Veg Puff Recipe for Tandoori Curry Puff – buttery flaky puff pastry stuffed with goodness of tandoori flavored mix vegetable curry, then baked to a golden perfection. Simple, but SO GOOD!!!
These curry puff when stuffed with freshly homemade tandoori masala curry adds enough “oohs” and “ahhs” around your dining table. This tandoori masala curry has got all of my family and everyone else’s favorite flavors, who can deny on paneer and vegetables when flavored with tandoori masala. These little curry cuff are ridiculously delicious, simple to make and great to share as a snack, on a picnic, or as appetizer at your next gathering!!!
There is so much nostalgia involved when talking about Indian style veg puff pastry. The classic Indian puff pastry popular as patties is well known throughout the country. When I bite into these curry puff, it takes me right back to my younger days growing up in India.
Traditionally, in India these vegetarian curry puffs are stuffed with a mixture of boiled potatoes, peas sometimes paneer which is then cooked with Indian spices. Back in those days, I never ever imagined that these curry puffs can be easily made at home. For me these used to be bakery specialty and can’t be created at home.
What is Puff Pastry?
After moving to USA and finding the frozen puff pastry sheets was very similar to hitting a jackpot for myself. I exactly don’t remember how I figured out that frozen puff pastry sheets can be used to make our favorite Indian Alu and paneer patties, but however it was, it was definitely rewarding.
Puff pastry is a light and flaky French pastry made from a dough by laminating butter into dough. Making puff pastry from scratch is time consuming and a bit messy process. It involves wrapping a cold block of butter in dough, rolling it out, folding it over, and repeating this rolling and folding process until you’re left with hundreds of layers of pastry dough. Not to mention, the dough needs to be chilled between each turn of rolling and folding, make the process a bit cumbersome and lengthy.
So, lets keep the detailed process of making home-made puff pastry for another post and move ahead with store bought frozen premade puff pastry. Store-bought puff pastry is a lifesaver in the kitchen. Whether you make it from scratch or you use the store-bought, the result is a light, buttery and flaky puff pastry with a slight crisp to it. You can use your favorite brand or Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry for perfect results every time.
Filling options for Veg Puff Recipe
The most popular and easy Indian veg filling you will find is potatoes and peas, and called as “Alu Patties”. Since, I like to try and experiment with different flavors. I try to use different veg filling every time I make these for my family. I have tried quite a few different stuffing for veg puff recipe versions in past.
Last time, I tried the veg puff recipe with corn, peas and paneer filling for my elder one’s outdoor birthday party snack boxes. I was totally surprised by the compleiments from kids or moms for my curry puffs.
As I said, I like to work with different flavors rather then making them again with same filling. This time I wanted to incorporate the tandoori flavors in the stuffing in my veg puff recipe. To incorporate tandoori flavors, I made tandoori vegetable curry, which turned out delicious enough to enjoy as a side with parathas, rotis or naan.
How to make Tandoori Vegetable Curry for Veg Puff Recipe?
When you hear Tandoor the first thing that comes to mind is clay oven almost like a large clay pit, large enough to hold a fire created by slow burning wood or charcoal, similar to charcoal grill but enclosed. Then marinated meats, vegetables are lowered into the oven on long metal skewers and cooked in this smoky and extremely hot “pit” until they are grilled to perfection.
Don’t worry, you don’t need any tandoor to make this flavorful tandoori vegetable curry. To create tandoori flavors, we would need this aromatic spice blend known as “Tandoori Masala”. I am also sharing the recipe of making homemade tandoori masala, but feel free to use store bought Tandoori Masala which is easily available at all Indian grocery stores. No doubt, there is no comparison of flavors when using homemade tandoori Masala.
To make this Tandoori vegetable curry I have used onions, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, bell pepper and paneer. You can always play around with your choice of vegetable to make tandoori vegetable curry.
Important Tips Tandoori Curry used in this Veg Puff Recipe:
- To marinate vegetables, we would need really thick yogurt without any or very minimal whey. You can use Greek yogurt or strained yogurt to prepare marinade. If you don’t have Greek yogurt you can strain regular yogurt using a sieve. Keep yogurt overnight in the sieve to get rid of most of the whey.
- Since we are going to cook the vegetable along with yogurt marinade, that’s why we need to make sure that there should be no to minimal whey. Otherwise while cooking, yogurt will release lot of water and vegetables take too long to cook.
- You can make this tandoori curry in advance to divide the prep work. Well-cooked Tandoori Vegetable curry can stay well in refrigerator for up to a week without any change in texture or flavor.
- Leftover curry can be freeze for later use.
- For best tandoori flavor, I would recommend to use homemade tandoori masala, which can also be made in advance in large quantity for convenience purpose.
- Mustard oil enhances the flavors of tandoori vegetable curry, but absence of it should not stop you to make tandoori curry. Use what’s available in your pantry.
Homemade Tandoori Masala Recipe for this veg puff recipe:
I prefer to make spice blends at home as much as possible. When making at home I know what exactly is going in the blend and I can always modify it to my taste. Making flavorful aromatic tandoori masala is super easy, very similar to homemade Garam Masala. You don’t need any special spice to make Tandoori masala, most of the spices required for this blend are usually available in household kitchens.
- Most of the recipes in which this tandoori masala is used are usually cooked or grilled in Tandoor or clay oven in a smoky environment because of that they absorb the smokey flavor. To bring out the similar smokey flavor, I have used smoked paprika powder instead of Kashmiri chili powder.
- Whole spices used in the recipe needs to be roasted. Make sure to roast the spices on low to low-medium heat. So that the spices get roasted from inside as well and not just from the surface without getting burn.
- You can add salt or leave it out as per your preference. I like to leave it out so that I don’t get confuse when adding spice into the recipe.
- This recipe is a keeper! So double or triple the recipe and save leftover masala for later use. Stays well for months in an airtight spice jar at room temperature.
Helpful Tips to remember while making Tandoori Masala for veg pufff recipe:
- Use smoked paprika powder for smokey flavor .
- Don’t burn the spices while roasting.
- Leave out the salt and add later in the recipe.
- Make in advance.
- Make extra and use later.
Some time management tips for veg puff recipe:
These few simple tips will help you better manage your time when you follow the recipe and give you best results.
- Transfer frozen puff pastry sheet to refrigerator section a day before to thaw.
- If using strained yogurt for tandoori curry, place yogurt in sieve the night before.
- Prepare Tandoor masala blend in advance and store in airtight spice jar.
- Chop all vegetable and keep them aside.
Some FAQs regarding this Veg Puff Recipe:
Yes, these puff pastries can be air-fried as well. Air fryer is nothing else but a small countertop convection oven, which uses a fan to circulate hot air. Any recipe which is baked can be air fried easily. Only point to remember when using air fryer the total volume of air fryer in which the hot air is circulating is very less compared to oven, if similar temperature used for air fryer as convection oven then food will not cooked properly.
So, what I follow with regards to temperature in different equipment’s, is to reduce the temperature by 30-40oF to what is needed for regular baking for convection oven and further reduce 30-40-degree F temperature for air fryer. So, if this recipe calls for 380oF for normal baking then, for air frying reduce the air frying temperature to 300-degree F. Air-fry puff pastries for approximately 18-20 minutes @ 300oF.
Wrap individual puff pastry with cling wrap and store in refrigerator for up to 5 days. To warm leftover puff pastry warm them up in air fryer at 250oF for 5-6 minutes.
Also, you can freeze ready to bake in freezer for a day or two in advance. To bake just place frozen pastries in preheated oven no need to thaw before.
Are you ready to indulge!!!
Tandoori Curry Puff: Veg Puff Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Spices Required to Make Tandoori Masala:
- 1 tbsp Black Peppercorns Sabut Kali Mirch
- 2 tsp Black Cardamom Badi Elayichi – 2 pieces
- 4 pieces Cloves Laung – 4-5 pieces
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds Jeera
- 2 tsp Coriander Seeds Sabut Dhaniya
- 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds Sarsoon
- 1/4 tsp Fenugreek Seeds MethiDana
- 1/4 tsp Carom Seeds Ajwain
- 1 tbsp Dry Fenugreek leaves Kasuri Methi
- 3 tsp Smoked Paprika Powder
- 1 tbsp Dry Mango Powder Amchur
- 1/4 tsp Asafetida Hing
- 1/2 tsp Salt Namak– adjust as per taste
Ingredients to make Tandoori Vegetable Curry Filling:
Dairy:
- 1.5 cup Greek Yogurt or strained yogurt
- 150 gram Paneer Indian Cottage Cheese
Produce:
- 100 gram Onions Pyaz – 1 cup / 1 medium size, Sliced
- 100 grams Cauliflower Phool Gobi – 1 cup / 2 big florets
- 80 grams Carrots Gajar – ½ cup / 1 medium size carrot, diced
- 80 grams Green Beans chopped – – ½ cup / 15-16 beans in number
- 85 grams Bell pepper Shimla Mirch – ½ cup / one small or ½ of large bell pepper, diced
- 25 grams Ginger minced – 2-inch knob
- 5 grams Green chilies serrano or Thai – 1 serrano or 2-3 Thai chilies, minced
Oil and Spices:
Ingredients Required to Make Puff Pastry:
- 2 sheets Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets – 1 pack of 2 premade sheets
- 2 tbsp Water
- 1 tbsp Milk
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 1 tsp Sesame seeds black and white – 1 tsp each
Instructions
First Part: Instructions to prepare Tandoori Masala-
- Take all whole spices in a small frypan, listed under spices required to make tandoori masala until dry fenugreek leaves.
- Roast them on low heat stirring and tossing frequently until they begin to smell toasty and fragrant. The goal is to roast them through, not just on the surface, without burning them.
- Switch off the heat and let them cool down to room temperature.
- Transfer to a spice grinder and grind all the spices into powder.
- Add smoked paprika powder, dry mango powder and asafoetida and run one more time for uniform blending.
- Tandoori Masala is ready to use, keep it aside.
Second Part: Instructions to prepare Tandoori Filling-
- Transfer Greek yogurt or strained yogurt (Check notes) to a large enough mixing bowl.
- Add minced green chilies, minced ginger, salt and freshly prepared tandoori masala to Greek yogurt.
- Give yogurt a good mix to incorporate all the spices together.
- Now add all diced and chopped vegetable to yogurt mixture to marinate.
- Coat all the vegetables fully and cover the bowl well with cling wrap.
- Refrigerate the marinated vegetables for 30 minutes, so that all the flavor seeps into the vegetables. (No need to marinate the vegetables for longer time as we are going to cook the vegetable with all the goodness of tandoori flavor).
- After 30 minutes of marination time, heat one tablespoon of mustard oil in a wide pan. I have used Mealthy nonstick pan as this is very good pan for everyday cooking.
- When oil starts smoking lower the heat and transfer the marinated vegetable with all the yogurt mixture to pan.
- Cook marinated vegetables on medium heat until all the liquid dries out and vegetables or tandoori curry is fairly dry to use as filling. Around 18-20 minutes.
- Switch of the heat and sprinkle handful of chopped cilantro on top.
- Tandoori curry is ready to use as filling for puff pastry. Keep it aside to cool down.
Third Part: Instructions to prepare tandoori vegetable Curry Puffs-
- Also prepare two baking sheets with either parchment paper or Silicon baking liners and keep them aside.
- In order to make puff pastry, thaw frozen puff pastry sheets overnight in refrigerator or leave one pastry at a time for about 20 minutes on kitchen counter top.
- Once Puff Pastry is thawed, work quickly while it’s still cold. Flour your countertop or working surface and roll out the pastry sheet to make it 15-20% larger.
- With a pizza cutter or knife, cut the puffed pastry into 16 cut rectangles. 8 will be the bottoms of the puff pastry and 8 will be the top.
- Take two cut pieces at a time roll them out further to make them even in size.
- On one piece place a spoonful of tandoori vegetable curry filling, water the edges with the help of finger. Then place another piece of cut pastry on top of the first and Crimp the edges with the help of a fork to seal all goodness inside.
- While shaping and filling, the remaining cut pieces may start to soften, to keep them cold, it would be better to keep them in refrigerator, to keep them cold while working on others.
- Repeat the process until all pieces are filled.
- Place all the filled pieces on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Now brush the milk + butter wash on them followed by sprinkling of some sesame seeds.
- Now Chill the filled puff pastries in the freezer for at least 20 minutes or up to 1 day.
- When ready to bake Preheat oven at 380 degrees F for normal baking and at 340 degrees F for convection baking.
- Bake the chilled tandoori vegetable curry puff pastries for 25-30 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Make sure to rotate the baking sheet once or twice during bake time.
- Remove puff pastries from the oven and allow to cool on the pan until ready to handle and serve.
- Wrap each leftover puff pastry up tightly in plastic cling wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Left over puff pastries can be warmed in toaster oven, or in air fryer at 200-degree F or in regular oven at 300-degree F for 5 minutes.
Air Fryng Instructions:
- Follow steps until 8 point to fill the puff pastries. For air frying follow the below steps:
- Place all the filled pieces on Cuisinart air fryer basket
- Now brush the milk + butter wash on them followed by sprinkling of some sesame seeds.
- Now Chill the filled puff pastries in the freezer for at least 20 minutes or up to 1 day.
- No need to preheat the air fryer.
- Air fry the chilled tandoori vegetable curry puff pastries at 300- degree for 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Make sure to rotate the fryer basket or rearrange the puff pastries in between the air frying process.
- Remove puff pastries from Air fryer and allow to cool them on cooling rack until ready to handle and serve.
- Wrap each leftover puff pastry up tightly in plastic cling wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Left over puff pastries can be warmed in toaster oven, or in air fryer at 200-degree F or in regular oven at 300-degree F warming for 5 minutes.
Video
Recipes for condiments to go along with vegetable puff pastry:
Other vegetarian appetizer recipes that may interest you:
MM
We all love this and often make with my own variations. Love this post. Can you please recommend a good asafoetida brand ? I mostly buy organic spices from Amazon, but wondering whats your go to brand. Thanks
Rupali Agarwal
Thank you for the kind workds. All my recipe ingredients are hotlink to suggested purchase brands. Just click on the ingredient in the ingredient list. Best regards – Rupali
Harleen
Cant thank you enough for sharing this recipe. Amazing recipe, well explained and really easy to make. Me and my husband always used to crave for this dish but here in Canada we had hard time finding it in restraunts. This dish used to be on our checklist ‘to must have’ when visiting back home, but now we no longer have to, coz I can make it at home. After following your recipe and trying it out my husband asks me to make this every other day 😀
Ruchita
Hi liked the recipe …. one question are you using nutribullet for grinding? which model thanks
Rupali Agarwal
Hi Ruchita,
Yes, I am using NutriBullet. If you scroll down the post I have listed all the items used in this recipe. There you will find the recommended NutriBullet model as well.
Thank you- Rupali
Sangeetha
Family favourite….those chutneys are soooooo inviting and delicious….can you share details