Prep. Make. Enjoy.

Mouth watering curry wrapped in puff pastry. What more could you want!

This recipe uses the chicken tandoori almond curry recipe as a base. Ideally make this curry a day before and let it cool overnight. Alternatively cook any dry curry or use leftovers.

Ingredients

Curry Filling (chicken tandoori almond curry):
4 x raw chicken breasts
2 x large onions
1 x celery (optional)
1 x tin of chopped tomatoes
3 x large garlic cloves
100 ml almond milk
1 x tablespoon almond butter
1 x tablespoon cinnamon
1 x tablespoon chilli flakes or diced fresh chillies
1 x tablespoon coconut oil
2 x tablespoons tadoori masala powder (or any type of curry powder will do the trick)
1 x handful of coriander or tablespoon of dried coriander leaf

Pastry:
Shop bought puff pastry (unless you want to make your own!) – shortcrust pastry also works well
Plain flour (for rolling out pastry)

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Basic Summary

1. Chop veg, chicken, chilli, and crush garlic
2. Measure out almond milk
3. Brown chicken in coconut oil
4. Add almond butter and spices
5. Add tomatoes, milk and garlic
6. Cook for at least 60 minutes at 150°C
7. Let curry cool completely
8. Roll out pastry, and cut into circles
9. Wrap curry in pastry circles and crimp
10. Shallow fry until brown

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Prep.

TIP: Read through the full recipe before starting

Curry instructions: – as seen here Chicken Tandoori Almond Curry

Finely dice your onions and celery if using it.

Peel and crush the garlic.

Cut your chicken breasts into very small pieces or strips.

Finely chop coriander if using fresh and not dried.

Measure out your almond milk.

Open your chopped tomatoes and have all other ingredients to hand, ready to add.

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TIP: Cook your curry and let it cool, preferably overnight.

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Make.

Curry instructions: – as seen here Chicken Tandoori Almond Curry

{Preheated oven to – 150°C}

Get your largest casserole dish on the hob at a medium to high heat.

When the pan is hot, add the coconut oil until it melts and covers the base.

Add your chicken and spread out in order to lightly brown.

After 4-5 minutes your chicken should be nice and brown all over. Now add 1 tablespoon of almond butter and stir in.

Straight away add your cinnamon, chilli and coriander, and mix well.

TIP: You could make a paste beforehand by blending the almond butter with the herbs and spices, and then just add this to the chicken..

Add the tadoori masala powder and mix in well.

TIP: The pan should be fairly dry, but not be sticking as there will be quite a bit of fat from the oil and butter. If getting too dry, add a small amount of the chopped tomatoes to loosen up a little.
You want the spices and chicken to be frying in the fat (oil & butter) rather than boiling in any water so don’t add too much liquid when doing this. Another option is to turn the heat down slightly.

Once all the spices have been frying in the dish with the chicken for a few minutes, add your onions, garlic, and celery if using this. Mix in well.

TIP: Garlic can be added to any pre-made paste but be careful not to burn it. I prefer adding later for dishes like this so you don’t run that risk.

Now also add all or the rest of the chopped tomatoes, and the almond milk, and mix well.

Add the dish to the oven, with lid on, for at least 1 hour. I usually go for about 1 hour and 30 mins. Everything will cook within the hour it just depends on the consistency that you want, and when you are eating. Low and slow for a few hours is also an option.

TIP:  Check the curry after 45 mins – 1 hour and if you want it dryer, feel free to take the lid off for the final 15-30 mins. If too dry already, add a splash of almond milk and mix in well before returning to the oven with the lid still on.

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Assembling the Curry Puffs:

Roll out your pastry to about half a centimetre in thickness on top of the floured surface.

TIP: You want it to be able to hold and support your curry in your hand. Too thin and it will burst. Keeping your hands covered in flour for this whole making process will help.

Once rolled out, cut your pastry into perfect circles. Using something circular in your kitchen. I use a boston cocktail shaker tin as a cutter. Your curry puffs will end up half the size of the circle you cut, so pick wisely!

Pick up a circle of pastry and feel free to flatten the edges slightly if ½ cm thick. This will enlarge the circle a little but make the crimping easier.

Add a tablespoon of cold curry to the centre of the pastry. See pictures below.

Fold the pastry over to form a semi-circle, and pinch the edges shut to lock the curry inside the pastry. See pictures below.

TIP: If sauce from the curry pores out when you pinch the edges you may have too much filling. Either remove some, or if only a very small amount pores out and can still lock the rest inside, dip in the floured surface to dry out the edge. You want this edge to be dry for crimping.

You are now ready to crimp the edges. My pattern works by starting at one end, holding between index finger and thumb and folding over, then repeating.

The technique can be hard at first. Practise makes perfect!

TIP: I’m no expert at crimping pastry, and you don’t need to be for them to be delicious, but one rule to follow is keeping your hands and pastry dry using flour. Floured hands and non wet pastry makes it much easier!

Now repeat this process for all curry puffs!

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Cooking the Curry Puffs:

You have the option to shallow fry or oven bake the curry puffs. Both are great, but shallow frying makes them a little more indulgent in my eyes.

If baking them, brush them with egg wash or a tiny bit of oil and bake for around 20 – 25 minutes at 150°C or until the pastry is cooked.

I like to shallow fry my curry puffs, but this can be dangerous as you are dealing with a lot of hot oil so it is up to you.

To do this, use a deep frying pan or wok and fill with vegetable or sunflower oil (oils with high smoke point) until the height of the oil is about half that of a curry puff laid on its side. You can use more if you want, but there’s no need to over fill the pan with oil.

Heat the oil to a medium to high temp.

TIP: You can test the oils temperature by adding a small amount of leftover pastry. If this sizzles straight away and browns quickly in seconds not minutes you know it’s ready.

Add a couple of curry puffs at a time to shallow fry in the oil. Turning after 40-60 seconds or when you can see the bottom browning nicely. Once both sides are nice and brown, carefully remove from the pan and rest on a plate with paper towels to drain the excess oil.

Repeat with all curry puffs.

If the oil was very hot and the curry puffs only needed 1-3 minutes in the oil to brown fully you may want to transfer it to the oven to bake on a low heat for 5-10 minutes just to make sure the ingredients inside the puff are heated up enough before serving.

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Enjoy.

Serve warm or cold with a mint dip. My recommendations are tomato and mint dip or mint yogurt.