones are thin, blistered, and golden, filled with tender, flavorful meat and onions, perfectly seasoned with black pepper.
It’s not just a dish—it’s part of the celebration itself.
Sambosai Puryoyi Recipe
Ingredients (makes 30 pieces):
- 2/3 lb (300g) ground beef
- 2 lbs (900g) flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda or 1 oz (30g) yeast
- 5 onions, finely chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1¼ cups oil, plus more for frying
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2½ teaspoons salt
Instructions:
Step 1: Prepare the Dough: Dissolve the yeast in 2 cups of warm water (85-95°F / 30-35°C) and let it sit until foamy.In a large bowl, mix flour and salt.Create a well in the center and add 2 tablespoons of oil, sugar, eggs, and the yeast mixture.Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic.Cover with a towel and let it rise for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
Step 2: Prepare the Filling: Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium heat.Sauté the onions until soft and translucent.Add the ground beef and cook until browned, stirring occasionally.Remove from heat, season with black pepper, and mix well.
Step 3: Assemble the Sambosai Puryoyi: Roll out the dough into thin, large sheets.Spoon small portions of the meat mixture onto one side of the dough in evenly spaced rows.Fold the empty half of the dough over the filling and press down firmly to seal.Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, slice into individual pieces.
Step 4: Fry to Perfection: Heat the remaining oil in a deep pan over medium heat.Carefully place the pastries into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides.Remove and place on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil.Makes approximately 30 pieces, serving 8-10 people.
The Perfect Bite for Purim
Sambosai Puryoyi doesn’t need a plate, a fork, or an occasion. It disappears the moment it leaves the pan, passed from hand to hand, grabbed straight from the pile, eaten standing up in the kitchen before it even makes it to the table.
This is Purim food the way it was meant to be—not just a dish, but a tradition. One that is fried in oil, steeped in history, and meant to be shared, in the moment, with the people around you.
Because if there’s one thing we know about Purim, it’s that the best moments are the ones that aren’t planned—the ones that happen in between the traditions, the ones you taste, you hear, you feel. And if there’s a food that embodies that?
It’s this.
Bukharian Bites celebrates the rich culinary heritage of the Bukharian community, aiming to connect people through food. Founder Abe Fuzaylov shares recipes in each English issue of Bukharian Times, starting with issue 1176.