One of the most common dishes in the Antillian cuisine is the pastechi or a patty. This snack is so popular that it is served at pretty much every party and that you can buy it at virtually any bakers or “snèk”. A lot of Antillians even eat it for breakfast.
The pastechi has many different variaties, such as keshi (cheese), tuna, karni (meat), bakkijou (fish) and ofcourse the pastechi galiña (chicken).
In order for you to get a taste of the Caribbean before your holiday or to transport you back there, I will share with you how to make your own Pastechi Galiña. This recipe makes about 20-25 pastechi.
Ingredients
For the dough
• 500 grams of wheat flour
• 1 sachet of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 1 beaten egg
• 200 ml water
• oil for frying
For the stuffing:
• 1 kilogram of chicken thighs
• 2 cubes of chicken stock
• 70 grams tomato puree
• 2 teaspoons of dark soy sauce
• 50 grams of raisins
• 50 grams of capers
• 50 grams of green olive rings
• 1 diced red pepper
• 1 diced green pepper
• 1 chopped onion
• 50 grams of butter
• optional : 1/2 a chopped madame Jeanette pepper
• optional: some breadcrumbs (very fine)
Preparation
Preparing the stuffing:
• Dissolve the cubes of chicken stock in a liter of water.
• Put the chicken thighs in the broth and let them boil until done, then drain the stock.
• Let the chicken cool before removing the meat from the bone. Toss out the skin and bone and set the meat aside.
• Heat the butter in the frying pan and fry the onion and the pepper until the onion is translucent.
• Add the madame Jeanette pepper
• Add the chicken meat and stir it all well
• Add the tomato purée and the soy sauce. If the mixture stays too dry you can add a little water.
• Lastly add the raisins, capers and olive rings and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
If the stuffing is too wet you can add a few tablespoons of very fine breadcrumbs. This is important, because it will stop the pastechi from leaking.
Making the dough and baking the pastechi:
• Mix all ingredients, except the water, in a bowl. Then add the water slowly in order to get a nice and supple dough. If needed you can add a little extra water.
• Knead the dough for about 5 minutes.
• Roll out the dough until it’s about 3 mm thick.
• Use a large glass or small bowl to cut out little circles of dough and stuff this with a full teaspoon of stuffing.
• Cover the edges with a little water and fold over the dough to create a semi circkle.
• Press the edges together tightly with a fork.
• Fry the pastechi in oil at about 175 degrees (Celsius) until they are golden brown.
“Kome dushi!”
– Jurino
This recipe was originally posted in Dutch on Antilliaans Eten and has been reposted and translated with permission.
