Baked Chicken Curry Puffs

I cannot remember how long have I not made curry puffs now. Probably a good 4 years since the last time?! Until last week my husband asked me how come I did not blog about my curry puffs? Truthfully, I also do not know why, haha! I guess I am those that likes to keep on trying out new recipes. But I remember I used to make these curry puffs pretty often when we were still in California. Perhaps it has something to do with not being able to taste these good local Asian cuisines easily there. I cannot say mine are anything close to those like Old Chang Kee but it's a family favorite now and we all love it, yes even my picky eater elder daughter. :)

I remember I used to make these puffs when it was close to my pregnancy due dates. Why? Well, I make them in advance so that when I went in to deliver, my husband will have something to eat when he is home alone before I am back with the baby. He simply just pop these unbaked, frozen puffs into the oven for 20 minutes, and Voilà! Beats store bought food anytime of the day. ;) Furthermore, he loves them, so nothing pleases me more then to know him enjoy the food I prepared specially for him. :)
Mind you, these puffs are baked, not fried, so it is consider a healthier version of these delicious snack. And my pastry recipe is actually adapted from a pie crust recipe, haha! But I really like it's flaky with a very slight crunch, and melt in your mouth texture! But the pastry is really "fragile" and pretty hard to mould into a nice shape, and that is why the puffs aren't that pretty to look at. ;)

Ingredients for Curry Chicken Filling:
1 chicken breast (about 200g)
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 medium onion, cut small
2 small garlic, minced
2 tbsp curry paste
1 tsp chili paste
1 tbsp sugar
125ml coconut milk (can be replaced with full cream milk )
salt and pepper to taste

3 hard boil eggs (slice into 6 to 8 wedges)

Method:

• Marinate the chicken with 1 tbsp of the curry paste and some salt and let seat for at least 20 minutes before use.
  
• In a saute pan, heat up 1 tbsp of cooking oil. with medium low heat Add garlic, onions and stir fry for 2 minutes, add potatoes and stir for another 5 minutes.
• Add curry paste, chili sauce and stir till well mixed. Add chicken and continue to cook till the chicken is all cooked through.
• Add coconut milk and stir till well combined. Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 3 minutes and remove from the fire.
• Let chicken filling completely cool before use.
  

Ingredients for Pastry:
2.5 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into small chunks
1/2 cup ghee
1/4 cup ice cold water (adjust accordingly to make the dough come together)

Method:

• Whisk together, flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add butter and ghee and mix with your finger tips till it resemble course meal.
• Then gradually add ice water and press the dough together till it just come together. Do not add too much water or the pastry will not be flaky.
  
• Press the dough to form a thick flat disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least 1hr before use.

Assembly:

• Take out the chilled dough 20 minutes before use.
  
• Roll out the dough into 1/4 thick, sprinkle a little flour if it gets a little sticky on the rolling pin.
  
• Then using a 4.5" round cutter, cut out as many circles as possible and gather the rest of the dough for later.
• Using a circle, place an egg wedge in the center and about 1 heaping tbsp of chicken filling. Repeat with rest of the dough.
  
• Gently lift and seal the dough edges and place on the baking tray lined with parchment paper.
• Preheat the oven to 200°C. Brush the puffs with egg wash.
• Bake the puffs for 20 minutes till golden brown. Serve warm.
  

It was such a treat to eat these again, really bring back some nostalgic memories, haha! ;D

Since I had some filling left, I decided to try out another pastry dough recipe. Turns out it was much easier to mould but taste wise was not that good. However the good part was, I was able to fill with plenty more filling in it and thus can enjoy more of the spicy chicken curry for this version. ;)
Will not be posting the other dough recipe since I find the taste so-so only. So eager bakers can try out my above recipe and let me know how you all like it. ;) Enjoy!