This curry puffs recipe (karipap) yields savory pastries with a crisp, flaky butter crust and aromatic spiced potato filling. They taste just like veg puffs at your favorite Indian café, and they're easier to make than you might think!
Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a fork, a pastry cutter, 2 butter knives, or your fingertips. It should look crumbly, with some pieces of butter the size of small peas.
Drizzle the water in a little at a time, mixing as you go (you can use a fork to mix, but it works best mixing with your fingertips). Add just enough water so it comes together to form a ball of dough (you may need more or less water).
Roll the dough into a ball, flatten it slightly into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
Make the Filling:
Add the chopped potato to a medium saucepan and add enough cold water to cover by 3 inches. Bring to a boil, and then turn the heat down so it doesn’t boil over and cook until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain well.
Add the oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the ginger and jalapeño and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the cumin, coriander seeds, garam masala, black mustard seeds, hing, ground coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, and cayenne pepper and cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
Remove from the heat and add the potato, cilantro leaves, lemon juice, and peas. Use a potato masher to mash the veggies a bit (don’t overdo it, we still want some larger pieces of potato).
Assemble the Pastries:
Place the chilled disk of dough onto a floured work surface. Working from the center out, roll the dough out to a rectangle about 11 to 12 by 16 to 18 inches.
For this amount of filling, you will need 10 to 12 (4-inch) dough circles. Stamp out as many as you can, and then gather the dough scraps, re-roll the dough, and stamp out more if needed.
Put 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of vegetable filling in the center of each dough circle. Lightly brush egg wash on the outer half of dough on each, and fold the pastry over onto itself with the egg wash side facing the side with no egg wash (this will help the pastries stick together).
Transfer the pastries to a large baking tray lined with parchment paper or a silpat liner. Transfer the whole tray to the fridge to chill for 15 minutes (to yield the flakiest crust!).
Bake:
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Lightly brush the top of each pastry with egg wash. Use a sharp paring knife to cut 3 small slits in the top of each pastry (so steam can escape).
Bake until the pastries are puffed, golden, and flaky, about 30 minutes.
Notes
Store-Bought Dough: To make this quick and easy, use store-bought pie dough and/or store-bought puff pastry instead of making your own pie dough.
Storage and Reheating: Store leftover veg puffs covered in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat these individual pies on a baking sheet in a 350F oven until fully warm, about 10 to 15 minutes. I don’t recommend reheating them in the microwave because the gorgeous crust will lose its crisp flakiness.
Freezer-Friendly: These curry puffs freeze well! To do so, once they’re cooled to room temperature, arrange them in a single layer between pieces of parchment paper in a freezer-safe airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months. After freezing, thaw these overnight in the fridge before reheating.