Fish Roll
Nigeria's bus-stop pastry: a deep-fried savoury cigar of unleavened dough wrapped around sardine-and-spice mince. The school-canteen mainstay.
Overview
Dough: flour, butter, sugar, salt, baking powder, egg, milk, mixes to a smooth firm dough. Rests for 30 min. Filling: tinned sardines mash with sautéed onion, chilli, curry powder, thyme, salt. Dough divides; each portion rolls to a 12 cm circle; filling pipes or spoons in a line down the centre; dough rolls around the filling into a cigar; ends pinch sealed. Deep-fries for 5 minutes at 170°C till deep gold.
Ingredients
Dough
- 500 g plain flour
- 80 g caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 100 g unsalted butter (melted, cooled)
- 1 egg (large)
- 200 ml whole milk (warm)
Filling
- 2 tins (120 g each) sardines in oil, drained
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil
- 1 onion (small, finely diced)
- 1 fresh red chilli (deseeded, minced)
- 3 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 teaspoon Curry Powder (Nigerian or generic)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon tomato purée
Frying
- 1 litre neutral oil
Method
Stage 1 - Dough
- In a wide bowl, whisk flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
- Add the melted butter; rub in with fingertips till breadcrumb-like.
- Make a well; add the egg and warm milk.
- Mix to a soft pliable dough; knead briefly till smooth.
- Cover; rest 30 minutes.
Stage 2 - Filling
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wide pan over medium heat.
- Add the onion; cook 4 minutes till soft.
- Add the garlic and chilli; 30 seconds.
- Add the tomato purée; cook 1 minute.
- Add the drained sardines; mash with a wooden spoon as you stir.
- Add curry powder, thyme, salt, pepper.
- Cook 3-4 minutes till dry-fragrant (no pooling moisture).
- Cool to room temperature.
Stage 3 - Shape
- Divide the dough into 12 portions (~70 g each).
- Roll each into a ball.
- Roll each ball on a lightly floured surface to a 12 cm circle, 3 mm thick.
- Place 2 tablespoons of cool filling in a 10 cm line down the centre of the circle.
- Fold the two long sides of the dough over the filling, overlapping at the seam in the middle.
- Pinch the long seam closed.
- Tuck the short ends underneath and pinch.
- Roll gently between palms to form a smooth cigar 12 cm long.
Stage 4 - Fry
- Heat the oil to 170°C.
- Lower 4-5 rolls at a time; fry 5-6 minutes, turning, till deep amber-gold.
- Lift onto a wire rack.
Stage 5 - Serve
- Cool 5 minutes (filling is molten).
- Eat warm or at room temperature.
- Often eaten with a cold drink at school break or as part of a snack platter.
Notes
- Tinned sardines are traditional and good: they have the right oily-rich flavour for fish roll. Fresh fish (cooked then flaked) works but takes more prep.
- Cool the filling before stuffing: warm filling melts the dough and the seams open during frying.
- Pinch seams firmly: loose seams = filling leak = burnt mess. Press the long seam in the middle; tuck both ends; roll gently.
- Medium oil temp: 170°C lets the dough cook through before the outside burns. The rolls are 12 cm long - 5 minutes is needed to heat the centre.
Storage
- Best within an hour of frying.
- Keep 2 days at room temperature in a sealed container.
- Reheat in a 180°C oven 5 minutes.
- Freeze unfried, on a tray then bagged, 2 months; fry from frozen + 2 minutes.
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