Seeni sambol buns

Seeni Sambol buns are a Sri Lankan favourite; found at bakeries and street vendors all of the island. Like most Sri Lankan foods, many families follow their own personal and unique method for their sambol; allow me to share my own.

• serves

  2

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Seeni sambol

• 3 brown onions, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp kashmiri chilli flakes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 5 cardamom pods
• 5 curry leaves
• 3 rampah leaves (pandan)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 cloves
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp coconut milk

Buns

• 50 g butter
• 7 g instant yeast
• 120 ml water
• 1 ½ tbsp granulated sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 50 g milk powder
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour

Resting time: 2 hours 45 minutes

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan evenly mix and incorporate your onion, garlic, olive oil, chilli flakes, salt, sugar and chilli powder
2. Put your saucepan on the lowest fire possible and add your cardamom pods, curry leaves, ramps leaves, cinnamon stick and cloves
3. Cover and allow your saucepan to sweat and simmer for 45 minutes. Make sure you still attend to it and mix as it simmers
4. As the onions simmer, add your yeast, sugar and water in a bowl and mix well. Leave this until it froths (if it does not froth you may need new yeast as it is not activated).
5. In a mixing bowl add your flour, salt, milk powder, butter, and egg. Mix this well using a spoon or rubber spatula
6. Once your yeast has activated add this into the bowl and mix again until fully incorporated
7. Using a stand mixer with a dough hook knead your mixture for about 10-15 minutes, alternatively you can knead by hand.
8. Brush a bowl with either butter or oil and set the dough inside, cover this with cling wrap and let it rest until the dough has expanded to double its original size (this may take up to 2 hours).
9. Once your dough has expanded lightly knead with your hands and cut into 4-6 pieces. Roll these pieces into even, smooth balls
10. After 45 minutes your onions should be soft and jammy in texture. Add your coconut milk and lemon juice and stir one final time to evenly incorporate
11. Simmer your sambol for another 5 minutes and then transfer it to a bowl to rest until room temperature (if it is too hot it will melt the dough).
12.  Once it has cooled down, add 2 tbsp of seeni sambol inside your dough balls and fold them back onto themselves (try not to flatten the dough too much because you want the inside of the buns to be fluffy)
13. Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
14. Dust flour on a baking tray and place the assembled buns with adequate space in between them. Cover them with a damp cloth and allow the buns to rise once more, about 20 minutes.
15. Once the dough has risen again egg wash the top of the buns.
16. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
17. Once out of the oven allow a resting time of 10 minutes before eating.

Note

•Adding Maldive fish to the seeni sambol is optional for non-vegetarians and can usually be found in Sri Lankan or Indian grocers. Another tip is to ensure your sambol isn’t too runny, it should be thick and jammy.

Celebrate Diwali with SBS

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.