Vegetable Puffs

Around 4 O'clock trays of freshly baked puff's and samosas used to arrive at a popular bakery in Chennai. It was hard to resist the temptation. They flew off the shelf like hot cakes. Well, they had yummy pastries too, difficult choice!

I never realized it is such a simple procedure to make them and all we needed is an oven to bake them. So, you can imagine my state when I was baking my first batch of puff's. Now, it has become a common thing as my son enjoys them more than his mom.

I use Pepperidge Farm pastry sheets. They are available in the freezer section of regular grocery stores.

Pastry sheets
5 Potatoes
2 Onions
1 tsp Chili Ginger paste
Few Curry Leaves
Lemon Juice

Boil potatoes with salt and turmeric, peel and mash them well.

Take 4 tsp of oil in a skillet and make tadka (poppu) with ½ tsp mustard seeds, ½ tsp jerra and then add chopped onions, chili ginger paste and curry leaves. When onion turns translucent, add the mashed potatoes and mix well.

Check for salt and seasonings remove from flame. Add lemon juice and chopped coriander and mix well.

Keep the pastry sheets outside for sometime. Cut them in desired size, bite size or medium serving size. Place 2 spoon fulls of the curry on one half of the pastry sheet and fold it. Repeat the process for all. Wet your fingers and bring the edges together.
Spray PAM or grease a baking tray, place the stuffed pastry sheets and bake in a preheated (350 degrees) over for 20- 25 minutes or till the layers are crispy on the outside.

Serve warm with ketchup. Perfect as a starter or as a snack. Easier to prepare for a large group. Prepare the curry in advance and bake the puffs just in time for a starter. Do not re-heat puffs in micro oven, use a toaster oven for better quality.

The curry in puffs should be a dry variety with potato as a base. It can be tweaked to suit personal taste, by adding garam masala, certain vegetables like peas, peppers etc.