Merry Christmas to everyone! It’s Christmas time in Guyana so that mean’s lots and lots of food!!!! Christmas here is all about friends, family, and even strangers coming over for a good gaff and some good eats. So in honor of this tradition of cooking and eating, as well as the Linden 4’s last Christmas in Guyana, we’re posting a special recipe for Jamaican Meat Patties. We learned this recipe from our fellow Volunteer, Tka, and what a good time we had learning it. We made them, ate them, and then are bringing some by for our neighbors to try. These patties are really, really, good, and fairly easy to make, especially if you have experience baking pastry’s (which, of course, I had none when I tried this recipe, but it worked out all the same). Notebly, this is one of the few recipes on Hobbit Food that requires an oven, so it in addition to the cooking, we had to make a food field trip to our nearest oven. Worth it. Try it and see!!!
There are two parts, a filling and pastry. I will post the ingredients for the filling first, then the ingredients for the pastry and then give the directions for making both in that same order. It’s up to you which you want to make first. We give measurements in this recipe, since that’s how we copied it down, but like all good food, you can mess around if ya like!
Filling:
1 ¼ Tbs Olive Oil
5-7 cloves of garlic
2 large onions
1 ¼ Tbs curry powder
1 tsp of cumin (geerah) or tumeric
1 ¼ tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup of bread crumbs
1 cup of chicken stock
2 ½ green onions
(and cause we like it spicy, add some hot peppers!!!)
Pastry:
2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour (we used one cup of wheat flour for some goodness)
1 ¼ tsp turmeric
1 tsp curry powder1 ¼ dashes of Salt
1/3 cup of butter (maybe lard or shortening too if ya want)
½ cup of water
Directions to make the filling:
1. Heat oil in Skillet
2. Add onions and cook for about 10 minutes, or until they are soft and almost translucent
3. Add cut up garlic and cook for a few more minutes
4. Add meat (we used chicken, but you can also use beef), curry powder, cumin, salt, and pepper
5. Cook until meat is brown (if beef) or until meant is done for chicken
6. Stir in chicken stock and toasted bread crumbs
7. Simmer until liquid is absorbed (probably about 10 minutes or so) Everything should be soft and moist, and then stir in the green onion for some color and flavor.
Directions to make the Pastry and bake!
1. Combine flour, turmeric, curry, and salt
2. Cut ¼ cup of butter and shortening and mix, until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs (this may take more butter, but mix it and combine well)
3. Stir in water and mix until firm. Then form it into ball of dough
4. Shape the ball into a log and cut into 10 or so equal sections.
5. Roll each section into a 6-inch circle (then cover with damp towel, or not)
6. Spoon equal amounts of filling into each pastry circle. Fold the dough over (See the video) making a half circle, then press the edges with a fork. Fold edge over again for extra protection.
7. Poke your fork into the top of the pastry, then brush top of each pastry with beaten egg.
8. Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
9 . Remove and eat!!!!
Enjoy the patties, and enjoy the season! But these patties are good all the time!
