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Hindustan Bakery is the legacy of Pune city located in Maharashtra, India. People stand in a long line to buy their curry puff pastries, especially for the weekend breakfast. I have been a great fan of the puffs since my childhood. Delectable, scrumptious, delicious are all understatements for these flaky, crispy pastries with a savory filling. I recently came across a video where the bakery owner shared the secrets of their puff recipe. Stuffing’s texture, taste, and flavors play a significant role in resembling the city’s popular veg pastry puffs. This recipe is inspired by that youtube video.

Curry puffs are perfect for breakfast, brunch, snacks, lunch, or dinner. Pair these puffs with seasonal greens salad for a gourmet bistro lunch or dinner. It goes well with fresh fruit and boiled eggs or oatmeal,  and you’ve got a brunch worthy of royalty. I like to enjoy them with ketchup and Indian Tea. With further adieu, let’s take a deep dive into the ingredients and nuances of the preparations.

INGREDIENTS

• 5-6 large gold potatoes, boiled and mashed.
• 2 finely chopped medium-sized red onions.
• 1/4th cup of garlic, ginger, and green chili paste.
  (Take 8-9 large cloves of garlic, 1 inch of ginger, 5 green chilies, 2 tbsp water, and blend it to a fine paste, as shown in picture #1.)
• 1 cup bread crumbs.
• 1 cup green peas, boiled and crushed coarsely.
• 1/4th cup oil of your choice.
• 4 tbsp Pav bhaji masala.
• 3 tbsp Maharashtrian Goda masala.
• 1 tsp Kanda Lasun masala.
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds.
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds.
• 2 cups of water.
• Salt, as per your taste.
• 2 packs of Pepperidge farm’s Puff Pastry Sheets.
  (One pack has two sheets, and you can make 4 puff pastries in one sheet. I highly recommend using Pepperidge farm’s pastry sheets for the best outcome.)
• 2 tbsp of melted butter or 1 whisked egg for coating pastries before baking.

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RECIPE

I made 16 curry puffs with this proportion and had stuffing left worth for making another 4 pastries. You need good quality pastry sheets to make puffs lighter and perfectly layered that form nice air pockets after baking. I couldn’t help applying a fundamental software development principle of ‘Don’t reinvent the wheel’ (occupational hazard!) and decided to use ‘Pepperidge Farm‘s puff pastry sheets. These pastry sheets are the best ones I have used so far and shall not disappoint you.

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• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard and cumin seeds once the oil is hot.
• Add ginger-garlic-chili paste once the seeds start spluttering and saute for a couple of minutes.
• Next, add finely chopped onion to the pan, sprinkle some salt, and saute it for 3 to 4 minutes on a medium to high flame. Now add Pav Bhaji, Kanda Lasun, and Goda masala in the cooked onion and give it a nice mix.
• Transfer mashed potatoes & peas to the mixture, sprinkle some salt in it, pour 2 cups of water and mix everything, as shown in picture #3. Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for 4 to 5 minutes on a medium flame.
• Next, add bread crumbs to the mixture cooking in the pan, as shown in picture #4, and mix it in the curry. Bread crumbs absorb excessive moisture from the stuffing, and the curry stuffing doesn’t taste gooey in the puff pastries. It’s important to use bread crumbs for the perfect texture of the stuffing.

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• Turn off the flame and let the stuffing cool down. Please refer to picture #5 for how the stuffing looks after adding bread crumbs.
• Preheat your oven at 375 °F.
• Meanwhile, place the puff pastry sheet on a cutting board and cut into four squares, as shown in picture #6.
• Next, add the stuffing to the sheet, as shown in picture #7. Then, lift the top left corner and join it with the right bottom corner.
  (I prefer to add stuffing generously and recommend the same.)
• Seal edges using a fork tip with a light hand, as shown in picture #8. It gives a beautiful design too.
• Coat a thin layer of whisked egg on the top of the puff. It adds a glaze and delightful color to your puff pastry.
  (Use butter if you don’t eat eggs.)

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• Bake puffs for 25 to 28 mins in a preheated oven, depending on the number of puffs you’re baking at a time.

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• Serve freshly baked puffs with a choice of your favorite ketchup. I prefer to pair these curry puffs with Heinz ketchup.

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Curry puffs recipe can get versatile and is subject to your culinary creativity. You can add your favorites veggies such as carrots and french beans, or meat lovers can add minced chicken or lamb curry as stuffing. In non-veg curry puff, I relish minced chicken curry pastries, and for the vegetarian option, nothing can replace Hindustan bakery-style veggie puffs. I can promise that you will fall in love with this recipe.