Jamaican Beef Patties

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (Filling)
• 1 medium onion chopped (Filling)
• 3 cloves garlic minced (Filling)
• 1 Scotch Bonnet or Habanero chile stemmed, seeded, and minced (Filling)
• 1 tablespoons curry powder (Filling)
• 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt (Filling)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme (Filling)
• 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice (Filling)
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef (Filling)
• 3/4 cup dried breadcrumbs (Filling)
• 3/4 cup beef broth or water (Filling)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (Dough)
• 1/2 tablespoon curry powder (Dough)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (Dough)
• 6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (Dough)
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons cold water (Dough)
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water (Dough)

Steps

1. To make the filling, heat the oil in a large, preferably nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, chile, curry powder, salt, thyme, and allspice, and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add the ground beef and use the edge of a wooden spoon to break it into pieces. Continue to cook until all the beef is cooked through, stirring frequently so it doesn't burn or stick. Add the breadcrumbs, stir to combine, then add the broth or water and mix until absorbed. Remove the filling from the heat and let it cool.
2. To make the dough, stir together the flour, curry powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter pieces and coat with the flour mixture. Using your fingers, or a pastry blender if you have one, cut the butter into the flour mixture, working quickly until mostly pea-size pieces of butter remain (a few larger pieces are okay; be careful not to overblend).
3. Sprinkle in about 1/2 cup of the cold water and gently mix it into the flour with your fingers or a plastic bowl scraper or spatula. Do not overwork the dough. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of water, or more as needed until the dough just comes together into a ball.
4. Divide the dough into 16 pieces, each weighing approximately 1.5 ounces. Roll each ball between your palms to smooth it out. At this point you can chill the balls of dough for a few minutes if they feel too soft.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.
6. One at a time, place a ball of dough on a lightly floured surface, press your palm into a ball of dough to begin to flatten it, then use a rolling pin to roll it out evenly into circle about 5-inches in diameter. They may not be perfect circles, but that's ok.
7. Evenly distribute the beef filling between the dough circles. Don't be too stingy, it will seem like a lot of filling, but you can press and compact the filling a bit to make sure you fill them generously. One-by-one fold over the dough and pinch the edges to enclose the filling. Use the tines of a fork to press along the edges to seal.
8. Place the sealed beef patties onto the parchment-lined baking sheets, then chill the sheets in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to help set the dough (it will bake up flakier if you don't skip this step).
9. Evenly brush the tops of the patties with egg wash, and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans from front to back and top to bottom, or until golden brown. Serve immediately.