I put off making this recipe for a long time. Why? The answer is simple: I hate working with flour. Except when making beignets, of course, because that dough always turns out perfectly for me… well, almost always. That's also why I bake so rarely. Unfortunately, cakes rarely turn out well for me. Even when I use a cake mix, something can still go wrong.
Therefore, I kept putting off this recipe from my childhood, which was originally at the very top of my list of “To Publish” recipes.
Now, let's get to the dish itself. What exactly pili Pili , or meat pie (with a meat filling) in Cameroon, also known as Fataya pastels in French , are filled pastries made from shortcrust pastry – and that's precisely MY problem: pastry, which is very common in West Africa. Pili are often served as an appetizer and are generally very popular. The pastry is often prepared in the same way. However, when it comes to the filling, the sky's the limit. It can consist of vegetables (though I've honestly never seen that), meat, or any kind of fish (whether fried or boiled, sardines or tuna). Since I really like fish and didn't want to spend too much time preparing the filling, I opted for canned tuna.
It was a tedious task to ensure the dough turned out right. Then came the rolling, cutting out, filling, sealing, and finally frying the resulting pastries.
Luckily, there was a happy ending! I was happy and proud that I had succeeded, and my family was also really happy because they really enjoyed the pili. All's well that ends well!
The whole thing as a video
And as a download…
Pili au thon | Filled dumplings with tuna
Ingredients
For the shortcrust pastry
- 500 g wheat flour
- 50 g melted butter
- 200 ml milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 pck baking powder
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
For the tuna filling
- 1 can of tuna
- 3 fresh tomatoes
- 1 Onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 tsp Magi Sauce
- 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
- Salt
For deep frying
- approx. 500 ml frying oil
Instructions
Prepare the shortcrust pastry
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, melted butter, and lukewarm milk, and mix with your hands or a mixer until a smooth batter forms
- Roll the prepared dough into a ball, rub it with rapeseed oil, cover it, and set it aside
Prepare the filling
- Meanwhile, dice the tomatoes. Peel and finely dice the onions and garlic
- In a pan with a little oil, sauté the finely chopped onion and garlic with a pinch of salt for about 2 minutes. Then add of Magic Sauce
- Now add the tuna and reduce for another 5 minutes until a slightly firmer mass is formed, suitable for a filling
- Place the prepared filling in a bowl or on plates and leave to cool in a cool place
Filling the dough
- Take the dough and divide it into 3 equal pieces. Roll out each piece to a thickness of approximately 3mm.Then, using a glass, cut small circles and repeat until all circles are ready to be filled
- Roll out each circle a little more and fill it with the now cold filling.
- Carefully close/fold the bag.
- Use a fork to press down the opening of the pastries so they don't open during frying. Don't forget to prick the dough a few times with a fork so that air can escape during frying.
- And there you have it? Repeat the whole process until either no dough or no filling remains
Deep frying
- Heat frying oil in a pot or deep fryer, then reduce the heat to medium and fry the dumplings until golden brown on all sides
- Remove the finished dumplings from the oil and carefully place them on a kitchen paper. with the remaining filling (if there is any) or with Magic Sauce and Hot & Spicy , and enjoy hot or cold.
