thebigfatnoodle

Thebigfatnoodle’s curry puff puffs, curry filo puffs and curry filo cups

1 tablespoon cumin

½ teaspoon black onion seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon very hot chilli powder

2 ½ tablespoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon tikka powder

1 teaspoon crushed dried curry leaves

1 teaspoon sea salt

500 grams waxy potatoes like red roseval, quartered and then sliced.

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 shallots, finely chopped

4 chicken breasts, skin removed, roughly cut into smallish cubes and seasoned with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce

1-2 tablespoons mango chutney (add more if you prefer it sweeter or if you find the chicken curry too hot for your liking)

2 tablespoons groundnut oil.

1 freshly squeezed lemon

2 large hard boiled eggs, peeled anthem quartered (or you can also use quail’s eggs too)

Filo pastry (shop bought)

Puff pastry (Click here for Gordon Ramsay’s rough-puff pastry recipe)

Making the chicken curry

Start by boiling your potatoes in some salted water for about 6- 8 minutes – you want your sliced potatoes to be only just cooked with the tiniest bit of bite still left in them. Drain them well and rinse them in cold water to stop them from cooking further.

While the potatoes are cooking, toast the cumin seeds, black onion seeds and coriander seeds. Put the toasted spices into a mortar and pestle (or spice mill/grinder) and add your teaspoon of sea salt. Grind to a fine powder, then mix in your dried curry leaves, chilli and curry powder.

In a saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of groundnut oil and sauté your shallots, onions and garlic over a medium low heat for 5 minutes until they’ve softened.

Turn the heat back up to high and then add in your dry spices. Fry the spices and toss with the onions well for a minute. The spices should turn dark brown.

Add your chicken and fry with the spices and onions, it shouldn’t take more than 5-7 minutes for the chicken to cook through because they’re in small pieces. Squeeze over your lemon juice, keep frying, and then add your mango chutney.

Finally, add your cold potatoes and toss well. There shouldn’t be too much liquid in your curry left and your potatoes should also absorb any liquid as well so you’ll end up with only a minimally wet curry mixture.

Allow the curry to cool, and then use either puff pastry or filo pastry to make your curry puffs.

Depending on the size or type of curry puffs you’re making, layer a bit of curry before placing a pice of egg and then covering the egg with more curry before sealing up with whatever pastry you’ve decided to use.

For the filo curry cups, I placed approximately 5 squares of filo in each mould and then topped them with another 1-2 pieces of filo squares, scrunched up and brushed with butter.

Brush the puff pastry versions with egg or milk wash or if you’re using filo pastry, brush each side of every sheet with melted butter.

Bake them in a 200C oven for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. I’d recommend you eat the filo versions piping hot. The puff pastry versions can be eaten cold and also frozen.