Pumpkin Curry Puffs / Karipap

I've been making a great pumpkin curry for years now, but I wanted to liven it up a bit. Then a few weeks ago, I bit into a curry puff and EUREKA!! Why not a puff stuffed with pumpkiny goodness?

In Thailand Malaysia, these small snacks are called "karipap" which is just the local pronunciation or curry puff. They're filled with all sorts of deliciousness from curries to sweet creams and fruit, then usually deep fried. My pumpkin curry just seemed like a perfect fit and (spoiler alert...) it is!

I'd never made puffs before but I buy them from a shop nearby and when I asked, they were kind enough to show my how to do the pastry. I had to swear on my mother that I wasn't going to open up a shop across the street and compete with them.

It turns out that it's a pretty involved process, but it's easy enough to do once you get the hang of it. You need to make 2 different types of doung and blend them together to get the perfect layered texture here so the puffs will turn out great! You can deep fry them, but I tried both ways and actually preferred them baked.

This recipe makes 20 curry puffs.

It will probably take 2+ hours, so find some free time!

This is a vegetarian recipe (not vegan - butter is involved) but you can of course tweak it however you see fit. Enjoy!

Equipment

knife, cleaver, and cutting board

large bowls

measuring cups and spoons

large pan or wok with lid

rolling pin

plastic wrap

baking sheet

parchment paper

Ingredients

For the pumpkin curry filling:

2 tbsp cooking oil

4-5 cups pumpkin, peeled and diced

1 large onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 thumb ginger, minced

1 tsp cumin seed

1 tsp mustard seed

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 Tbsp chili powder/flakes (optional)

water

salt to taste

For the water dough:

1 1/2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tbsp sugar

1/4 cup (50g) butter, softened

1/2 cup (125ml) water

For the oil dough:

1 1/4 cups (180g) all-purpose flour

1/8 cup (30g) butter, cut into cubes

1/3 (70g) vegetable shortening or margarine, cut into cubes

micro-squirt (2-3ml) water

oil for frying OR egg and milk to make egg wash for baking

The doughs need to sit and rest for some time so I found it best to make them first then get to the curry.

First, you need to make a water dough. By this I mean that this one has water in it while the other one (almost) doesn't.

This part is pretty standard...

1. Mix the 1 1/2 cups of flour with the 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tbsp sugar in a large bowl.
2. Work in the butter until the dough is a uniform, crumb-like texture.
3. Add the water and knead to a smooth dough.
4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside to rest.

This dough is different and may seem a bit weird. Luckily, it's just as easy to make!

1. Add your flour to a large bowl (you can use the same one as earlier - I did!).
2. Add in the cubed butter and shortening or margarine and knead to a uniform crumb-like texture. The dough will be very crumbly and won't hold together.
3. Add a teeny-tiny micro-squirt of water and knead. Presto-change-o! The dough should now miraculously hold together!!!
4. Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside to rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

...Next, it's time to get pumkiny!

This roughly 20-minute pumpkin curry has been a go-to recipe for me for years. However, one thing about it I don't like is that it doesn't look nice. "Baby food" would be about the nicest thing you could say, but I've had worse comments. Luckily, we don't care what it looks like now that it's going to be hidden inside delicious crispy pastry!

Prepping the pumpkin can be hard work, especially if you have an older, tough pumpkin. That's what I've always used, however, since the taste and texture is better. I also use our local Thai variety which I think is a kabocha or Japanese pumpkin variety. it cooks up sweet and very smooth.

To prep the pumpkin, I follow these steps:

1. Use a cleaver to split the pumpkin along its natural sections.
2. Scoop out the seeds and pith (discard or keep the seeds for baking).
3. Use a knife to chop off the tough outer skin.
4. Slice the sections into thin sections, then dice it.

OK, now you've got the pumpkin ready and it's time to get cooking!

To make the pumpkin curry...

1. Put your pan or wok on medium-high heat and add 2 Tbsp of cooking oil.
2. When it's hot, toss in your diced onion and reduce heat to medium. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add in diced garlic, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and turmeric. Cook 1 more minute. The seeds should start to pop.
4. Add in the pumpkin and fry for 3-4 minutes. Then add about a cup of water and optional chili powder. Cover and cook until pumpkin is tender. Add more water if it starts to dry out during this step.
5. Remove lid and add cook off any excess water. Add salt to taste.

You should end up with a somewhat mashed, not altogether pretty but darned good-tasting curry!

Now that the curry is done, it's time to return to the dough. The 2 dough balls should have rested at least 30 minutes by now and it's time to combine them.

This step is easy. All you need to do is:

1. Press out the water dough into a big circle on some parchment paper. Can't remember which is which? The water dough is the bigger one!
2. Place the oil dough in the middle of the water dough. Wrap the water dough around it to create a ball of dough within dough.
3. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest another 15 minutes.

After the last rest, it's time to REALLY get these 2 doughs mixed together. The whole idea here is that we want to physically squish them together because oil and water don't mix. When we bake the puffs, the doughs will separate a bit creating a delicious flakiness.

1. Flour a large piece of parchment paper and roll out the mixed dough ball to make a big square. We're talking a square foot (30cm x 30cm) or larger.
2. Starting from any side, use roll the dough up tightly into a log or "Swiss roll".
3. Then press it out and roll flat again to the same size as before.
4. Roll the dough up into a log a 2nd time.
5. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest another 5-10 minutes.

This process physically layers the 2 doughs and when you fry the curry puffs you'll see a cool spiral effect that will look pretty as well as tasting great!

Now it's time to call in a favour or 2. This process can be fun, but it takes a long time and it helps if you have a cheerful and able assistant or 2 to turn this into a little assembly line.

There are 3 jobs which you can do all alone (sad) or with 1-2 assistants:

-roll out the dough

-add the filling

-seal the puffs

Here's how to do it, regardless of the number of bodies involved:

1. The log of rolled dough will make 20 curry puffs. Cut it in half, then half again giving you 4 pieces. Cut each of these into 5 equal circles and you will have 20 equal pieces (hopefully). Put them on a tray and cover with plastic wrap while you work 1 at a time.
2. Take 1 circle of dough and roll it out on floured parchment paper. Roll it to a couple of mm thin (about 1/16th of an inch). This should make circles of 10cm or 4inch diameter, roughly.
3. Add a healthy plop of curry to the middle of the dough circle. You'll find the right amount but it will be between 1-2 Tbsp.
4. Now for the tricky part (use your best assistant here!)... Fold the circle over to make a half circle of dough stuffed with curry. Hold this in your not-so-good hand. If you are ambidextrous, then la-di-da! Starting from one end, pinch the dough to seal it. Then take the flattened nubbin of dough you just made and fold it back up, and pinch again. As you work along, you'll create a pretty twisted-looking seal that will get nice and crispy.
5. Lay the finished puffs on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and cover.

You might find this takes a bit of practice, so don't worry if your first few puffs are ugly or if they split open. You can still bake them but frying might be out of the question :)

BTW if there is any pumpkin curry left over, just eat it!

Now you have some options.

I like the way these puffs look fried, but I think they actually tasted better baked. But feel free to try both methods and see what you think!

The puffs make a great snack or hors d'oeuvre for parties, but if you can't eat them all within a couple of days, then consider freezing some.

Baking

To bake the puffs, pre-heat your oven to 350F / 175C.

Create an egg wash by whisking egg with an equal amount of water or milk.

Brush this on the tops of your puffs and bake them on a parchment paper-line sheet for 25-30 minutes.

They should come out golden brown and crispy-delicious!

Frying

To deep-fry the puffs, heat about 4 inches of oil in a deep pot or pan.

One or a few at a time, place puffs in a spider or slotted spoon and fry until golden brown. THIS ONLY TAKES ABOUT 1 MINUTE! rain and transfer to a drying rack or kitchen towels.

Freezing

20 curry puffs is a lot, so you can freeze some on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, then transfer to a freezer bag for storage.

When it's time to eat them, let them thaw out for about 15-20 minutes and then bake or fry as above.

Oooh, so flaky and delicious! I'm glad I finally found a way to amp up my homely pumpkin curry by wrapping it in karipap pastry!!