Fataya

Make the dough by combining flour and salt, then adding oil and water. Knead for eight minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover with a damp cloth and rest for thirty minutes. The dough should be firm enough to roll thin but soft enough to fold without cracking.

Heat two tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the ground beef (or flaked fish) with the diced onion and garlic for eight minutes until browned. Add the crumbled Maggi cube, minced scotch bonnet, parsley, salt, and pepper. Cook for two more minutes. Let cool.

Roll the rested dough thin on a floured surface, about two millimetres thick. Cut circles approximately twelve centimetres in diameter. Place a generous tablespoon of the cooled filling on one half of each circle, leaving a border for sealing.

Fold each circle in half over the filling to create a half-moon shape. Press the edges firmly with your fingers, then crimp with a fork to create a decorative seal. Ensure there are no gaps where oil can penetrate during frying.

Heat vegetable oil in a deep pot to 175C. Fry the fataya in batches of three to four for four to five minutes, turning once, until deeply golden brown and crispy on all sides. The pastry should be blistered and shatteringly crisp.

Drain on a wire rack and serve hot. These Senegalese fried pastries are the most popular street food in Dakar, sold at every corner by women vendors during the evening. They are best eaten piping hot with a squeeze of lime.