These Easy Vegetarian Coconut Curry Puffs are a lot like samosas and make a quick and easy appetizer or portable lunch. Great for picnics, road trips or backyard movie nights, these easy and tasty little puffs will make your taste buds happy.
I’ve found myself on an interesting food kick lately. I’m all about hand pies or things you can eat without utensils. I want things I can hold in my hand and nosh on while walking around my yard looking at flowers. I want something portable that I can throw in my pocket when I go for a long walk on Lake Michigan’s beach and nibble on while I sit in the sand watching the waves and the boats go by. And I want something I can eat relatively quickly before the sea gulls notice I have food.
Jump to RecipeWhat’s blooming in this recipe for Easy Vegetarian Coconut Curry Puffs?
This recipe for Easy Vegetarian Coconut Curry Puffs starts out with one small step. Bloom the curry powder. You might be tempted to skip this step, but don’t. There’s a reason for it.
Spices are a lot like people. They need time to warm up to you before you get to experience them fully. So, in this recipe, I call for first toasting the curry in a dry (no oil) pan. This helps the curry warm up and begin to release its flavor. Think of this dry bloom like the early stages of a friendship. You’re starting to see (or smell) what’s hidden inside of that little spice.
Things really start to wake up when we add the oil to the pan. A lot of the flavor compounds in spices are more fully released when they come in contact with fats. That’s why I call for adding the oil after the dry bloom. Here is where you take your friendship a little deeper and discover the depths – the nuances of the spice. Here’s where you get the big flavor payout.
I encourage you to try this technique at home. No matter the style of cooking – you’ll get richer, deeper flavors from your spices if you bloom them first. Give it try!
A Gluten Free Option
These Easy Vegetarian Coconut Curry Puffs make a great vegetarian option, but what about Gluten Free? I got you covered. There are a lot of great Gluten Free products on the market right now. Schär Puff Pastry Dough is my go-to brand when I want to make these curry puffs or my Easy Ham and Leek Turnovers for my Gluten Free friends.
However, there is one caveat to using the gluten free puff pastry. I find it’s more crumbly and less forgiving to work with. For this reason, I will bake them in muffin cups (pictured) instead of folding them over into triangular pockets. If you want to try the gluten free recommendation, follow steps 1-5. When you get to step 6, instead of assembling the puffs into triangles and brushing them with egg wash, place the GF puff pastry sheets in a muffin cup instead and skip the egg wash step.
The regular puff pastry pockets bake for roughly 20 minutes at 400 degrees F. The gluten free pastry cups are also baked at 400 degrees F; however, they only need between 12 – 15 minutes in the oven. No two ovens are the same. Some run hotter than others, so keep an eye on them and adjust the bake time as needed.
Two sheets of gluten free puff pastry dough will yield the same number of puffs – 18 total. And although they won’t be quite as portable, they will be just as delicious.
Easy Vegetarian Coconut Curry Puffs
Course: StartersDifficulty: Easy18
servings30
minutes20
minutesIngredients
1 1/2 tsp. yellow curry powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3/4 cup white onion, 1/4 inch dice
1 cup frozen carrots and peas mix, thawed (or 1/2 cup each fresh, 1/4 inch dice)
1 cup russet potatoes, peeled, 1/4 inch diced (you can use frozen, pre-diced for ease)
1 cup light coconut milk
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp. water
Sour cream and fresh minced parsley for serving (optional).
Directions
- Prepare the coconut curry filling
- Preheat a medium-size pan over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the curry powder to the dry pan and stir constantly for 1 minute to bloom the flavors of the spice.
- Add the olive oil, salt and lemon juice to the pan. Stir until a paste forms.
- Add the onion and potatoes and saute over medium heat until the onions are translucent and the potatoes are just cooked. Approximately 10 minutes.
- Add the peas and carrots and cook for 1 additional minutes.
- Add the coconut milk. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for approximately 10 minutes more. The sauce will reduce and thicken as the potatoes absorb the coconut milk. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Assemble the puffs
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper or a nonstick mat. Set aside.
- Working with one sheet of pastry at a time, unfold and lightly roll out the puff pastry to a square that is approximately 9 inches x 9 inches, Cut the puff pastry into nine even squares that measure 3 inches.
- Place 2 Tbsp. of filling in the center of each square. Gently fold over the square into the shape of a triangle and press to seal. You can use a fork to crimp the edges of the triangle to help seal.
- Repeat the process with the second sheet of dough. You should have 18 coconut curry puffs.
- Brush the tops of the puffs with the egg wash mixture and bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Transfer the puffs to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- If using Gluten Free Puff Pastry, reduce the bake time to 12-15 minutes. Or until the pastry is firm and golden brown around the edges. Transfer the cups to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- If desired, top with a little sour cream and fresh minced parsley.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
