I made my curried vegetable mixture with potatoes, leeks, fava beans and mushrooms. I stirred in the beets at the end so that they wouldn’t turn the whole mixture pink. I added some tangerine juice to the egg wash thinking it would add a touch of sweetness.
Although I did not taste any tangerine, the color came out beautifully golden brown and caramelized.
My blogger friends Barbara Cooks and The Seaside Baker coordinated a challenge with Melissa’s Produce. Everyone who wanted to participate got a handful of ingredients in the mail from their farm. The challenge was to use 3 to 4 items from the box plus 2 to 3 items of your own choosing to create a dish and blog about it.
I thought about making a quinoa pilaf and about making a mixed vegetable korma but my mind kept going back to curry puffs. Curry puffs are delicious little packets of puff pastry usually filled with a curried potato mixture. They are available in pretty much every corner bakery in India, each with their own take on these flaky bites of goodness.
I think I ended up using more than 3 other ingredients if I count all the spices separately. But in Indian cooking chili powder, turmeric and garam masala are basics, kind of like salt and pepper, so I think I’m okay!
Mixed Vegetable Curry Puffs
Delicious little packets of puff pastry usually filled with a curried potato mixture
Ingredients
- 1 lb potatoes (cut into 1/4 inch pieces (I used little Dutch yellow potatoes))
- 1 cups cleaned and thinly sliced leeks
- 1 cup cooked fava beans
- 1 cup dried chanterelle mushrooms
- 1 cup beets (chopped (about 1 small beet))
- 2 tbsp oil or ghee
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 sheets of puff pastry (a 17.9 oz package, thawed)
- 1 egg
- juice of 1 tangerine
Instructions
- Soak the mushrooms in 3/4 cup of luke warm water. Set aside. Soak for 30 to 60 minutes.
- Heat the oil or ghee in a wide saute pan over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook until soft. About 10 minutes. Stir every few minutes.
- Add the potatoes, chili powder, turmeric, garam masala and salt. Add 1/2 cup water. Stir. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are soft. Stir every 5 minutes to make sure the vegetables are not sticking to the pan. If it gets really dry, add a little more water.
- While the potatoes are cooking. Chop the mushrooms. Toss out any parts that are still woody or tough. Set aside.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, add the fava beans and chopped mushrooms. Stir. Cover and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Add the beets. Stir gently and cook for two more minutes. Turn off heat and add the lemon juice. Stir gently again and let the mixture cool.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cut each sheet of puff pastry into 6 even pieces but cutting into thirds lengthwise and into half width-wise.
- Place 2 tablespoons of filling on to a section of pastry. Brush the edges of the dough with water to help it seal and fold into half. Press the edges together with a fork.
- Cut a few vent holes in the top crust of the pastry.
- Whisk together the egg and the tangerine juice and brush onto each pastry. Coating it with a thin layer of egg and juice mixture.
- Transfer the pastries onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown and flaky.
- Serve warm.
