Curaçao Pastechi di Karni (Meat Pastechi) is a traditional Curaçaoan recipe for a classic breakfast, snack or starter of pastry with a spiced minced beef filling shaped into pasties and deep fried to cook. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Curaçaoan version of: Meat Pastechi (Curaçao Pastechi di Karni).
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Ingredients:
For the Pastry:
750g of flour
150g of margarine, diced
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
350 ml water
For the Minced meat filling:
300g of minced beef
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp tomato sambal
1 tbsp piccalilli
1 tbsp raisins
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
oil for deep frying
Method:
Sift together the flour and salt in a bowl. Whisk in the sugar until, well combined then add the margarine and rub into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water about 50ml at a time mixing until the ingredients come together as a dough.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead well. Wrap in clingfilm (plastic wrap) and set aside to rest and chill in your refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
In the meantime prepare the meat filling. Heat a little oil in a pan and when hot use to fry the onion, garlic and bell pepper until the onion is translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the tomato purée and fry briefly until slightly darkened and well mixed with the other ingredients. Scatter over the cumin and cinnamon, stir to combine and fry briefly. Now add the minced meat and fry until crumbly and cooked through. Finally, mix in the remaining ingredients through. Cook briefly, until warmed through, then season with salt and pepper and set aside.
In the meantime, take the chilled pastry from the refrigerator, set on a floured work surface, dust with flour and roll out to about 5mm thick. Cut out circles from the dough (about 12cm in diameter) then roll out the scraps and cut out more circles.
Taking one circle at a time, fill with 1 or 2 tbsp of the filling mixture. Brush half the edge with water then fold the dough closed, creating a half moon. Press the edges well to seal then fold the edge over and press with a fork. Transfer the prepared pastechi to a baking tray lined with baking paper and flour to prevent sticking.
Heat a deep fryer or large pan with sunflower oil to 180C. Once hot, add in the pastechi and fry about 15 minutes, flipping them over occasionally, until golden brown and cooked through.
Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot with hot pepper sauce on the side.
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