Vetkoek with Black Bean and Vegetable Curry Filling
This recipe is a vegetarian variation of the traditional South African Curry and Mince Vetkoek
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 250 ml lukewarm water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp dried active yeast
- 2 1/2 cups plain organic flour (I mix my flour to be 2 cups of plain and 0.5 cups of gluten-free as it seems to stop sensitivities in our household)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp extrra virgin olive oil
- vegetable oil for deep-frying
For the Black Bean Filling
- 1 organic onion chopped
- 1 organic carrot chopped
- 100g organic frozen peas
- 8-10 cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp mild curry powder
- 1 tsp coriander leaf
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp organic apricot jam or a good quality chutney
- 400g can organic black beans with liquid
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- Fresh coriander, sliced cheese, a few slices of red pepper and humous to serve
Instructions
Prepare the Dough
- Mix the sugar and luke-warm water until dissolved. Add the oil and yeast, mix lightly with a fork and let it stand until the yeast gets frothy and rises to the top.
- Add the salt and plain flour together in a large bowl and make a well in the middle.
- Then add the water mixture to the flour and kneed for about 10 minutes until smooth. I use a Kenwood Chef mixer which helps to speed up this process a bit.
- Let the dough rest in a warm place, covered with a moist tea towel for 50 mins.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, divide into four equal portions and shape into smooth round buns, then coat each bun with a little bit of oil. This is an essential step as the oil ensures the vetkoek is crispy but not too hard. Cover with a moist tea towel and let it rest for another 20 minutes.
Prepare Curry the Filling
- Fry the onion and cherry tomatoes on medium heat and cook roughly for 5 minutes until it softens. Then add the curry powder, coriander, garam masala and turmeric to the pan and cook another minute until they become fragrant.
- Next add the peas, carrots, apricot jam and a little bit of water. Cook for around 15 minutes until the carrots are nice and soft.
- While the carrots are cooking, add the black beans with liquid and all into a small saucepan. Add the balsamic vinegar, tomato puree and cook over medium heat until the liquid disappears and the beans become a little mushy.
- Then add the curried carrots and peas to the beans, mix well and season to taste.
- Put the lid on and put on very low heat to keep warm while you deep-fry the dough.
Fry the Dough
- Fill a medium-sized saucepan with about 2 cm of oil, it should be just enough to cover one side of the bun and not the whole bun as you’ll be turning them over. If you are using a deep-fat fryer you can dunk them in and submerge. Fry until golden brown in hot oil, turning once or twice to make sure both sides are cooked.
- Remove the doughbuns from the oil and let it cool down for a few minutes, then cut and fill as you would with a hamburger bun.
- Add fresh coriander, cheese, humous and a few slices of pepper to serve.
- You can use any extra left-over filling for a jacket potato or sandwich filling the next day so don’t discard.