“Samali, pasteli, kok.” This characteristic “announcement” heard in stadiums a few decades ago brings many people anything from sweet memories to… drooling. Samali was one of the treats loved by football fans, since it kept the crowd satisfied.
Samali has a strong mastic flavor and is a firm semolina cake, generously soaked in syrup.
It is yet another dessert brought from the East, one that was also greatly loved in Greece.
Samali first appears in Damascus, where it was flavored with rosewater, from the famous roses of Syria.
It then passed to Constantinople, where mastic was added. That is how it came to Greece as well.
In the past, samali was sold by street vendors in the streets, at open-air markets, and at fairs.
Today, it is both a pastry-shop dessert and a homemade sweet for those who love it.
Ingredients for one 25×35 cm tray of samali
- 500 g coarse semolina
- 5 g Chios mastic
- 250 g sugar
- 500 g yogurt
- 100 ml water & 100 ml milk (or 200 ml only milk or only water)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- blanched almonds for decoration
- a little butter for the baking tray
Ingredients for the syrup
- 700 g sugar
- 600 g water
- 1 tbsp glucose syrup
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
With the automatic ingredient converter from Foodurismo, easily see, for every recipe, how many grams or ml correspond to each cup. Try it here!
Instructions
In a mortar, add one teaspoon of sugar and the mastic “tears” and grind them into powder.
In a large bowl, add the yogurt and baking soda and mix well with a whisk.
Add the liquids, the milk and the water, and mix again.
Add the mastic, salt, and sugar and mix well until the ingredients are fully combined.
Finally, add the semolina little by little while stirring continuously. Add a small amount each time and mix until it is absorbed before continuing.
Butter a baking tray well.
Pour in the mixture and level it with a spatula.
Let the mixture rest in the tray for at least 1.5 hours. After some time you will notice that it has risen slightly.
Then lightly score it into pieces with a knife.
Place one almond on each piece.
Bake the samali in a preheated oven at 170°C, with top and bottom heat, for about 45 minutes.
When the dessert is almost baked, prepare the syrup.
In a small saucepan, add 700 g sugar and 600 g water.
Bring to a boil for 2–3 minutes.
Add 1 tablespoon of glucose syrup and boil for another 3–4 minutes.
Add the lemon juice as well and turn off the heat.
Remove the dessert from the oven and immediately pour the hot syrup over the hot samali.
Let the dessert rest for at least 12 hours before serving.
Keep in mind that the longer you leave it before cutting it, the better its flavor becomes. Ideally, samali should remain in its syrup for 24 hours so that its aromas can fully develop.
Enjoy it plain or with ice cream.
To stay instantly updated with everything new from us, follow Foodurismo on Facebook, on instagram, on pinterest, and also subscribe to the Foodurismo channel on youtube
Find the recipe on our YouTube channel: