Friday, June 12, 2009

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.

24 comments :

  1. Those pastries look delicious! :-)

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  2. When we are in chennai we too go to spencer plaza for nuts, swesetc to have in the hotle.
    Puffs were my favourite thing to have from the bakers and your look really yummy.

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  3. LOL.. so finally you have puff pastry in your freezer.. Hope to see more yummy recipes made with it. Puffs look delicious..

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  4. I did not understand, so how did you finally get the pastry sheets in Chennai? You mentioned that hilarious incident at the Plaza, and then you had it at home... I was a little lost there.
    Yeah those sheets are really really difficult to make at home, esp if you are like me who skimps on butter.

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  5. oh yeah I can imagine making those trips myself...looks great...

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  6. Ur so right about it being easy to make puffs, any filling and its done. The veg puffs look awesome. Out here this is served at almost every party.

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  7. So tasty and quick to make ! We get puff pastry sheets here, so we are lucky :-)

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  8. Your encounter at the store was really funny. Yeah I would also go thru the same thing, if I tried to ask for puff pastries in Mumbai :-)

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  9. haha..loved the saga..looks delicious..

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  10. I didn't know that getting puff pastries in Chennai was so difficult....,you could have done one instead of searching one but where did you get finally?

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  11. Love the filling, hmm will definately try these soon, i love pastry puffs you can do so much with it :)

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  12. Lucky you, those pastry sheets. I never thought to ask my sis to bring me some. :(
    Spencer's has a Nuts 'n Spices shop? That's where I'm going next trip to Chennai. We always visit Spencer's when we are there.I guiess the paper in Landmark wasn't the one you were looking for! :D

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  13. Yummy Puffs Divya. I have also tried puff pastry shees in Chennai, but I could not. BTW are you in Chennai.?

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  14. ..why doesnt such incidents happen to me:)??and where was I when you came to Chennai...bah:(.

    LOL...CHO CHWWWEET! :)

    Sheet ellam Landmark-ila thaan kidaikkum

    I am laughing my head out!! :D :D ROFL..

    All these days I'd been consoling myself lazily not trying puffs when I see US bloggers coming out with them with their puff sheets..
    Now I have no excuse!..
    You have made it so simple and yummy!! :)
    Great recipe!!! :)

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  15. LOL ......wow that stuffing sounds yum....

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  16. Yeah Divya...these are the best ones available here.They are so good to make.I wud say hats off to the guy who first introduced these sheets in the market.Yours look so perfect!

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  17. oh yes, quite coincidence :)

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  18. "Quite Coincidence" yeah yeah....:D(just after the girl who's left the comment right up ;))

    now I am going to make her bring the Sheets for me ;)...normally I ask her something to bring along(like butterscotch chips for blondies) and she asks me...why dont you search in Chennai..? :)

    Anyway now she knows she can't put the same query with puff sheets...

    But Divya, how do you receive a frozen product from abroad?doesnt they get thawed and un edible while transfer??

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  19. Anu..My co-sis got it for me from abroad.I *casually* forgot to mention that:)..Lol.Have edited the post now!!

    Bharathy..I literally *abused* the puff pastry sheets[cant use a better term for that:)].My co-sis brought it along with her during their 10 hours long flight journey.Kept it in the freezer in Bangalore.It was abused furthermore during our journey from there to Chennai.It got battered again during my frequent fridge-went-kaput days.Still it survived..so I guess Nags can bring some for you during her next trip back home:)...sorry Nags,I couldn't help it:)

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  20. Hi ur veg puffs look tempting and mouth watering. you can visit my blog view my recipes and give ur comments

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  21. When will people here stop giving strange looks when we ask for these things here?? lol! I have faced this a good number of times too.. Lucky u !! U managed to get the puff pastry and baked these divine puffs. Hey, but how did your co-sis get it from the US?? I WANNA KNOW(like a spoilt kid), so that I can get too.

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  22. Does anyone know ver to get puff pastry sheets in banglore......
    Divya ur blog is too helpful...especially ur baking... As even i hav got IFB oven......
    Plz do visit my blog too...... abowlofcurry.blogspot.in
    Thanks & happy cooking
    Preetha

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    Replies
    1. You can pre-order (one day) at All Saints Bakery on Brigade Road.

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Love,
Divya.

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