Jamaica and Nostalgia

After going to the library and finding a book called Cooking the Caribbean Way, I decided to try my hand at Jamaican Patties, I've always loved the ones from Victoria Market and they're so easy to make - I've made a few different pastries in my time and this is by far the easiest. The recipe I found is for a meat one but being a veggie, this is my adapted recipe...

Peng Jamaican Patties


Makes 2

For the Pastry
1/2tsp Salt
1/2tsp Curry Powder
60g Butter or Marg
220g Plain Flour
About 75ml Cold Water

For the Filling
Half an Onion
1 Chilli (Less if you don't want it too spicy)
1 Small Carrot
1 Small Potato
1 Small Sweet Potato
A Few Mushrooms
A Few Small Cauliflour Florets
A Handful of Peas
1/2tsp Paprika
About 300-400ml Veg Stock
Salt and Pepper

1. Mix the flour with the salt and curry powder in a big bowl.

2. Rub the marg or butter in with your fingers til its like crumbs, then add water a bit at a time.

3. Start to knead it til it becomes like a ball of dough.

4. Then wrap in tin foil and put in the freezer for an hour.

5. In the meantime, put all your veg, chopped and peeled into a bowl with some oil and your chilli, mix up with your hands and chuck into a saucepan, fry it til it starts to brown then add some stock, only enough to cover your veg, boil then simmer for about 15mins.


6. When the veg is all soft, drain most of the stock out and add a few gravy granules and the paprika, it shouldn't be too liquidy.

7. After the hour, get your pastry ball out and divide into two, roll into two circles of the same size.

8. Fill one half of each of the pastry circles leaving a gap round the edge, fold over the top like a pasty and crimp the edges with the edge of a fork.

9. Chuck on a baking tray and cook in the oven at 200'c for 35mins. Yum Scrums.

Whilst waiting for my Patties to cook, I started to feel cakey so I whipped out the butter, sugar, etc and made some fairy cakes, I haven't had fairy cakes in tiiiiime! It always about the cupcakes these days but I remebered how me, my bro Elliott and Ma used to make the little cakes with a loada sultanas chucked in, as soon as I chowed down on them I felt like I was back in the early 90's, so good I eat 10! Shame I only made 6!