Fried Empanadas

Empanada is a generic name for patties, usually a disk of dough that is stuffed and folded in half before cooking. The Spanish conquest brought empanadas to some regions of Latin America and The Philippines as early as the 16th Century. In Mexico, although folded corn dough disks (known as tlamatzoali tlaxcali in Nahuatl language) were known before then, it was during colonial times that the Spanish name was adopted, and both skilful cooks and simple folk created many versions of empanadas; for example, dairy products and wheat also came from Europe, which gave origin to quesadillas, and wheat-based patties, with sweet or savoury fillings, such as pumpkin and sweet potato or picadillo. Empanadas, both corn and wheat, may be cooked on the grill, baked, or fried. I got my recipe for fried wheat-based empanadas from my mom many years ago, and for this batch, I chose two classic Mexican fillings: Chicken in red mole, and cheese with poblano pepper strips.

Fried Patties – Empanadas fritas

Printable recipe: Fried Patties – Empanadas fritas

Ingredients (for 8 pieces)

1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more, for dusting
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cup water, or more, if needed
Oil, for deep frying
Fillings, to taste, for example:
Cooked chicken breast, shredded and mixed with prepared red mole (try my homemade recipe, or store-bought)
Melting cheese slices (such as Mexican Manchego, Mozzarella or Friulano) and roasted poblano pepper strips (click here for directions)
Picadillo (click here for my recipe)
Cooked mashed potatoes and cheese
Puebla Style Tinga (click here for my recipe)
Tuna, from canned, sautéed with veggies (click here for my recipe)

Prepare fillings: I chose the first two fillings for my empanadas: Cooked chicken breast, shredded and mixed with prepared red mole (photo below, left), and melting cheese slices (in this case Friulano) and roasted poblano pepper strips (photo below, right):

Prepare dough: mix flour, baking powder and sugar in a mixing bowl, then slowly incorporate water (photo below, left). Finish by kneading with clean hands, adding water by the tablespoon if too dry, to form a soft dough (photo below, right):

Form patties: Transfer to a lightly floured working surface, then cut in half; divide each resulting portion into halves two more times, for a total of eight pieces (photo below, left); form each portion into a ball, approximately two inches in diameter (photo below, right):

Working with one portion at a time, flatten using a rolling pin (photo below, left), trying to form a disk with a six-inch diameter; since they will be folded, the edge does not have to be perfect (photo below, right):

Scoop about half a cup of filling onto one half of the disk, leaving about one to one and a half inches from the edge empty (photo below, left, with chicken and mole), or arrange some pieces of filling in the same manner (photo below, right, for cheese slices and poblano pepper strips):

Dust clean hands with some flour, and fold dough over the filling, to form a half circle:

To seal the patty, either fold the edge over towards the centre, then pinch along to form a frill (photo below, left), or twist towards the centre, gently pressing down, to form a rope (photo below, right):

Repeat with each ball of dough:

Fry patties: Prepare a rack or paper towels, to drain excess oil after frying, and place near the stove. Preferably close to serving time, pour enough oil in a small pot to cover bottom and to a depth of at least one inch, and place on stove over high heat; I have mentioned before that one of my daughters gave me a dedicated deep-frying pot, with a narrow rim to avoid spatters, and a rack for draining oil (photo below, left). The oil will be hot enough when it ripples, or if a kitchen thermometer registers between 325-350°F (160-180°C); my pot also comes with a thermometer that hangs on the side, with the optimum frying temperature range marked in red (photo below, right):

Carefully place one patty in the hot oil, it will start bubbling immediately (photo below, left). After a few seconds, when the bottom side has turned golden brown, flip, to cook the other side (photo below, right)

Transfer to prepared rack (photo below, left), or paper towels, and continue with the rest of the patties (photo below, right):

Serve as soon as possible, while still warm and crispy:

The crust is tasty and crunchy, and the fillings complement it perfectly; the chicken in mole is rich and saucy (photo below, left) and the cheese and poblano strips are gooey and spicy (photo below, right):

I find my frying pot very practical (also great for poaching), and I love my pastry board; the engraved ruler and pie circles come in very handy. For your convenience, click on the highlighted text below for products available on Amazon™. DISCLAIMER: Any reviews included in this post are my own, for items I have purchased, not provided by any company; as an Amazon Associates Program affiliate, I might receive a commission for any purchases originated from the links below, at no extra cost to you. Thank you to readers who have bought other products starting with a click from my links.