Certain foods bring you memories from childhood. In my case it's the Brazilian deep-fried savory dumpling called Pastel.
Here's the recipe for the brave ones:
Pastel wrappers
3 cups all-purpose flour plus flour for work surface
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons margarine, at room temperature
1 egg
1 cup water
Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a large bowl. Add the margarine, egg, and water, and mix until all the ingredients are well combined. Form the mixture into a dough. If it's dry, add more water (1 tbs), if sticky, add more flour (1 tbs). On a well-floured surface, knead the dough for 5 to 7 minutes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Filling, forming and cooking pastels
Slice off a piece from the ball of wrapper dough, and form it into a ball the size of a ping-pong ball. On a floured work surface, roll out the ball into a flat sheet, and cut out a 6 inch diameter disk.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of a filling (if you use cheese for the cheese lovers) into the center of the dough.
Heat 3 quarts peanut oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat and stir occasionally until the oil reaches 375 degrees. Fry the the suckers for 5 minutes and eat it HOT ( but don't burn yourself).
