Veg Puffs and the Puff Pastry Saga:)

Scene One
Venue – Nuts N Spices – Spencer Plaza,Chennai

My first visit there,I was amused by the array of goodies they had.Had passed the shop many times before,but never thought they stacked anything other than nuts and spices:).Little did I know,they had almost everything I had thought was unavailable in Chennai.Baking ingredients,cooking chocolate,vanilla beans,chocolate-butterscotch chips,different types of sugars,all types of sauces,cake-mixes etc etc.I just had a teeny weeny hope that they might stock puff pastry too,seeing the overstacked freezer.I decided to ask the salesman.

Me – Ahem..excuse me..do you have puff pastry??
Him – Huh..what?
Me – Puff pastry?
Him – Illa ma,puff-um pastry-um ingey kidaikkathu[no,we don’t have Puffs(as in Veg-egg puffs) and pastries here]:)
Me – uh uh,not that.Puff pastry sheets..??
Him – Sheet ellam Landmark-ila thaan kidaikkum[You will get sheets(as in paper)in Landmark(another shop)-I tried not hard not to laugh but I could see hubby and my bro looking elsewhere and laughing uncontrollably]
Me – ok,fine!!

My co-sis brought them for me from abroad,during their last India trip.

Scene Two
Home

Hubby – Div,whats this huge stack of rolls inside the freezer?
Me – *Like I suddenly remembered something look*,Oh,those are Puff Pastry sheets.
Hubby – Are’nt these the ones you kept reminded Vanni[my co-sis] about??
Me – Hmm yeah..
Hubby – Then how come you haven’t done anything with it..??
Me – Yeah..soon!!

Yesterday,it was *soon* and I unpacked the puff pastry sheets,made a regular veggie filling and made Veg puffs.I am still amazed how easy it was and how quickly it got done.I envy all of you who have access to readymade puff pastry sheets.If I had to make those on my own,the idea of making puffs would be put off forever:).So here’s a very basic recipe for the filling.

Veg Puffs

Ingredients

Puff pastry sheet – 1 roll
Flour to dust

For the filling

Potato – 2,medium
Carrot – 1
Baby corn – 1
Green peas – ½ cup
Cauliflower florets – 3-4
Onions – 2,small

Oil – 1 tbsp
Jeera – ½ tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Haldi powder – ½ tsp
Cumin-Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Red chilly powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala – 1 tsp
Chat masala – 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method

Chop the vegetables finely.
Cook them till soft,but not mushy.
Drain them and keep aside.
In a kadai,add oil and splutter jeera.Add onions and ginger garlic paste and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
Add the masala powders – haldi,cumin-coriander,garam masala,chat masala and red chilly powders.
Saute till everything gets mixed.
Add the cooked vegetables and salt to taste.
Mix well and keep aside to cool.

Thaw the puff pastry sheets according to the instructions given.
Cut them into small squares/rectangles.
Dust some flour on your working surface and roll these squares/rectangles to slightly bigger sizes.
Keep the filling in the middle and seal the edges.
Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes at 180*C.