Food I make and eat, Home made Pasties

Asalam waliykum all,

I have not done a "Food I make and eat" for a while, so here you go. I actually made this in November! So sorry for the extremely long delay.

I got this recipe for Pasties from Mama, so not sure if you can find the same recipe online or in books. I have not looked up any recipes myself, Mamas one works really well and is quick and easy, if its not broken why fix it. My version will be curry veg pastie, my favorite and the below recipe will give you 11/12 pasties. 

First, you will need the following ingredients:

- 250g Plain/Bread Flour

- 150g Butter 

- One egg

- Pinch of salt

- Tsp of cumin

- 500 ml water

For the filling you will need:

- 3 medium potatoes

- 1 pepper

- 1 courgette 

- 2 carrots

- 1 red/white onion. 

(You can substitute these for other veg, and even add chicken, meat, fish etc). 

First thing that you need to do is prepare the dough. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl using one/both hands to rub the butter and flour, it will start to look like the photo below, while slowly adding the water.  

Keep kneading the dough, the butter will start to melt and help bind the dough. Transfer the dough onto a work surface that has been floured and continue to knead the dough until it is soft and forms a ball. While you prepare the filling wrap the dough in cling film or foil and place into the freezer for an hour to harden. 

Dice and cube the veg, depending on how chunky you would like your filling. It doesn't have to be perfect like 1cm x 1cm cubes! Heat up some oil, I use olive oil, and fry the onions, add the veg and add your spices. If you are making curry pasties I used 1 Tsp of each spice: Gara Masala/Ras 7anout, pepper, salt and one clove of garlic, pressed and added to the mixture. (Optional add a Tsp of tomato paste). Otherwise, you can just keep the pastie plain and just add salt, pepper and tomato paste. 

Leave the veg mixture to cook, and soften for about 35-40 mins on a medium heat. Keep stirring otherwise the mixture will stick to the pan. Once fully cooked, you can allow the mixture to cool down on its own, or you can place the pan into a sink/bowl full of ice cold water for about 10-15 mins. 

Remove the dough from the freezer, flour the work surface and roll the dough flat, try not to make it too thin. You need to work fairly quickly, as the butter warms up the mixture will become too soft to work with.

Using a cereal bowl, or any circular shape cut the dough. I used a medium sized cereal bowl and that gave me 12 pasties. Remove the excess dough and form into a ball and place back into the freezer.

Now for the dun part, crack an egg into a bowl and give a good mix. Use a brush to apply the egg onto half of the pastie, as shown below. Spoon a small amount of the cool mixture onto the other side of the pastie.

Gently fold over the other half and press down firmly, you can then use a fork to seal the edges, or use your thumbs to twist the edges closed. Using a fork is less fiddly. Working quickly, fill all the pasties, place onto a baking tray non stick/lined with parchment paper. Optional, brush the egg onto the top of each pastie. 

Repeat the process with the remaining excess dough that is left in the freezer. 

Put the oven onto 200-180'C/Gm 7-8, and place the tray onto the middle shelf, if using more then one tray use the top and middle shelf only and half way through cooking swap the trays over. Depending if you have an electric/gas and fan assisted oven cooking times vary. I have a gas fan assisted oven, and the pasties were done in 20 mins. 

Here is the finished result, Scrummy  yummy pasties that are slightly flaky and also crispy, with a nice thick veg curry filling! I love to eat mine with houmous while still hot, I am addicted to houmous. I love to make these for Ramadan, and also in the summer for picnics. They taste nice cold and will keep well for 2-3 days outside. Best to keep them in the fridge in an air tight container. They are also happy in the freezer, once cooked allow them to cool completely place into a container and straight into the freezer. 

Hope you enjoy making these and eating them to. Let me know what you think below, or drop me an email. Also feel free to share, share, share with everyone!

Bsaha!!

Jazakallah khier

Wasalam -x-