Chicken curry puffs recipe

By Tom Norrington-Davies

Makes about 8 puffs
Takes 45 minutes to make, 10-15 minutes to bake, plus cooling
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Based on a well-loved Thai recipe, these are like extremely flaky samosas. You could make your own puff pastry but for those in a rush look for a good, all-butter brand.

Ingredients

450g (2 medium) potatoes, cut into about 1cm dice
3 garlic cloves
2 shallots
3-4 fresh coriander sprigs, leaves and stems
2 tbsp mild curry powder
1 tbsp sugar, plus extra to taste
1 tsp tomato ketchup
3 tbsp soy sauce, plus extra to taste
3 tbsp groundnut oil
250g coarsely minced, free-range chicken or turkey
500g block fresh puff pastry, cold
1 egg

Method

1. Cook the diced potatoes in a pan of boiling salted water until they are just tender. Drain and cool thoroughly. Chop or blitz the garlic, shallots and coriander to a near paste in a food processor, place in a small bowl and season with the curry powder, sugar, ketchup and soy sauce.
2. Heat the groundnut oil in a frying pan, and fry the curry paste over a medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes, until it is a deep golden brown colour. Add the minced chicken or turkey and just a couple of spoonfuls of water to moisten and continue frying until the meat is cooked through.
3. Fold in the cooked potatoes and check the seasoning. You might want more soy sauce, or a pinch more sugar. The flavour should be spicy-salty-sweet. Cool completely.
4. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/ gas 6. Roll out the puff pastry. Use a saucer as a guide and cut out about 8 smallish discs; the size is up to you really, they could be canapé or snack-sized. I use a 13cm saucer.
5. Make an egg wash by beating the egg with 3 tablespoons water. Egg wash the edges of the pastry discs and fill the centres with the curry filling. Fold the discs into turnovers and crimp the edges if you like, before egg washing the pastries.
6. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the curry puffs on the tray, slightly spaced apart – they will expand a little when cooking. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the puffs are golden and fluffy. Rest for about 5 minutes before attacking them. These don’t usually need a dip but yogurt is good, as is Indian lime pickle. You could also squeeze some lime over before serving.

Nutritional info

Per puff: 375kcals, 21g fat (8.4g saturated), 13.8g protein, 36.6g carbs, 4.1g sugar, 1.7g salt

Chef's tip

To freeze: make the curry puffs and cook them. Allow to cool completely, then wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost completely and reheat in an oven preheated to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6 for 10 minutes.