These vegetarian curry puffs are easy to make, and are filled with a lightly spiced potato filling. Perfect for entertaining or as delicious snacks!
EASY - This recipe is easy for beginners, if you make it with store-bought puff pastry. However, you can make you own puff pastry too (recipe link for that in ingredients). US based cup, teaspoon, tablespoon measurements. Common Measurement Conversions
Using a small mortar and pestle, or spice grinder, grind some of the peppercorns into a powder.
Peel the potatoes and cut into a small dice (about 1 cm). Place the potato in a bowl of cold water until ready to use.
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the onion and bay leaves and cook until onions are softened. Add garlic, ginger, turmeric (if using), 1 tsp of garam masala, cinnamon and black pepper, and saute for 30 seconds. Add the potatoes, sugar and salt, and stir to coat the potatoes in the spice mix.
Cook the potatoes until they are softened and slightly caramelized. Stir potatoes every 5 - 8 minutes to prevent them from burning. The potatoes should be softened and caramelized in 15 - 20 minutes, depending on the heat of your stove.
Add the frozen peas and the remaining ½ tsp garam masala and saute the mix until the peas are heated through. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
Finally add the butter, and mix well.
Remove the filling from the heat and let it cool down to room temperature. The cooled down filling can also be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days. Remove the bay leaf as soon as you’re ready to use the filling.
Vegetarian curry puffs
Roll out the puff pastry to a thickness of about 3 mm. If using puff pastry sheets, you may still need to roll it out until it has the desired thickness.
Using a 3.5 inch cookie cutter, cut out circles of puff pastry. Alternatively you can cut the puff pastry into 3.5 - 4 inch squares as well.
Flatten the edge of the puff pastry circle and place it on your palm. Then while your palm is slightly cupped, fill the center with a generous spoonful of the curried potato and pea filling.
Moisten the edge of the puff pastry and fold it over to form a puff pastry half circle. Seal the edge well with your fingers first, and then crimp the edges with a fork. (See pictures in the post for more details.)
If using square pastries, fold over to form a triangle, seal the edges with your fingers first, and then crimp with a fork, as above.
Place the pastries on a parchment paper-lined baking tray and cover with plastic wrap or a clean cloth napkin. Repeat with all of the pastry and filling.
Keep the pastries at room temperature if you’re baking them immediately. If you’re baking the next day, keep them covered with plastic wrap in the fridge (take care not to let the pastries touch, as they will stick to each other).
If you want to store them for longer, then transfer them to the freezer.
Baking the curry puffs
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the pastries on the baking tray with about 1 inch of space between each.
For the egg wash, whisk the egg lightly until the yolk and white are well-mixed.
Brush the tops with egg wash and bake in preheated oven until golden brown and puffed up - about 20 minutes.
Serve while warm, or at room temperature.
Notes
The filling is enough for about 25 - 26 curry puffs (3.5 inch pastries). This can change according to the size of the pastries, and how much filling you put in each curry puff.
These curry puffs really puff up in the oven as they bake. So it’s important to seal them well with a fork so that the seams won’t open during or after baking. Too much filling could also lead to the curry puffs splitting open.
If the curry puffs open a little along the seam while baking, then use a chopstick (or something similar) to gently push down the pastry seam as soon as you remove the pastries from the oven. The pastry is more pliable when hot.