Recipe - Baked curry puffs

I just bought a packet of curry powder from the Marine Parade hawker centre (Blk 84) for my chicken curry. It is so fragrant that I used the curry powder for my curry puffs’ fillings too. Below is the recipe. 

Oh yes, I forgot to thank my brother, who helped me in taking the photographs and glazing the puffs before they were sent into the oven.

Ingredients (makes approximately 20 small puffs)

For pastry:

·          3 cups plain / all-purpose flour, sifted

·          1 tsp salt

·          1 block of cold SCS unsalted butter (227g), cut to small cubes

·          1/4 cup cold water

For fillings:

·          Cooking oil

·          4 cloves garlic, minced

·          2 tsp ginger, grated

·          2 medium onions (white), sliced

·          3 tbsp curry powder

·          Salt (to taste)

·          3 small potatoes, diced

·          3 pieces chicken thighs

·          3/4 cup water

For glaze:

·          1 beaten egg

Directions

1.      Rub the small cubes of butter into the sifted flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Remember to use fingertips to rub butter into the flour.

2.      Add in water slowly, kneading at the same time until a dough is formed.

3.      Divide into 4 portions and shape them into balls. Transfer into plastic wraps, wrap up tightly and refrigerate for about 15 minutes for the dough to harden (so that it will be easier to roll).

4.      To make the filling, stir-fry the garlic, ginger, onions with oil until fragrant. Add in the potatoes until 1/3 cooked (make sure the potatoes are not completely cooked else it will be too mashy).

5.      Add a little water to the curry powder until a paste is formed. Then, add in the paste to the potato mixture and stir-fry evenly.

6.      Add in chicken and a little salt (to taste) and stir evenly (again, make sure the chicken are not over cooked as we need to simmer the mixture later).

7.      Add in water and stir evenly. Cover, lower heat and simmer for about 20 – 25 minutes. Open the lid every 10 minutes and stir slightly, making sure the mixture is not dried up and stick to the bottom of the pan.

8.      Remove from heat and allow it to cool completely.

9.      Preheat oven to 180°C.

10. Roll out the pastry balls to about 3 – 4 mm thick. Cut out circles.

11. Place the fillings on one side of the pastry and fold the pastry over. Pinch the edges to seal before using a fork to press the edges together.

12. Place on a baking tray and brush with the beaten egg.

13. Bake the puffs for about 25 – 30 minutes, until golden brown.

14. Serve immediately. 

 Before lowering the heat and simmering it. 

After simmering, the water is being absorbed into the potato mixture.

Recipe - Water chestnut and osmanthus cake

I love water chestnut cake since young. I used to order it when I went out for dim sum. However, I prefer eating it as cold dessert to pan-fried ones. Finally, I found the recipe from wendyinkk.blogspot and decided to try making it on my own. It turned out to be a success.

Ingredients

·          115g chestnut powder

·          250ml water

·          120g sugar

·          500ml water

·          9 pcs chestnut, diced

·          1 tbsp osmanthus

Directions

1.   Mix water chestnut powder with 250ml water. Sieve the mixture until no lumps are seen. Put aside (mixture 1).

2.   Bring 500ml of water and sugar to boil. Turn off the heat and put in osmanthus flowers to infuse for 2 minutes.

3.   Pour osmanthus infusion into mixture 1, stir evenly before pouring the final mixture to saucepan / pot and cook till it thickens.

4.   Pour into a lightly oiled 7-inch pan. Steam over high heat for 10 minutes and medium heat for another 10 minutes.

5.   Wait for it to cool completely before putting into the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

6.   Slice and serve.

Adapted from: http://wendyinkk.blogspot.com

The chestnut powder can be bought from Sheng Siong. 

The water chestnut and osmanthus cake looks gooey from steaming, do not slice it yet. Let it cool completely and place it into the refrigerator for it to set. 

After refrigerating for at least 4 hours, it looks firmer now. 

Cross-section of the water chestnut and osmanthus cake. 

Recipe - Mushroom ragout in puff pastry shells

I ate the ‘Shrooms Bite’ at the TCC and it was so delicious. This makes a good appetizer for party, so I searched online and found the recipe. I extracted from www.puffpastry.com and modified as follows. 

(If you do not drink alcohol, it is fine to omit the wine from the ingredient list.)

Ingredients

·      12 pieces – Puff pastry shells (prepared according to package directions)

·      Cooking oil

·     2 cups – Mushrooms, diced (I used oyster mushrooms, alternatively, you may mix with portobello and/or shiitake mushrooms)

·      Chopped/minced garlic

·      2 Tbsp – White wine

·      2 Tbsp – Balsamic vinegar

·      ½ can – Condensed cream of mushroom soup

·      2 Tbsp – Full cream milk

·      1 Tbsp – Chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1.   Prepare the puff pastry shells according to the package directions. (Remember to brush the shells with beaten eggs to create the ‘shiny look’.)

2.   Fry garlic till fragrant (be careful not to overcook the garlic). Add the mushrooms and cook until they are tender, stirring often.

3.   Stir in the wine and vinegar. Cook till the liquid is reduced by half.

4.   Stir in the cream of mushroom evenly before adding in the milk and bring to a boil.

5.   Stir in parsley just before turning off the fire.

6.   Cut the middle portion of the puff pastry and spoon the mushroom mixture into the pastry shells.

7.   Serve immediately.

Adapted from www.puffpastry.com

Ingredients. 

This is how the 'raw' puff pastry shells look like before they are baked. 

Puff pastry shell - fresh from the oven!

After cutting the middle portion of the puff pastry shell. 

Stuffing the mushroom mixture into the puff pastry shell. 

Final product!