Salteñas — baked Bolivian pastries filled with a set beef stew, with llajua hot sauce

Mix 2 cups flour, an eighth cup sugar, a teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of achiote powder in a big bowl.

Beat in the eggs, then melt the lard, let it cool so it does not scramble the eggs, and stir it in with a wooden spoon.

Work by hand, adding water a little at a time — no more than three quarters of a cup — and knead 15 to 20 minutes until firm and smooth.

Cover with a kitchen towel and rest.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat and brown a pound of cubed chuck beef, then remove it.

Add the diced onion and half a diced yellow bell pepper to the pan.

Add two tablespoons of aji amarillo paste, more if you want it spicier.

Bloom a packet of gelatin powder in two cups of beef stock.

Return the beef with oregano and ground cumin, add the bloomed stock and two extra cups of beef stock.

Salt, bring to a boil, then drop to a simmer.

Add half a cup of frozen peas, two boiled and cubed potatoes and diced parsley; season with salt and pepper.

Stir in a knob of butter.

Simmer around half an hour, then pour into a braising dish.

Cover and chill in the fridge overnight until the gelatin sets the stew firm.

Bring the rested dough back to room temperature.

Tear off pieces slightly bigger than a golf ball and roll each into a circle about an eighth of an inch thick, rotating to keep the circle.

Put about two tablespoons of the set stew in the middle with an olive or a quarter of hard boiled egg on top.

Seal the dough shut completely with no filling touching the edges, then braid the seam: pinch, lift up and fold over with the thumb, working along.

Stand them upright on a baking sheet with the braid facing up and bake 15 minutes. Oven temperature is never stated.

For the llajua, quarter two tomatoes with their seeds, pulp and stem, and deseed and quarter the serrano.

Put the tomato, serrano, two garlic cloves, two teaspoons cilantro, three basil leaves, a tablespoon of olive oil and half a teaspoon of salt in a food processor and pulse.

Finish in a blender for a looser sauce.