Recipe Spicy Tuna Turnovers/Pastries (Panada Ikan Pedas)

[karadekoolaid]

These little delights are, apparently, Indonesian street food. Since I´ve never visited Indonesia, I can´t honestly say whether this recipe is authentic or not. However, I can assure you it´s delicious and fun to make. I serve it with a sauce made of ketjap manis ( which is soy sauce, brown sugar, star anise, garlic and fresh ginger, reduced by 1/3) and lime juice.

Ingredients
For the dough:
250 gms flour
150 mls coconut milk
15 gms sugar
2 tsps dried yeast
half a beaten egg ( give the rest to the dog)
tsp salt
For the filling:
225 gms tinned tuna
2 pieces lemongrass
1 inch piece of ginger
1 tsp lime ( or lemon) zest
1 tbsp tamarind water
1/2 red onion
2 cloves garlic
3 green finger chiles
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method

1. Put all the ingredients for the dough in a bowl and mix together. Work the dough until it leaves the side of the bowl. Knead for a few minutes, until silky and soft, then put it back into the bowl, cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise for at least an hour, in a warm place.
2. Blitz the lemongrass, ginger,lime zest,red onion, garlic and chiles in a blender.
3. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan and gently fry the mixture from the blender. When the raw flavours disappear, add the tinned tuna and the tamarind water. Cook for a minute or two until the liquid evaporates.
4. TASTE the mixture; it should be spicy, slightly sweet, a bit salty and acidic. If not, adjust the seasoning.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl. Beat it down with a little flour sprinkled on top, so it doesn't stick.
6. To assemble the panadas: Pinch off a piece of dough, a little smaller than a golf ball. Roll it out and cut into a circle. Place a couple of teaspoons of the tuna mixture into the middle of the circle, fold the circle in half and seal the edges with a fork. Do that with all the dough / filling.
7. Heat the oil in a pan and when hot, about 375°, drop the panadas into the hot oil and fry until barely browned.

This recipe makes about 20 panadas.

 

[Morning Glory]

They look lovely - though I have a a problem with coconut milk (an intolerance). I suppose I could substitute another plant milk or even dairy milk?

 

[karadekoolaid]

Surprisingly, the coconut milk doesnt really come through too much. I´d just use water.
And thanks for fixing the picture!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I'm curious. what's tamarind water? I know tamarind dates, concentrate and paste but tamarind water? is that just the dates soaked in water and then put through a sieve? if so, how many dates to what quantity of water?

 

[karadekoolaid]

Yes - it´s exactly that. It´s thinner than the tamarind paste.
I soak the bricks of tamarind (which I pull apart with my fingers) for about 30 minutes, then just strain. the resulting liquid is my tamarind water. If I want paste, then I´ll press down hard on the seeds to extract as much of the pulp as possible.