Pukacapas

Ingredients

The dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 150 glard or butter
• softened
• 2eggs
• about 150 ml warm water
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• 1 teaspoonsugar
• 1 teaspoonbaking powder
• 1 teaspoonground annatto
• for colour

The filling

• 500 gfresh white cheese
• queso fresco, crumbled
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 3red locoto chillies
• or other hot red chillies
• chopped
• 3 tablespoonsoil
• 1 teaspoonground paprika
• salt and black pepper

Sometimes added

• chopped spring onion
• a little oregano
• green olives

To finish

• 1egg, beaten
• or annatto oil, to brush

Directions

1. Wash with soap and plenty of water. They are steeped in gently warm oil. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan. Add all the chopped onions to it. Cook them for about ten minutes. The onions should soften completely.
2. Cook them properly before mixing. They should not brown much though. Add the chopped locoto to the pan. Cook it for about five minutes. Take the pan right off the heat. Stir in all of the ground paprika. Paprika burns readily in hot fat. Stir it right through quickly.
3. Let the onion mixture cool completely. Hot filling melts the pastry fat. Cool it right down completely first. Crumble the cheese into a bowl. Add the cooled onion mixture in. Season it with salt and pepper.
4. Taste it before adding any more. It often needs very little indeed. Put the flour in a large bowl. Add the salt, sugar and baking powder. Add the ground annatto for colour. Whisk them all together thoroughly. Rub the softened fat into the flour. Rub it in until it looks like crumbs. Beat the eggs into the warm water. Add it gradually to the flour.
5. Add only enough to bring it together. Too much water makes it tough. Add it in just a splash at a time. Knead it for about five minutes. It should become smooth and pliable. Cover the dough and let it rest. Give it about thirty full minutes. Roll the dough out on a floured surface.
6. Roll it about four millimetres thick. Thick enough to hold the filling. Keep it even across the sheet. Cut rounds with a bowl or cutter. About fourteen centimetres across is usual.
7. Keep every one of them the same size. Lay the base rounds on a lined tray. Pile filling in the centre of each. Leave a clear border all round. Do not overfill any of them at all. Brush the border with beaten egg. Lay a second round over the top.
8. Press the edges together firmly. A dry edge opens right up in the oven. Press it properly closed all round. Press the edge down with a fork. Make a small hole in each top. One small hole is quite enough. Make the hole in the very centre.
9. Brush the tops with beaten egg. Egg gives a golden glossy finish. Heat the oven to two hundred degrees. Bake them for about twenty-five minutes. The pastry must colour properly. Lift one to look at the underside. It should be golden rather than pale. Serve them straight from the oven. Give them a few minutes first.

Technique

• Melting cheese creates real steam inside, so make a small hole in the centre of each top — without a vent it bursts the seam. That is a functional detail rather than decoration.
• Cool the cooked onion and chilli mixture completely before it meets the cheese and pastry: hot filling melts the fat in the dough and starts the cheese melting early.
• Paprika burns readily in hot fat and turns bitter the moment it does, so take the pan right off the heat before stirring it in.

Substitutions

• Any hot red chilli stands in for locoto, a thick-fleshed very hot Bolivian chilli with black seeds; a thick-fleshed one is closest.
• Egg glaze gives a golden finish and annatto oil the deep red colour; both are used and the red is more traditional.

Variations

• Capsaicin transfers readily from the chillies to hands and then to eyes and skin, and is oil soluble rather than water soluble, so water alone does not remove it — wear gloves, wash with soap and plenty of water, or rub oil on first.
• Use a fresh crumbly white cheese that softens rather than fully melting, since a fully melting cheese runs out where a crumbly one holds its shape and gives distinct pockets.
• Puka means red in Quechua and the name describes the colour, which comes from annatto in the dough and locoto in the filling.

History

A Cochabamba speciality sold at fairs and bus stops throughout the valley.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pukacapas?

Pukacapas is a street food from Bolivia: round baked pie of cheese with red locoto chilli, eaten hot. A Cochabamba speciality sold at fairs and bus stops throughout the valley.

How long does Pukacapas take to make?

Pukacapas takes 1 hour plus resting of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 10 pies. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Pukacapas?

Yes, within limits. Any hot red chilli stands in for locoto, a thick-fleshed very hot Bolivian chilli with black seeds; a thick-fleshed one is closest. Egg glaze gives a golden finish and annatto oil the deep red colour; both are used and the red is more traditional.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pukacapas?

Keep every one of them the same size. Lay the base rounds on a lined tray. Pile filling in the centre of each. Leave a clear border all round. Do not overfill any of them at all. Brush the border with beaten egg. Lay a second round over the top.