Curry Puff Recipes

Steps:

• Cook the Curry Potatoes and Chicken first.
• 1. Fry the onion and shallot in the oil.
• 2. Add in the chicken and stir fry till done.
• 3. Add in the pre-cooked potatoes, curry paste, light soya sauce, salt and water.
• 4. Cook on low heat, stirring constantly, till quite dry. Remove from heat.
• To make the Short Crust Pastry,.
• 1. Sift the flour with salt.
• 2. Cut the butter into thin slices.
• 3. Rub the butter quickly and lightly into with the sifted flour with your fingertips; breaking the butter up into smaller bits coated with flour. Lift mixture while rubbing-in to incorporate air. Do not overhandle or the butter will melt and the mixture will become sticky.
• 4. Add the cold water and mix it into a dough ball.
• 5. Spilt the dough ball in half.
• 6. Roll the the dough out quickly on a floured board to about 0.4cm in thickness.
• 7. Use a bowl or cutter of diameter 12cm to cut the dough into circles.
• Putting it All Together.
• 1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees celsius.
• 2. Put two tablespoons of curry on each dough circle.
• 3. Wet the edge and fold in half, pinching the edges together.
• 4. Arrange on a baking tray and glaze with eggs.
• 5. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Steps:

• If the dough was refrigerated for longer than 1 hour, let it sit at room temperature until it is malleable. Working on an unfloured or very lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to gently roll the dough into an 11-inch square. This is easier to do if you work the rolling pin from the midline toward the top or bottom edge, and then roll back to the midline. Use both hands to lift up the edge closest to you and roll it all the way up to the top to form a cylinder. Roll the cylinder to even it out and lengthen it to about 12 inches long and 1 3/4 inches in diameter. Cut the dough cylinder crosswise into 12 pieces, then use the palm and heel of your hand to flatten each dough piece into a 1/4-inch-thick disk.
• Work with half of the dough pieces at a time and keep the others covered with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Use a skinny Asian rolling pin (dowel) to roll each dough piece into a circle, a good 3 1/2 inches in diameter. Aim for a wrapper with a 1-inch-wide belly; the edge should be thinner than the middle. (For guidance, see "Forming Wrappers from Basic Dumpling Dough," step 5, page 24.)
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. To assemble a puff, hold a wrapper in a slightly cupped hand. Use a spoon to put about 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle, spreading out the filling a bit to make shaping the puff easier and keeping about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of wrapper clear on all sides. As you work, your hand should naturally close a bit more to keep the puff in shape. Moisten the top rim of the wrapper with water and bring up the wrapper side closest to you and firmly press to create a half-moon (see page 26 for guidance); the center coil of dough (the belly) should naturally push out a bit like the hinge of a clam shell. Remember to seal each puff well. For extra security, use your thumb and index fingers to form a rope edge (see page 51) or press with the tines of a fork. Place the finished puff on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the other wrappers before making and filling the wrappers from the remaining dough.
• Before frying the puffs, put a paper towel-lined platter next to the stove. Pour oil to a depth of 1 1/2 inches into a wok, deep saucepan, or Dutch oven and heat over medium-high heat to about 300°F on a deep-fry thermometer. Frying at an initial low temperature ensures delicate, flaky results; subsequently increasing the heat prevents the puffs from becoming greasy. (If you don't have a deep-fry thermometer, stick a dry bamboo chopstick into the oil; if it takes about 4 seconds for bubbles to rise to the surface and encircle the chopstick, the oil is ready.) Working in batches of 4 to 6 to prevent crowding, gently slide the puffs into the hot oil and immediately decrease the heat to low to steady the temperature, which will quickly rise. The puffs will bubble slowly at first. Let them fry, occasionally turning gently, moderating the heat as needed to keep the oil temperature around 300°F, for about 3 minutes, or until the puffs are light golden. Raise the heat to medium-high and fry for 5 to 6 minutes, until the puffs are golden brown and flaky. Let the temperature hover around 340°F. (If you don't have a thermometer, do the chopstick test a couple of times as the dumplings cook; bubbles that rise after about 1 second signal 340°F.) Use a skimmer to scoop up and transfer the puffs to the platter to drain and cool. Adjust the heat before frying more.
• Allow the puffs to cool for about 5 minutes if you are serving them hot. Or present them to your guests warm or at room temperature. Refrigerate left over puffs for several days and reheat them in the oven at 350°F for about 15 minutes, or until gently sizzling and heated through.
• Have no shame. Many busy modern Asian cooks turn to ready-made puff pastry for rich treats like curry puffs (page 125) and samosas (page 115). Purchase a package (usually about 1 pound) of puff pastry, the all-butter variety, if you can; puff pastry is usually sold as frozen square sheets, rolled to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Thaw it in the refrigerator.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven according to the package directions (usually 375° to 400°F).
• Work with 1 sheet of pastry at a time. Roll a pastry sheet out to about 10 inches square, if it's smaller than that, and then cut it into four 5-inch squares. Put about 1 1/2 tablespoons of curry puff or samosa filling atop each square, moisten 2 adjoining edges with water, fold the other side over to form a triangle, and press closed. Use the tines of a fork to press on the edges to seal well, then place on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling. Brush with beaten egg, then bake for about 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Steps:

• Make the filling first. Heat oil and fry onion gently until golden brown. Add the kurma powder, curry powder, chili, turmeric and fry gently. Add the chicken, potatoes, sugar, pepper, salt and cook for 5 minutes. Mix well and leave aside to cool.
• To make pastry, mix flour with margarine, water, salt, and knead well. Let it rest for 1/2 hour. Cut the dough into circles (3 in) in diameter. Fold pastry over to make a half circle and crimp at edges. Deep fry in hot oil until golden.

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion and garlic.
• Cook until the onion is soft.
• Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, until fragrant.
• Add the mince and cook until browned and cooked through.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice, chutney and vegetables.
• Cool mixture completely before continuing.
• Cut rounds from the pastry with a 10 cm cutter.
• Place a heaped teaspoon of beef mixture onto a round and brush the edges of the pastry with some of the egg.
• Fold pastry over filling and press the edges together with a fork to seal.
• Repeat until all the rounds and beef are used.
• Place puffs onto greased oven trays and brush the tops with some more egg.
• Cook at 190 degree C for about 15 minutes, until the pastry is golden and puffed.
• Serve the curry puffs on a platter with sweet chili dipping sauce.

Steps:

• To make WATER DOUGH, place flour in a mixing bowl.
• Rub in shortening and add in the water.
• Knead into a smooth dough and leave aside to rest for 10 minutes.
• Divide into 12 equal portions.
• To make OIL DOUGH, rub shortening or margarine into the flour to form an oily dough.
• Divide into 12 equal portions.
• To make FILLING, heat pan with 3 tbsp oil.
• Fry all the ingredients till fragrant.
• Add water and fry till dry.
• Add water again and fry till dry and potato become soft.
• Cover the pan once in a while so that the potato will be cooked faster.
• Leave to cool.
• Next wrap oil dough inside water dough.
• Flatten the dough using a rolling pin to shape a thin circle.
• Add filling and seal the sides.
• Pinch the edges to form a scallop design or any design Deep fry puffs in medium hot oil.
• *Note: You can make the filling a bit more saltier because when you eat it with the puff it will make the filling taste blander.