Vegetable Puffs

All of us who grew up in India have a special love for vegetable puffs - especially the super soft and flaky ones from the ubiquitous “Iyengar Bakery”. I never ever imagined that I would be able to recreate the awesome puffs in my very own home. But, thanks to my good friend Priya, I was taught how to. I was thrilled when Priya mentioned that I could just buy the puff-pastry sheets and make my own version of vegetable puffs at home! I was even more amazed at how well the puffs turned out. Most of the technique, difficulty and skill involved in preparing the puffs depends on the quality of the pastry dough. So, life is simplified infinitely by just using the good quality store-bought dough/sheet. The vegetable stuffing is just a spicy curry of your own liking.

Ingredients:

1. Pepperidge Farm Puff Pasty sheets (or any store bought puff pastry sheet)
2. For the vegetable stuffing:
1. 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2. 1.5 teaspoons of olive/vegetable oil
3. 1 onion - finely diced
4. 2 cups of diced vegetables (beans, carrots, peas, corns, etc.)
5. 2 boiled potatoes - crumbled or gently mashed
6. 1.5 teaspoons garam masala
7. 1 teaspoon salt
8. juice of half a lemon
9. ¼ cup of coriander leaves - finely cut.

Preparation:

1. Thaw the puff pastry sheets - place them at room temperature for 45 minutes or so. Or microwave them in 15 second intervals until the sheets soften just a bit.
2. Prepare the vegetable stuffing. Heat a teaspoon of oil. Add fennel seeds and let the seeds flavor the oil for 20 seconds. Add the diced onions and saute for 10 minutes until the onions turn translucent. Add the boiled potatoes (crumbled or cut into small pieces) and mix with the onions for a couple of minutes. Then, add the other vegetables and salt and cook for 10 minutes with lid on.
3. Add the garam masala to the vegetables and mix well. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes. When the vegetables are almost cooked, remove from heat. Don’t completely cook or overcook the vegetables as they are going to bake and continue to cook in the oven. Add lemon juice and coriander leaves to the prepared curry and mix well.
4. Each puff pastry sheet can be divided into 3 equal parts (the sheet is usually pre-divided into 3 parts). Each part will be approximately 2 inches in width. With some all-purpose flour to avoid sticking, roll out the ⅓ rd sheet along the width to elongate it to about 3 inches wide.
5. Spoon some of the cooled vegetable curry along the length of the sheet, giving about ¼-1/2 inch room to fold the sheet. Brush the sides of the sheet with a bit of water, and fold the sheet along its length and seal the edges by gently pressing.
6. Using a sharp knife, a pizza cutter or a candy cutter, cut the sealed and stuffed sheets into bite-sized pieces. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. In order to get extra flaky, fluffy puffs, chill the unbaked puffs for 10 minutes in the freezer.
7. Bake at 400 F for 20-25 minutes. 23 minutes is the ideal baking time for me. The Puffs will brown at the edges and puff-up beautifully.

this version of the stuffing doesn't have potatoes - a shame, I know.

The usual procedure to ensure golden-brown pastries is to brush the top of the unbaked puffs with an egg-wash (an egg mixed with a little water or milk), or just a little bit of olive oil. I usually don’t go through this extra step. But, it’s worth it if you would like to display a lovely platter of perfectly golden brown pastries.