Seeni Sambol Banis Recipe – Caramelized Onion Bun

Difficulty:

3/5

Serves:

10 PEOPLE

Prep Time:

1 hour 45 mins minutes

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Seeni Sambol Banis Caramelized Onion Bun

Seeni Sambol Banis Recipe – Caramelized Onion Bun (Sri Lanka)

This Seeni Sambol Banis recipe brings Sri Lanka’s iconic street food to your kitchen—soft milk buns stuffed with sweet-savory caramelized onions (seeni sambol) and hard-boiled egg, then baked to golden perfection. Featured on Global Street Eats with Devan Rajkumar, these aromatic buns combine 1-hour onion jam, fluffy enriched dough, and traditional egg filling for authentic Sri Lankan flavor in every bite.

The Inspiration

Seeni sambol banis are Sri Lanka’s ultimate portable street food, sold from roadside carts, train station kiosks, and tea shops across the island. The magic lies in the contrast: hours of caramelized red onions cooked with cinnamon, curry leaves, pandan, tamarind, and coconut milk create a jammy, umami-packed filling that transforms simple buns into something transcendent.

Devan Rajkumar grew up eating these buns during his Sri Lankan family gatherings, making this Global Street Eats recipe deeply personal. The 1-hour onion cooking process might seem long, but it’s what elevates ordinary street food into something unforgettable—the sweet, spicy, tangy sambol paired with creamy egg and fluffy bread captures Sri Lanka’s genius for flavor layering.

Ingredients

For the Seeni Sambol:

2 lbs red onions, thinly sliced
¼ cup (60ml) vegetable oil
1 cinnamon stick
5 cardamom pods, gently pressed under the edge of a knife
5 curry leaves
3 pandan leaves
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp (9.9ml) Kashmiri chili powder
1 tbsp (14.8ml) tamarind paste
2 tbsp (29.6ml) coconut milk
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp (14.8ml) granulated sugar
½ tsp (2.5ml) salt

For the Bun Dough:

4 cups (500 g) (960ml) all-purpose flour
2 tsp (9.9ml) instant yeast
1 cup (240ml) room temperature water
1 cup (240ml) buttermilk
1 tsp (4.9ml) salt
1 tsp (4.9ml) sugar
6 large eggs
1 tbsp (14.8ml) milk

Methods

Make the Seeni Sambol:

Heat the oil, cinnamon stick, and cardamom pods in a large skillet over low heat. Add the onions, curry leaves, and pandan leaves and cook, stirring occasionally so that the onions don’t burn, for 1 hour. The onions should be soft and translucent. Add the salt, Kashmiri chili powder and garlic and continue cooking and stirring for 10 minutes more. Then add the sugar, tamarind paste, coconut milk, and lemon juice and continue cooking for 10 minutes more, or until the liquid has reduced and the mixture has thickened slightly.
Set aside to cool completely before stuffing the buns.

Make the Bun Dough:

Stir the yeast into the water to dissolve.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Pour in the water, yeast, and buttermilk and stir to combine. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth.
Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to that bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and allow to sit at room temperature for about 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
Once the dough has risen, punch it down and divide it into 10 equally sized dough balls. Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap or a towel and allow them to rest for 10 minutes.

Make the Hard Boiled Eggs:

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and carefully add 5 eggs to the pot. Cook the eggs for 8 minutes, then immediately transfer them to an ice bath to cool. Carefully peel the eggs and cut them in half.

Make the Buns:

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Working one at a time, roll out a dough ball on a lightly floured work surface to form a circle about 6 inches across. Place 2 tbsp of seeni sambol in the center of the dough and top with half an egg. Bring up the dough around the filling and pinch together. Turn the bun over so the pinched together tough is on the bottom and press gently to seal. Transfer the bun to the parchment lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining buns and filling.
Cover the baking sheet of buns with plastic wrap or a towel and allow to rise for about an hour, or until the buns have doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C) and mix 1 egg and the milk together in a small bowl.
When the buns have risen, brush them all with the egg wash.
Place the buns in the oven and bake for 25 minutes, turning the baking sheet once.
Transfer the buns to a cooling wrack for 10 minutes and serve warm.

Serving Suggestions

Serve Seeni Sambol Banis warm from the oven as Sri Lanka’s perfect street food—ideal for tea time, train journeys, or casual gatherings with pol sambol (coconut relish), seeni sambol straight from the jar, or extra chili sauce on the side. Pair with sweet milky tea (kiri kiri) or ginger beer, letting guests pull apart steaming buns to reveal jammy onions and creamy egg. For parties, arrange in pyramid formation on wooden boards with lime wedges—the golden buns and aromatic filling create instant visual drama that matches their unforgettable flavor.

Final Thoughts

This Seeni Sambol Banis recipe captures Sri Lanka’s street food soul: humble ingredients transformed through patience into flavor-packed perfection. Devan Rajkumar’s enriched dough and traditional 1-hour onion jam honor his heritage while making these buns accessible for every home cook. The sweet-savory filling, creamy egg, and fluffy bread create harmony that defines Sri Lankan baking.

Find more recipes from Global Street Eats here!