The month of November has been an extremely blessed moth. Despite being extremely busy, I have loved every challenge that has come my way and I am anxiously awaiting for December to see what opportunities come my way.
It’s my birthday this Friday, (I accept all sorts of gifts, please feel free), and since I am not that much of a cake fan, I prefer to indulge in pastries (and chicken).
One of my students, who now has her very successful cake shop – Bettie Cakes – taught me how to make these gorgeous treats. I have been craving them for ages and I think my birthday week is the best time to make them. You can easily buy your puff pastry from the supermarket, but I prefer making mine from scratch, it’s not that hard anyways.
Ingredients
For the filling
- 500grams beaf cubes/Or minced meat
- 1 tablespoon oil – you dont need too much as the puff pastry contains butter
- Onion
- Coriander (dhania)
- Spices
- 1 tablespoon pradip corn flour
- 2 tablespoons water
- Salt
For the Puff Pastry
- 1 kg all purpose flour (plus extra for Kneading and rolling)
- A pinch of salt (not really necessary if the filling is well salted)
- 750ml water
- 500g unsalted butter – (You can use margarine but butter tastes much better)
- 1 teaspoon pradip Vanilla – (I grew up in a pro-margarine household so to be on the safe side when using butter I prefer to flavour it a little)
For the sheen
- 1 egg – beaten
Method
For the filling
Prepare the meat how you would normally prepare it at home. Add the corn flour and the water towards the end, just to ensure the meat isn’t dry and the soup isn’t runny.
Once the meat is ready, set aside to cool.
For the Puff Pastry
Mix the salt and flour together. Add vanilla and then the water, a little at a time, to make a dough.
Once the dough is ready, roll it into a rectangular shape, (as close as possible) and place the butter on one half of the rolled dough.
Cover the butter with the other half (sorry, I forgot to take a photo but the process will be in the video below).
Roll the dough again into a rectangular shape, and fold as in the photos below. This is referred to as step number 1 of folding.
Roll the dough once again, into a rectangle, and fold in the steps shown below. This is referred to as step number 2 of folding.
Repeat step 1 and 2 of folding once more and the pastry dough is ready. If at any point the butter begins to melt and the dough is coming apart when kneading, place the dough on a tray and cover the tray in cling film and refrigerate the dough for 20 to 30 minutes.
*Preheat your oven at 220 degrees Celsius and grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil.
When the dough is ready, roll it into a rectangle of desired thickness, and cut into circles, or squares or rectangles.
Fill one half of the cut pastry with the stuffing, leaving the edge empty. Rub some egg wash (the stirred egg) onto the pastry and seal, pressing the edges with a fork or your fingers so as to seal completely. Apply the egg wash to each pie and place on a greased baking sheet.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
Serve warm.
Enjoy all day.
