You already know how much I love my rough puff pastry. It’s crumbly and flaky and makes for the best wrapper for a delicious filling. And when it comes to Jamaican patties there are few that could be better. Spicy curried beef and veggies stuffed in a buttery pocket is what dreams are made of if you ask me!
The pastry recipe uses my standard method. The main difference is the addition of spices and the milk being swapped for buttermilk. I realized that 1 hour of chilling between folds may not be necessary, so to cut down on preparation time I’ve reduced it to 45 minutes, and it works just fine. If you want to use milk instead of buttermilk, then you will only need only 95g.
The filling is quite spicy thanks to the scotch bonnets. If you are not a bit of a chili head, then I would strongly suggest using less or swapping for another type of chili.
You can prepare the dough and the filling 1 or 2 days ahead of shaping and baking if you like.
The recipe for the filling makes almost twice as much as is needed to fill all the patties. The amount you make is up to you. Double the pastry and use the filling to make 12 instead of 6 patties. Or cut the filling in half to make 6. It is so tasty that I used the other half to eat with some rice, a fried egg, and salad the following day.
Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.
Ingredients
For the dough –
250g (8.8oz) white bread flour, cold
200g (7oz) cubed butter, cold
5g (0.17oz) salt
110g (3.9oz) buttermilk, cold
3g (0.1oz) turmeric
3g (0.1oz) curry powder
1 egg for glazing
For the filling –
100g (3.5oz) onions
20g (0.7oz) garlic
30g (1oz) carrots
30g (1oz) spring onions
10g (0.35oz) scotch bonnet chili
3g (0.1oz) thyme leaves
30g (1oz) bell pepper
40g (1.4oz) soya sauce
80g (2.8oz) chopped tomatoes
4g (0.14oz) paprika
2g (0.07oz) black pepper
8g (0.28oz) curry powder
400g (14.1oz) ground beef
15g (0.5oz) olive oil for cooking
*Chop all the vegetables and herbs nice and fine.
**20g (0.7oz) fresh ginger would be a great addition, but I forgot to get it!
Method
- In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, turmeric, and curry powder. Mix well. Add the butter and coat it in flour.
- Break each piece of butter into 4.
- Pour in the buttermilk and mix to a dough. Do not knead it. The butter must remain chunky.
- Tip the dough out on the table and press it together. Wrap it up in clingfilm and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
- While the dough is chilling, make the filling. Pour the oil in a large pan set on medium-high heat. Add all the vegetables and herbs. Cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally until the veggies become slightly browned and nice and soft.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and soya sauce. Cook for another 3 minutes.
- Add the dried spices, mix well and finally add the ground beef. Mix until everything is well combined and keep cooking for another 5 – 7 minutes stirring occasionally. The filling should still be nice and moist.
- Cover and leave to cool down.
- Perform the first fold on the dough. Dust the table and the dough with flour. Roll the dough out to about three times its length. Fold one third over, brush off any excess flour and fold the loose third over to create three layers. Roll it out once more and repeat the same fold. The video will be the best guide for this.
- Wrap the dough up and chill it for another 45 minutes.
- Perform another set of folds exactly like the previous time. After that chill it for one last time for 45 minutes. The pastry will be ready for use from now.
- Make the patties. Roll out the pastry to fit 4 cutters. I’m using 15cm (6in) bowls. You can use a saucer too. Cut the pastry, combine the trimmings, roll them out again and cut two more discs of pastry.
- Brush the rim of each pastry disc with egg. Add two large tablespoons of filling. Fold the dough over and seal it up. Press it together firmly.
- Crimp the edges shut with a fork.
- Place the patties on a non-stick paper lined tray and brush them with egg. Cut a small vent-hole in each patty.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C (392F) fan off for 30 minutes.
- Leave to cool down slightly and enjoy!
Watch the video here
