Bridies Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°-190°C fan forced (200°-210°C normal)/350°-375°F/4-5 gas mark.
• Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed - preferably non-stick - pan and gently sauté the onion, leek and 2 garlic cloves, stirring occasionally, until they have softened.
• Add the cinnamon, allspice, sambel, a little salt and a decent grinding of pepper; stir well to cover the onion, leek and garlic with the spices and briefly cook until the spices are toasted and have begun to release their aromas; add the ground/minced and cook, continually mashing to break up the lamb, until the lamb is lightly browned.
• Add 1 can of tomatoes with 1 cup stock, the sultanas and the pine nuts; mix well and gently cook until the contents of the pan are thick and fragrant, adding more tomatoes and/or stock if needed; set aside to cool.
• Add 2-3 tablespoons of coriander and mix in well. If you have no coriander, you could use mint instead.
• Place the pastry sheets on a workbench and cut a large round in each one.
• Mix together the egg and milk; brush the pastry edges with the egg wash and place a mound of the mince/ground lamb mixture on one side of each round, being careful not to use too much so that the filling bursts out once the pastry is sealed; fold over the pastry, press down and crimp the edges with a fork. If you seem to have too much mixture for two Bridies, cut out and fill a third pastry round.
• Brush the pastries with the egg/milk wash; place the pastries on 1-2 lightly oiled baking trays and cook in the oven until golden brown. Remember all the ingredients are cooked so you are only needing to cook and brown the pastry. I've estimated 20 minutes, but cooking times will vary with different ovens.
• Combine the remaining garlic with the yoghurt, a good squeeze of lemon juice and a little coriander.
• Serve the Bridies with the yoghurt sauce in a bowl on the side.
• NOTE: You can also make and fill smaller pastry rounds can be used, if you prefer. In posting the ingredients, I tried posting TWO cans of tomatoes - you may only need or choose to use the one can but may need the second can. I tried lots of times and lots of different wordings but inexplicably - to me anyway - it kept failing to post, so I settled for the ONE can. When adding the tomatoes and the stock, you can vary the ratio of the two according to your taste preferences.

Steps:

• ---To prepare the pastry---.
• In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour and salt.
• Add the butter and cut into the flour until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
• Mix in enough cold water to hold the mixture together.
• Form into a ball.
• Wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.
• ---To prepare the filling---.
• In a large bowl, mix together the uncooked ground meat, onion, salt, pepper and water; set aside.
• ---Assembly---.
• Remove the pastry from the refrigerator.
• Lightly sprinkle your work surface with flour.
• Roll out the pastry to about 1/8-inch thickness.
• Cut into 6-7 circles approximately 5 to 6 inches in diameter.
• Evenly divide the filling among the circles, placing the meat mixture on one half of the circle.
• Brush the edge lightly with the beaten egg.
• Fold the pastry over the filling and seal by lightly crimping the edge.
• Brush the top with beaten egg.
• Repeat with remaining filling and dough circles.
• Place on baking sheets greased with shortening or non-stick cooking spray and bake at 350°F for 50 minutes or until golden brown on top.