Spicyana

Spicy Meat Puffs

Almost twenty or so years ago vegetable /meat puffs made a very dramatic entry into the bakeries in Kerala. Upscale Cochin based bake houses did welcome these impressive snack years before that, but in the above mentioned period, a silent culinary gale of change swiftly passed through many a number of small town and village bakeries spreading the word about this new tasty bite. As a child I was thoroughly impressed by this flaky, layered savory snack, and was a bit confused about that special trick those bakers applied to make the dough fine and flaky. In that pre-puff pastry awareness era, the only working concept I managed to develop for the building of this amazing pastry was a wee bit queer!!! My nearly nascent brain absolutely imagined and almost believed that, these fine layers are nothing but ultra thin chapatis, and liberally distributed this idea among all my friends. Luckily all of us grew up and I hope everyone found out the truth in their own way. This spicy sibling of a savory turnover is simple to make especially when you are using store bought puff pastry sheets. The following is a very basic recipe for regular meat puffs, the ones which made this snack immensely popular.
Read LG’s interesting “Growing up- puffs” story and egg puffs recipe here

Puff pastry sheets 2
Minced meat (chicken or beef) 2 cups
Finely chopped onions ¾ cup
Ginger-finely chopped 1 ½ tsp
Garlic-Finely chopped 1 ½ tsp
Green chilies (cut into rounds) 1/4 tsp
Green chilly skin (deseeded & chopped) 1 tsp
Curry leaves, coarsely chopped 1 ½ tbsp
Turmeric ¼ tsp
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Garam masala 1 tsp
Finely crushed Fennel seeds ¼ tsp
Egg ( beaten ) 1
Oil 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Thaw pastry sheets, unfold and spread on a flat surface, gently run a rolling pin over to repair any cracks or imperfections on the surface. Heat oil, sauté onions, ginger, garlic, green chilies, chopped chilly skin, curry leaves, adding in that order till the onions are slightly browned. Add turmeric, coriander powder, garam masala, fennel seeds, and sauté for a minute. Add the meat and mix well, keep it covered and cook for 10 more minutes. Remove the lid, increase the heat, and cook till the mixture is dry (2-3 min). Cut pastry sheets into squares, brush the sides with beaten egg. Keep some filling in the middle and turn one side over to the other covering the filling. Press the sides to seal, and brush the top with beaten eggs. Bake at 350 degree F for 20 minutes or till it is golden brown.

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