Fish buns

This is one of our father's trademark dishes that we were crazy about as children. We loved devouring this with just about anything. These days, I use this as a filling to buns (that I prepare the same way I do pizza dough). It is the ultimate comfort food for me. If you like mackerel you are going to love this. These buns are really soft and tasty and can be refrigerated and warmed up whenever you want them but as with most bread/buns, they taste best when they are fresh out of the oven.  

Buns:
25 g compressed yeast
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup fingerwarm water (37 C or 99 F)
2 tbs olive oil
3/4 tsp salt

Stuffing:
250 g canned mackerel (in tomato sauce)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 eggs (put aside some for the egg wash)
1/2 tsp cumin (or cumin powder)
1/2 tbs curry powder (adjust)
Salt to taste
1-2 sprigs curry leaves (optional)

Method:
To make the dough, heat the water to 37 C (or 99 F). Crumble the yeast in a large bowl and add the lukewarm water and stir with a spoon or your hand till yeast has dissolved completely. Add oil and salt. Stir. Add the flour. First mix with a wooden spoon untill it comes together and then and knead and work the dough for about 10 minutes with your hands. Let it rest covered in a bowl for 35-40 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the fish filling. Cut the onion finely. Heat some oil in a pan and saute the cumin, onion and the curry leaves and saute until the onion is golden brown. Add the mackerel and the tomato sauce, the curry powder and salt. With spatula, mix and scramble any large chunks of mackerels. Whisk the eggs (but put aside some of the egg mixture for the egg wash) with some salt. Shove the mackerel to one corner of the pan and add the beaten egg little by little and scramble it in the same pan that you are preparing the mackerel. Saute the mackerel filling until most of the water has evaporated. Take it away from the stove and allow to cool.

Once the dough has rested, lightly knead it again. Divide the dough into small balls and roll out the balls on a floured surface. Place some of the fish filling in the middle and fold/tuck it as seen in the picture below. Make sure it is properly folded. Turn the tucked side down and place the fish buns on an oven sheet, preferably with parchment paper. Once you have folded all the buns, give them an egg wash. Bake the buns in a preheated oven at 200 C (about 400 F) in the middle rack of the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Take them out and allow to cool on a wire rack. Serve them once they have cooled down to room temperature. Keep the buns refrigerated, if you are not going to consume them in one or two days and heat them up in the microwave before serving.