Chicken Curry puff

One of my favorite Malaysia snacks is Curry puffs. I made Sardine Curry puff before, and then recently I  tried the chicken one.  It was a big hit in my home and also with my in-laws.  The best curry powder I would recommend would be Baba's meat curry powder, although you can still use the local roasted curry powder, which is also great.
I have tried this using uncooked chicken as well as with leftover roast chicken. Even leftover chicken from a curry is great.
What really makes this puff so special and extra delicious is the pastry. I learned this pastry recipe from Zoe @ Bake for Happy Kids. Even though you can use the regular shortcrust pastry to make this or even my patties pastry for this recipe, just give this pastry a try once and you will want to make it again and again.  Now, I prefer to make jumbo ones but you can try and make smaller ones.

Recipe : Chicken Curry Puff  recipe adapted from  Spiral chicken Curry puff recipe from Bake for Happy Kids .

Makes about 10-12 big puffs

Filling
2  boneless chicken breast pieces, finely chopped ( or use 1 cup of cooked chicken shredded)
175g, potatoes, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup frozen green peas ( or can)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp grated or pureed ginger
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper, chopped
2 heaped tsp curry powder ( I used Baba's meat curry powder)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp tomato paste.
8 curry leaves
oil ( vegetable oil)
salt

Pastry : 
1. Water Dough :300g plain flour
                           1/2 tsp salt
                           1/2 cup warm water
                            1 beaten egg
                            1 tbsp corn or sunflower oil

* mix all the ingredients together to make a soft pliable dough.

2. Butter dough: 65g room temperature butter/margarine
                            150g plain flour
                           a little sprinkle of water

*mix butter into the flour, let it come together, if it looks too crumbly add a little water, just a sprinkle.

Oil for deep frying.

Method :

Prepare the filling,  Heat oil, and saute' the onion till softened and starts to colour.  Add curry leaves, ginger and chicken and stir fry till chicken starts to cook. Add in the potatoes,  and stir for a minute.

 Add all the spices and curry powder, scotch bonnet pepper and tomato paste. Add water and let the mixture simmer, covered, once the potato and chicken are cooked through, and most of the water reduced, stir in the peas, and cook for a minute or 2 to cook the peas. Add salt to taste.
Leave to cool.

Now while the filling cooks and cools prepare the dough. I used a little less butter than Zoe's as due to the heat the butter kept oozing out so I reduced my butter a bit.

First, make both the dough's separately. Roll the water dough into a rough circle. Then place the butter dough in the middle and fold the water dough around it so it is completely enclosed inside. (click on Zoe's recipe above or my sardine puff recipe to view how it is done)

Now flatten the whole thing. It is bit hard just give a few gentle bashes with the rolling pin and roll in a long rough rectangle. Fold the two sides in so you have something like this.

Turn the dough around and then roll again and fold again.Repeat this twice.

Roll into a long rectangle

fold again 

Then roll the dough again and then this time roll the dough like you would do for a Swiss roll.

Slice the roll into thin slices.  You can see the numerous layers of pastry when you cut it.

sliced dough. Can you see the layers?

Now roll each slice thinly, be careful as it tends to come apart sometimes. Use a little flour when rolling.  Place in the curry puff mould or just use without on.

 Place a filling in the middle, brush a little water around the edges and fold to make a puff. I like to fold the edges to seal or you can use a fork. Repeat with the rest.

Any leftover pastry you can roll and place in stacks between sheets of plastic ( see my storing roshi here )  and store in the freezer to use another time.

Heat oil for deep frying. Fry the puffs till golden and crispy. Enjoy!!.