Jamaican Beef Patties

Method

1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, pastry curry powder, turmeric and salt. Add the cold butter and rub it in with your fingertips (or press with a fork) until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs, with some pea-sized pieces of butter left; those pieces make the pastry flaky. Add the ice water a little at a time, stirring with a spatula, and stop as soon as it clumps into a dough. Don't knead it. Shape it into a flat disc, wrap it and chill for 30 min.

   Add in this stepPlain (all-purpose) flour 180 gCurry powder (for the pastry) 1½ tspGround turmeric ½ tspSalt (for the pastry) ½ tspUnsalted butter, very cold, in 1 cm cubes 90 gIce-cold water 60 ml

2. Heat the oil in a 24 cm frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion, spring onions, garlic, scotch bonnet and thyme sprigs and cook for 4 min, until the onion is soft and translucent. Scotch bonnets are extremely hot: wear disposable gloves when chopping and don't touch your eyes or face afterwards.

   Add in this stepVegetable oil 1 tbspOnion, finely chopped 70 gSpring onions (scallions), thinly sliced 2Garlic cloves, minced 2Scotch bonnet pepper, seeded and very finely chopped ½Fresh thyme sprigs 2

   medium heat

3. Turn the heat up to medium-high heat, add the beef and cook for 6 min, breaking it into small crumbs with a spatula, until no pink remains. Stir in the curry powder, allspice, pepper and salt and cook for another 30 seconds until fragrant.

   Add in this stepMinced (ground) beef 220 gCurry powder (for the filling) 1 tspGround allspice (pimento) ½ tspGround black pepper ¼ tspSalt (for the filling) ½ tsp

   medium-high heat

4. Pour in the stock, sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and stir, then lower the heat to medium-low heat and simmer for 7 min, until the liquid has almost cooked away and the filling is moist but not wet. Remove the thyme stems, spread the filling on a wide plate and let it cool completely, about 20 min. Warm filling melts the butter in the pastry and stops it going flaky.

   Add in this stepBeef stock or water 110 mlFine dry breadcrumbs 25 g

   medium-low heat

5. On a floured surface, roll the pastry out 3 mm thick and cut out 4 circles about 13 cm across, using a saucer or lid as a guide. Re-roll the scraps only once. If the pastry gets soft, chill it for 10 minutes before carrying on.

6. Beat the egg. Spoon a generous mound of the cooled filling onto one half of each circle, leaving a 1 cm border. Brush the border lightly with egg, fold the pastry over into a half-moon and press out the air as you seal it, then crimp the edge firmly with a fork. Place the patties on a baking tray lined with baking paper, spaced apart, and brush the tops with egg.

   Add in this stepEgg (for the egg wash) 1

7. Bake in an oven preheated to 200 °C (oven) for 24 min, until deep golden on top and crisp underneath. Let them cool for 5 minutes before eating: the filling is very hot.

   oven