← Nouns Cooking · West & East African

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 Onion, finely diced
• 400 g Minced beef
• 1 large potato, finely diced
• 2 Carrot, finely diced
• 1 tsp Curry powder
• ½ tsp Dried thyme
• ½ Scotch bonnet chilli, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 tsp salt (or a stock cube)
• 2 tbsp plain flour, mixed with 4 tbsp water
• 500 g Plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp Salt
• 250 g Butter, cold, cubed
• 2 Eggs, 1 for the dough, 1 beaten for glazing

Method

1. For the filling, heat the oil in a pan over medium heat and fry the onion for 3 min. Add the mince and cook for 6–8 min, breaking it up, until browned.
2. Add the potato, carrot, curry powder, thyme, chilli, salt and 300 ml water. Cover and simmer for 12–15 min until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the flour paste and cook for 2 min until thick, then leave to cool completely.
3. For the pastry, mix the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt and rub in the butter until it looks like coarse crumbs. Beat 1 egg with 100 ml cold water, add it gradually and bring together into a dough without kneading much. Wrap and chill for 30 min.
4. Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two baking trays.
5. Roll the pastry out 3–4 mm thick and cut 12 cm circles (a saucer works). Spoon about 1½ tbsp filling onto one half of each, brush the edge with water, fold over and press closed with a fork.
6. Set on the trays, brush with the beaten egg and prick the tops once with a fork.
7. Bake for 30–35 min until golden brown. Cool for a few minutes before eating; the filling stays very hot.

Tips

• Cold filling and cold pastry are the key to neat, flaky pies; if the dough softens, chill it again.
• Freeze unbaked pies on a tray, then bag them; bake from frozen for 40 min.
• If you add the scotch bonnet, wear gloves to cut it and keep your hands away from your eyes.

Sources

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

Chef Lola's Kitchen My Diaspora Kitchen