The National Empanada Day is to be celebrated on April 8 th in the USA . We a group of bloggers in the facebook group Foodie Extravaganza are having an Empananda Party. An empanada is a type of baked or fried turnover consisting of pastry and filling , common in Mediterranean , Latin American and Filipino cultures. The name empanada comes from the Spanish verb
empanar , and literally translates as " enbreaded " , that is wrapped or coated in bread.
The empanada are made by folding dough over a filling, which may consist of meat , cheese , corn or other ingredients and then cooking the resulting turnover , either by baking or frying. They resemble turnovers from many other cuisines and cultures including the pastry from the British Isles , the samsa from central Asia and Samosa or pedakiya from the Indian subcontinent , or the Pirozhki from Russia.
Empanadas trace back their origins to the northwest region of Spain , Galicia . A cookbook published in Catalan in 1520 , Libre del Coch by Robert de Nola , mentions empanadas filled with seafood in the recipes for Catalan , Italian , French and Arabian food.
These empanada resembles the famous Indian sweet dish Somas ( Tamil Name ) / Gujiya in its shape and method of preparation but differs in its filling. A gujiya or a pedakiya is a sweet deep- fried dumpling , native to the Indian subcontinent. It is made with semolina or all purpose flour stuffed with a mixture of sweetened milk solids and dried fruits. The earliest mention of gujiya dates back to 13th century , when a jaggery - honey mixture was covered with wheat flour and was sun - dried.
I decided to make the Indian spiced empanadas . The filling is spiced with the Indian aromatic spices filled inside the empanadas and deep fried......
I had used green peas and Soy Chunks ( Texturized vegetable Protein ) for the filling .
Method :
In a bowl , add the flour and salt , mix well.
Add in the cold butter and crumble the dough.
Then sprinkle little water at a time and knead a soft dough.
Add the vegetable oil and knead once . Then cover the dough and let it rest in room temperature or in refrigerator.
Soak the soya chunks in warm water for ten minutes. Then drain the water.
To make the Green peas soya chunks filling Peel the skin of the onion and chop finely.
Heat oil in a pan , add the cumin seeds and let it splutter .
Add the chopped onion and saute till it becomes translucent.
Add the ginger garlic paste and required salt , give a quick stir.
Now add the green peas and the soya chunks , let them cook on a medium flame for five minute.
Then add the spices - chilli powder , coriander powder and garam masala , cook for two minutes.
Let the green peas soya chunks filling cool down.
Roll the dough into flat bread , use mould or a glass to cut out circles.
Place a large spoonful of the filling in the middle and fold the empanada into half moon by bringing a edge of the circle to other by enclosing the filling and press the edges then twist the edges to seal.
Heat the oil in a frying pan , Fry the empanadas in a medium flame till they became golden brown.
To make Empanadas
Indian spiced Empanadas are ready to be served.
