← Nouns Cooking · Caribbean

Ingredients

• 500 g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
• 2 tsp Ground turmeric, divided
• 2 tsp Curry powder, divided
• 1½ tsp Salt, divided
• 250 g cold butter (or half butter, half shortening), cubed
• 150 ml ice-cold water
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 3 Spring onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 Scotch bonnet chilli, minced
• 500 g Minced beef
• 1 tsp Dried thyme
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp Paprika
• ¼ tsp Black pepper
• 1 tbsp Browning sauce (optional)
• 160 ml water or beef stock, for the filling
• 40 g Breadcrumbs
• 1 Eggs, beaten with 1 tbsp water

Method

1. Mix the flour with 1½ tsp turmeric, 1 tsp curry powder and 1 tsp salt. Rub in the butter until it looks like coarse crumbs with some pea-sized lumps, then stir in the cold water to make a dough. Wrap and chill for 1 hour.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and soften the onion, spring onion, garlic and scotch bonnet for 4 min. Add the beef and cook for 6–8 min, breaking it up, until browned.
3. Stir in the remaining curry powder and turmeric, the thyme, allspice, paprika, pepper, browning (if using), the rest of the salt and the water. Simmer for 10 min, then stir in the breadcrumbs to bind it. Cool completely.
4. Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and line two trays with baking paper. Roll the pastry out 3 mm thick and cut out 10 circles about 15 cm across, using a small plate.
5. Put 2–3 tbsp filling on one half of each circle, brush the edge with egg, fold over into a half-moon and crimp firmly with a fork.
6. Brush the tops with egg and bake for 25–30 min, until golden and flaky. Cool for a few minutes before eating; the filling is very hot.

Tips

• Keep the pastry cold: warm butter makes tough, greasy patties. Chill the shaped patties for 15 minutes if they go soft.
• Freeze unbaked patties on a tray, then bag them; bake from frozen, adding 10 minutes.
• Wear gloves to cut or blend scotch bonnets, keep your hands away from your eyes and wash the board, knife and blender well afterwards.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

196 flavors Jamaicans.com