Baked Flaky Curry Puff

I prefer savory over sweet when it comes to finger food. After trying many different pastry recipes, with trial and error, I settled on this one. It's light and fluffy. Plus with the food processor, it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare.  

If you look carefully, the pastry in the above curry puff is fluffier than the one below, as I have rested the dough for 2 days in the fridge and the one below just rested overnight.  The taste and texture of the pastries are the same.

For the filling in the above picture, I had the potatoes cut into cubes, with some black mustard seeds and green peas. For the recipe below I had the potatoes shredded, no mustard seeds or green peas, as I ran out of them. The rest of the ingredients are the same. This recipe is vegetarian, you can add chicken of beef if you would like. Do feel free to ask if you have any questions.

 
For the pastry:  
(This recipe is enough for a 9" pie plate or 16 pieces of curry puff)
 
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, chilled and cubed
3 to 5 tbsp ice water






In a food processor (or you can use your fingers), add all purpose flour, salt and pulse a couple of times. Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse sand. Add ice water, a tablespoon at a time and process until mixture forms into a ball. (PLEASE!! start checking the dough after adding the 2rd or 3rd tbsp of water, if the dough sticks together when pressing, that means you have enough water) 

 
Dust the counter top with some flour, place the dough on it and roll into a log (see picture on the right). Do work fast before the butter starts to melt or it will be very difficult to roll. Molding the dough into a log will make dividing easy later.

Wrap in a ziploc bag and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.  This dough can last up to a week in the fridge.

Note: I notice the pastry are fluffier after two days rest in the fridge. Use just a little flour for dusting, more will make the dough hard.

For the filling: 
(This recipe can make up to 32 pieces of curry puff.)

500gm potatoes, cut into small cubes or shredded
1 big onion, chopped
2 tbsp curry powder  (I used Baba's meat curry powder)
Curry leaves from a stamp, chopped
1 cube of chicken flavor bouillon (optional)
1 1/2 tsp garam masala (or 1 tsp fennel seeds and 2 tsp coriander seeds)
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil

1/3 cup frozen peas, optional
1 tsp mustard seeds, optional

Note: I find the shredded potatoes cooked faster compared to the cubed ones.

Rinse the shredded potatoes with cold water a couple of times to remove the potato starch (this will enable the potatoes to cook faster). Place in a strainer and set aside.

In a frying pan, heat oil on medium high heat and cook the onion until translucent. Add curry powder, garam masala (or fennel and coriander seeds) and mustard seeds if you are using them. Stir until you smell the aroma of the spices, be careful not to burn the spices. Pour in the potatoes, stir to combine with the onion and spices, add salt, chicken flavor bouillon and continue to stir from time to time until the potatoes are fully cooked (if you are using green peas, add when the potatoes are almost cooked).

Remove from the frying pan and let cool. This can be cooked in advance. Just store them in an air tight container or ziploc bag and refrigerate it.


Wrapping: 

Dust the counter top or chopping board with some flour, remove the dough from the ziploc bag and cut into 18 pieces. Use a roller and roll the dough into a round shape or almost round hehehe... (see picture on the right)  I am not perfect, but it works anyway.






Place 1/2 tbsp of the filling onto the pastry, fold into half moon shape. (see picture on the left)

Press the edges together (see picture on the right).

Now use your fingers to seal the edges by pinching a little of the dough at the edge, gently fold upwards and press to seal. Repeat until finished. (See the two pictures above) You can also use a fork or anyway you want to seal the edges together.

Heat oven to 350F. Keep the curry puff in freezer/fridge while waiting for the oven to heat up. Skip this step if your oven is ready. Bake for 30 minutes or until the color turns golden brown. Serve warm. 

Note: Return the dough to the fridge for at least 1/2 hour if it starts to get sticky when you roll them. 

Uncooked curry puff can be kept in the freezer for up to a month. When ready to bake, just put into the heated oven directly from the freezer.  

Pandan Chiffon Cake

 

This is one of my favorite childhood cakes. In those days we did not have an electric cake mixer and my mum used a giant spring/pump whisk to pump the egg whites, one of my brothers always standing by to help her. It needs a lot of energy to pump up the egg whites and sugar. We finished the cake within minutes and she never had a chance to get a second piece. A couple of years later my dad bought her a Kenwood stand mixer, not sure why she didn't use it to make this recipe. It is difficult to find this cake in Charlotte. I have seen it once in a Asian grocery store but the store is very far from us. Anyway, this is not difficult to make.

 
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/3 cup sugar, separated. (take 1/2 cup from here for whisking egg whites)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup coconut cream
5 Egg yolks
1/4 tsp Pandan essence






7 Egg whites
1/2 cup Sugar (take from the 1 1/3cup above) 
1/2 tsp Cream tartar

1 tbsp baking powder


Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9 1/2" round tube pan.

In a big mixing bowl, mix together the first group of ingredients: cake flour, salt, sugar, coconut cream, egg yolks, pandan essence and set aside.

In another medium bowl, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until foamy,  gradually increase the speed and add in the sugar in 3 to 4 portions , beat until the egg whites form a stiff peak on the whisk (see picture on the right), about 5 minutes and set aside. 

Add the baking powder into the pandan batter and mix well.  

Now you have to work quickly but gently. Pour 1/3 of the egg whites into the pandan batter, mix well with a spatula, gently pour in the rest of the egg whites and mix until just combined. At this point you can see many bubbles in the batter, the baking power has started to work. Over mixing will let out a lot of air and the cake will not rise and will become hard. 

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the cake tester inserted into the thickest part comes out clear.  Serve once it is cooled.

Note: I noticed the baking powder starts to work almost immediately once it is added into the pandan batter, that is why I add it after the egg white is ready. This is to prevent the cake from rising unevenly. (Spongy top and hard bottom)