Back home I loved having curry/veg puffs on a Sunday morning with my tea. I looked high and low for them in Paris but never found success. All I got was Crossiants or Pain au Chocolat the traditional french breakfast. Though I love the latter, being an Indian I crave for something spicy and savoury for breakfast like Semolina pancakes or chilli cheese toast. Making puffs was not going to be a piece of cake if I had to make my own pastry but my cooking experience was delightful and my veg puffs turned out really well as a first timer and beginner. I’m thrilled to share this recipe with all of you and can’t wait to hear from you.
Veg Puffs ⎪ How to make veg puffs from scratch
Course: Breakfast25
minutes12
minutesIngredients
- Puff Pastry
750 g all purpose flour
400 g of butter
250 ml of water
salt to taste
1/2 a lime
- Veg filling
1 cup chopped veggies of your choice ( carrots, french beans, green peas)
1 medium boiled potato
1 small onion finely chopped
2 green chillies
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
salt to taste
2 tbsps of oil
few sprigs of chopped coriander
- For Baking
1 beaten egg/ 1 tsp butter
Directions
- Making the puff pastry
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together 3 tbsps of all purpose flour, lemon juice and 350g butter. ( butter should be cold ) *Read tips
- When you get a hard block of butter dough, shape it into a square, kling wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour
- Now take the remaining flour in another large mixing bowl, add in salt and approimately 200 – 250 ml of water and knead to a smooth, soft dough.
- Wrap it up and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour remove both the doughs. Dust some flour on your kneading table and place the dough on it. Roll it a little, enough to accommodate the butter dough inside.
- Now place the butter dough inside, wrap up the sides.
- Kling wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Now after 2 hours, remove the piece of dough from the fridge, dust some flour on the kneading table and roll out a flat 1 inch thick pastry. (*Read tips)
- Bring the ends to the center and fold the dough.
- Wrap it up and refrigerate for another 2 hours.
- Before you begin : let the folded part of the dough face you just like a notebook.
- Again dust some flour on the kneading table, roll out 1 inch thick pastry.
- Bring the ends to the center, fold again, kling wrap and refrigerate for another 2 hours.
- Repeat the same process 6 times after every 2 hours. ( step no. 11, 12, 13)
- Now cut the dough into 3 equal portions and keep them kling wrapped and refrigerated for later use. I have used 1 portion for veg puffs, the other one for chicken puffs and the last for pizza swirl puffs.
- Making the filling/stuffing
- Heat some oil in a pan and fry onions until translucent, then add in the ginger garlic paste and chopped green chillies. Fry until the raw smell goes away.
- Add in all the dry spice powders and saute for 2-3 mins.
- Now add in all the veggies amd continue to saute for a while
- Then add the mashed, boiled potatoes to it and mix well. Garnish with some chopped coriander and allow the mixture to cool down. Your stuffing is ready.
- Making the veg puffs
- Take one portion of the dough and roll out 1 cm thick pastry.
- Trim the ends to make a perfect rectangle and cut into 6 equal portions.
- Place 1-2 spoons of stuffing on the pastry sheet and fold to close the ends.
- Brush the pastries with egg from top and place them in a pre-heated oven of 200°C for 25- 30 mins.
- Serve hot with tomato sauce or just have it plain with your cup of coffee or tea.
Tips
- The key to making a good puff pastry is to keep everything cold. Do not allow the butter/dough to come to room temperature or soften at any cost. If it does, put back the ingredients into the fridge and continue after a while.
- I cubed the butter and used a hand blender for quick whisking. Grating the butter can also be an option but make sure that your butter is nice and hard before you begin.
- To get flaky and layered pastry folds, it’s important to turn the folded part towards you each time you roll it out.
- You can store the pastry dough in your refrigerator for upto 4 days and in your freezer upto a month.
- If the oven is not hot enough, the pastry may turn soggy. So make sure the oven is well heated up.
- Do not over stuff the pastry with the filling or the pastry may turn soggy. Less is more in this case.
- Do not leave the puffs in the oven after the desired time. Remove immediately and allow to cool off naturally.
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