Curry Puff 咖哩角 - "Malaysian Monday 48"

I made curry puff again; this time I made sure there are photos to explain each step of the pastry making process, something I have been wanting to do since there were quite a few pending requests from both my friends and readers. Doing all these by myself can only mean one thing - a lot of washing and drying of hands in between shooting but I am sure it is all worth the trouble knowing I am able to better explain the rather complex process.

This is a popular snack that can be found all over Malaysia. There are many varieties with all sort of different fillings but this has to be my favourite. Cafes and snack stalls sold them for as little as 20 cents each when I was growing up and they were good substitute when homemade ones were not available. 

A lot has happened since I first posted this delicious snack almost 2 years ago (curry puff, the best thing to welcome the arrival of spring with a few cold beers! ). The total cost  for making each lot (24 pieces) has risen from $8.50 to $12.00 in less than 2 years...speaking of inflation! But it will still only cost you a mere $0.50 each as compared $2.50 for a half decent shop bought one. 

my Aunt KC's recipe

recipe makes 24 curry puffs

for the filling;

3 potato , peeled and cut into small cubes and par boiled

3 carrots, peeled and cut into small cubes and par boiled

500g chicken thighs , cut into small cubes and mix with a tbs of curry powder

150g garden peas

1 onion , chopped

3 cloves of garlic , chopped

1 green chili , chopped

2 tbs of Malaysian meat curry powder and 1/2 tbs of chili powder, water added to make a wet paste

1/4 cup of coconut milk

salt and sugar to taste

4 hard boiled eggs , each cut into 6 wedges

for the outer pastry

1/2 tbs of soften butter or lard

3 cups of plain flour

3 tbs of corn flour

1 1/2 tbs of cooking oil

3/4 cup of water

pinch of salt

for the inner pastry

8 tbs of cooking oil

11/2  cup of plain flour

11/2 tbs corn flour

Prepare the ingredients for the filling.

To make the filling - saute the chopped ingredients until light golden then add in the curry paste and continue to cook for 5 minutes, adding more oil if the mixture is too dry. Next add the chicken and cook for a minute follow by the vegetables and coconut milk. Stir well and cook until the sauce is quite thick. Season to taste and set aside to cool.

For the outer pastry (left) - mix butter with flour until well combined. Rest for 20 minutes then add in the rest of the ingredients and knead until a soft dough is achieved. Rest dough for 30 minutes.

For the inner pastry (right) - mix flour and oil until you get a wet dough. Set aside until needed.

Divide both type of pastries into 4 equal parts.

Roll out each portion of the outer pastry and wrap around a portion of the inner pastry.

Flatten it and roll it into an oblong shape with the thickness of roughly 0.8 cm. 

Next roll it into a cigar shape. Repeat the last step one more time and roll it into a cigar shape again before cutting the pastry into 6 equal discs. Repeat with the rest of the pastry.

Roll out each disc cut side down with a rolling pin (to roughly 15 cm in diameter).

Add a large spoonful of the filling together with a wedge of egg then pinch the edges well.

Pleat the edges as beautifully as you possibly can, as you can see I am not very good with this. 

Repeat with the rest of the pastry and place in the fridge until frying time. They can also be wrapped up and freeze for rainy days.

Deep fry curry puffs in batches with plenty of peanut oil until golden and crispy. Drain well before serving. The pastry will remain nice and crispy even when they are cold.

Serve theses beauties with a nice pot of tea or a few beers when you have friends over next.

xMy friend Sharon from Test With A Skewer is hosting the event for the month of July, please send all your entries to its.sharon@gmail.com. To find out more about MMM, please click here.