May 10, 20232 min read

Jamaican Fried Dumplings

I found out about this by accident. I was researching ackee and salt fish and this popped up on the search list. I figured that this would go well with the dish. Little did I know that these are usually served with ackee + salt fish and goat curry dishes.

This is a pretty straightforward dough to work with as there is no yeast involved. The only way to screw this up is deep frying the dough in high heat. The exterior will cook faster than the interior, thus an undercooked center, which is not very nice.

What you'll get is a very crispy outside with a soft and pillowy inside. Perfect for ackee and salt fish as well as goat curry.

Ingredients:

(Make six dumplings)

Unbleached All Purpose Flour, 120g
Baking Powder, 6g
Sea Salt, 2g
Granulated Sugar, 25g
Unsalted Butter Softened, 15g
Water, 80g
Grapeseed / Sunflower / Peanut / Canola Oil, For Frying + More For Greasing

Equipment:

Dutch Oven / Deep Fryer

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
Mix to combine well.
Rub butter into the flour mixture with your hand until well combined.
Add in the water gradually while still mixing.
If the dough is too dry, add in water, 1 TBSP at a time. If the dough is too sticky, add in flour, 1 TBSP at a time.
Continue mixing and kneading until it comes together into a smooth dough.
Grease the bowl lightly with some oil and transfer the dough back into the bowl.
Cover and set aside for at least 2 hrs or overnight.
Divide into 6 equal pieces.
Roll each piece into a tight dough ball.
Cover and set aside for 15 mins.
Heat up about 4" of oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.
*To check if the temperature of the oil is ready, place a wooden chopstick into the oil.
If bubbles start to form, the temperature is ready for frying.*
Carefully drop in the dough balls and deep fried until golden brown.
*Flip the dough constantly for even browning.*
*Do not crowd the dutch oven. Do it in batches if necessary. Cover the rest of the dough balls while frying.*
Remove from heat and drain off excess oil in a wire cooling rack or on a plate lined with parchment paper.
Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
Serve the dumplings with some ackee and salt fish or goat curry.