Seeni sambol or spicy caramelised onion relish is one of the most famous Sri Lankan side dish or filling in our buns/pastry/bread/milk rice and many more. It’s a combination of spiciness from dried chilli flakes, sweet from sugar and tangy from tamarind or garcinia (Goraka) finely sliced onions are cook in very low heat to caramelise them, you need enough patience to cook this. Means.., you cannot cook this in high heat within a minute. If so your onion will get burn and they will become crispy and roasted instead of caramelising. And if you are vegan, avoid mixing “Maldive fish” to this. Adding Maldive fish is an optional, but it gives an extra taste. 

As how my mother taught me, peel and wash your onions well, sit them in a colander to leave the water before slice. Never slice and wash, Never cook with water. Because Seeni Sambol is something we make to keep long period. At least 2 weeks. If you cook with water sooner this will get stale. Once you done with cooking, let it cool completely. Store in a clean, dried airtight container/glass jar. Better to keep in refrigerator. 

Thinly sliced onions are slow cooked with dried chilli flakes, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, curry leaves, Garcinia, cooking oil, pandan leaf, Maldive fish (optional) and at last adding some  sugar to it. Recipe of my SEENISAMBOL is already on my Instagram feed. Get it from there. 

Before fill your doughs with seenisambol, make sure to remove all the cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon and pandan leaf from it. Otherwise you gonna bite your bun with those spices. 

If you have a stand mixture, use it to knead your dough. I used 230ml warm milk to mix my dough. But be careful when adding liquid, this may be less or more. 

Transfer the rough dough to the working board and start to knead with soft butter. You’ll feel more sticky, don’t worry. work with your dough, butter will spread in all over the dough. After kneading about 5-6 minutes if it is still sticky sprinkle some flour and knead. (Not more otherwise your dough will be tough) At last you’ll have a smooth and soft dough. 

1.add 230ml warm milk to a small mixing bowl with 15g sugar, 10g active dry yeast. Mix well and cover and leave it to activate. You’ll see bubbly yeast mixture if your yeast is active. If not use another newly opened yeast pack.

2.into a large mixing bowl add 500g all purpose flour 10g salt and mix with a fork. 

3.add the activated yeast mixture to the flour and mix with a fork.

4.beat 1 large egg in a small bowl and add to the flour and mix. 

5.knead well and make a rough dough. 

6.transfer the dough to a clean smooth board or a table. 

7.add 35g softened butter to the dough and start to knead. Knead about 15-20 minutes until you have a smooth dough. If the dough is still sticky sprinkle some flour and knead. 

8.place the dough in a oil/butter greased bowl add cover with a cling wrap and leave it in the warm place to double in size about 2h. 

9.sprinkle some flour over the working board/table. You may see the dough is now doubled. Press on it to leave the air. Place the dough over the working board. knead more couple of minutes. 

10.shape the dough into a baguette/log. Divide into some equal parts. Mine was between 65-70g. 

11.flatten them to a round shape, roughly. Do it by your hands. Place some seenisambol at the center and fold. 

12.bring both up and down sides inwards, later bring the other two sides and gently press it to the dough to get stick. (See the images) 

13.place the seenisambol stuffed doughs on a baking pan prepared with a parchment paper. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave more 30-45 minutes to rest. 

14.meantime pre heat your into 200’C. beat 1 egg in a small cup and using a kitchen brush, egg wash your seenisambol stuffed doughs before place in oven. 

15.bake the buns in a pre heated oven into 180’C about 25-30 minutes or until top looks in golden colour. 

16.once they are ready, take out of the oven and cover with a kitchen towel, leave about 5-10 minutes to set the crumb and serve with hot cuppa tea.