Quick and Easy Jamaican Festival Recipe 🇯🇲
Created By: Shanice Brown
Kitchen Tools: Knives Set, Utensil Set
We have a quick snack or better yet a great side for your main course. Our Jamaican festival recipe is quick, easy and I am confident you will enjoy. If you checked our Escovitch recipe on KaribeTV, then you know it was a must have to include this festival recipe. Festival is a great compliment for any dish and it is a great display of Karibbean cooking of deep-fried bread. Before we dive into the guts of this sweet festival, we do not want you to confuse this recipe with fried dumplings. I will discuss the difference between fried dumpling and festival later, but I wanted to clarify before you went any further. 😊
What are festivals?
Festivals is a popular Jamaican dish, which is deep fried bread with a moderate sweet taste. It is commonly served as a side dish or may be viewed as an appetizer for the main course. So, the next time you have a party, fete, or festival, please include our Jamaican festival recipe for everyone to snack on! 🤪
The difference between fried dumpling and festival….
Fried dumpling and festival commonly get mistaken as the same due to the appearance but there is a difference. Festival has more of sweet taste due to the use of cornmeal and sugar. Honestly it is a pet peeve of mine when someone calls festivals, dumpling. I would argue this has caused the confusion between both recipes. Give both recipes a try and let us know which you prefer.
Sweet Festival
What I love most about festival is the sweet taste. Normally when I eat anything sweet, it involves candy or something unhealthy, like alcohol mixed in our rum cake. Now you and I can enjoy the pleasures of sweet festival without feeling guilty. 😊
Festival Recipe
Now that I have provided some insight on our Jamaican Festival Recipe, give it a try. If you have your own spin of the recipe, please provide your input in the comments below. For example, your preference of sweeteners or substitutes, by all means please share because I would love to review alternatives. Do not forget to tag @karibecompany so we can review your creation.
Deep fried bread with a touch of sweetness is a must have in your recipe book. Jump to the recipe and thank us later once you fill your tummy. If you enjoyed this recipe, but would like a recipe slightly healthier, then our Nigerian meat pie will be best for you. Instead of fried bread, baked dough mixed with vegetables and meat will be a delight for you.
Quick and Easy Jamaican Festival Recipe 🇯🇲
Equipment
- Knives Set
- Utensil Set
Ingredients
- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
- ½ Cup Fine yellow cornmeal
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Butter (optional)
- 1½-2 tbsp Brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Baking powder
- ½ Cup Water
- ½ Medium overripe Plantain
- ¼ Cup Milk
- 1 tsp Oil
- Cooking oil for frying
Instructions
- To a blender add ½ of a medium plantain and water. This should yield 1 ¼ cup of puree.
- Add the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, butter, salt, and sugar to a dry mixing bowl and well.
- Once the dry ingredients are all evenly combined, add butter and crumble.
- Add the plantain puree ¾ cups and milk the dry ingredients. Use the remaining ½ cup puree to form a dough. (see notes)
- Knead until soft and sticky dough is formed.
- Add 1 tsp of oil over the dough and allow it to rest for at least 20 minutes to 30 minutes
Frying
- Over medium heat, Heat a heavy bottom pot of oil .
- Pinch off pieces of dough and shape them into a long log or finger-like shape.
- Carefully place the dough one at a time into the heated oil. Constantly flip the festivals so that they cook on all sides.
- Once the festivals are golden brown, remove them from the oil.
Video
Notes
- You can substitute the butter and milk for a plant-based alternative
- The amount of liquid used may depend on the brand of flour used. You may need a little more or a little less.
- This dough freezes well for later use
- This recipe makes between 14-16 Festivals.