Sampa is a powerhouse of energy, it is super nutritious and completely vegan, and it will also last for 5 years, without refrigeration!
This is my secret recipe that keeps me energized and nourished when I go camping or even when I don't have a lot of money to buy healthy but expensive food.
Sampa is a recipe made of grains and honey that Tibetan monks invented for times of scarcity, they consider it as a sacred food, and it tastes delicious!
Are you intrigued? I hope so, because I would like to show you how to make it easily and (relatively) quickly.
Let's start with the ingredients:
- Dry corn
- Dry soy beans
- Dry lentils
- Dry garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
- Dry amaranth
- Dry peanuts
- Dry red beans
- Green bananas
- Honey
Note: green bananas should be sliced and then roasted until they can be powdered.
Note 2: all the ingredients should be used in the same proportion except the honey, which will be approximately 3 times as much of the total weight of the rest of the ingredients. For example: if the total weight of the grains is 1kg, you will need approximately 3kg of honey.
Note 3: you can omit or substitute any of these grains for similar ones. For example, I can't easily find red beans nor green bananas where I live, so I don't use them. Instead, I use 2 of the most nutritious foods on earth: powdered Moringa and spirulina, but be aware that this is my personal variation of the recipe, the original recipe does not contain these.
How to prepare Sampa:
Roast each of the ingredients separately (except the honey, the amaranth and the Moringa & Spirulina in case you are using them) in low heat, moving the grains constantly to avoid burning them.
Powder and mix all the ingredients except the honey. Tibetans recommend doing this with a mortar and a pestle while offering a prayer to "charge" the food. In all honesty, I find this really hard to do, so I use my blender to powder all the grains.
This is what it should look like:
Once you're finished, you'll be left with a light-brown powder or flour. Put it in a large bowl and prepare to get dirty!
Slowly pour the honey into the powdered grains and use your hand to mix thoroughly. Continue doing so until you reach the desired consistency, it should be hard enough to allow you to take a little bit of this "dough" and make a ball with it. Make sure to not let any of the powder dry.
Keep making balls with your hands and place them in a glass container or Mason jar, anything that can protect them from dust and insects.
When you're done, it should look like this:
Now get ready to try this incredible combination of taste, nutrition and culture that Tibet wants to share with you!
Be careful though: don't eat them at night or it might keep you awake, and don't eat too many at once, as too many grains can be hard on the stomach.
Bon appetit!
Give it a try and let us hear your experience in the comments below! And if you're feeling adventurous, why not also post a picture?