Chicken Curry Puffs

[Goober McTuber]

Chicken Curry Puffs
Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 50 Minutes
Servings: 9

"These oven-baked beauties are great as appetizers or a snack. They're spicy and savory, with a subtle coconut milk base. In Malaysia, they are traditionally deep fried. But here's a modern version. You can wrap them in different ways - as rolls, sealed pockets or semi-open bundles."

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 cup coconut milk, or more as needed
2 red onions, chopped
1 stalk lemon grass, thinly sliced
1 red chile pepper, roughly chopped
1 large russet potato, very finely diced
3/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut in small bite-sized pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 (17.25 ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed

Directions:
1. Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in coriander, turmeric, cumin, and curry powder. Cook a few seconds until fragrant. Pour in coconut milk, onions, lemon grass, and red pepper; cook until the vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes. Stir in potato and continue cooking for 12 minutes, adding more coconut milk if the mixture becomes too dry. Stir in the chicken, then season with salt. Cook and stir until chicken and potato has absorbed most of the liquid, then spread mixture on a plate to cool.

2. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Unfold puff pastry and cut each sheet into 9 squares. Place heaping spoonfuls of the filling in the center of each square. Gather all 4 corners of the pastry and pinch together at the top, forming a small pouch. Place each pastry on the baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.

4. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 22 to 27 minutes (I found 22 minutes was enough).
Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. ( If at all possible, serve warm).

Notes (because I seldom follow a recipe precisely, because I don’t like being told what to do) :
1. I used a large glass to cut 3½” circles from the pastry, filled them, folded them over and crimped the edges with a fork. I also floured the sheets very lightly and rolled them out just a bit to get a slightly thinner pastry shell.
2. I brushed the puffs with an egg & water wash before baking which helps give them a nice golden brown color.
3. I used slightly more of each ingredient than the recipe called for and that was enough to fill 3 packages of pastry dough (each package has two sheets of pastry).
4. I added roughly a cup of frozen green peas right before adding the chicken and let it cook for a few minutes.
5. I also cooked the chicken separately before I started, so by the time I added it to the pot, everything was pretty much cooked.
6. I skipped the stalk of lemon grass and substituted crushed red pepper for the red chile pepper.

[indyfrisco]

Don't know why, but I can't handle curry. Makes me want to puke. Hate lemon grass too. Went to Thailand for business and that shit's in every dish.

I could handle that dish without those two things just fine though. Very good looking comfort food.