Baked Malaysian-Style Curry Puff Recipe

Malaysian curry puffs, AKA karipap, can be quite time-consuming if you make them entirely from scratch. Here, recipe developer Tess Le Moing simplifies things by substituting frozen puff pastry for homemade dough and using ground chicken instead of cutting up whole chicken pieces for the filling. Best of all, she adds tomato paste and coconut milk to create "pockets filled with a rich, saucy filling," ensuring the chicken, potatoes, and spices inside the puff pastry are anything but dry.

As for the flavor of these puffs, Le Moing says they owe much of their depth to Malaysian curry powder. "It's very different from the standard jars you'll find at the store," she explains. "It's spicier and contains cardamom and fennel, which gives a very subtle licorice flavor." Le Moing's recipe creates 18 snack-size puffs, but she says you can easily cut the pastry into larger puffs instead. And in case you don't need such a large batch, these karipap can be assembled and frozen prior to baking. That way, Le Moing says, you can pop them in the oven "whenever you crave a deliciously flaky and piping-hot snack or meal."

The filling for these curry puffs is made with ground chicken, an onion, and a potato and seasoned with garlic, ginger, curry powder, brown sugar, salt, and lime juice. Other ingredients you'll need for cooking include oil, tomato puree, and coconut milk. Le Moing notes that even though you won't be using the whole cans of those last two ingredients, the leftovers can easily be repurposed. "Save leftover coconut milk for adding to coffee, tea, smoothies, oatmeal, or cooking rice," she suggests, adding that leftover tomato puree can be used "for making pasta sauce, pizza sauce, tomato soup, or sloppy joes."

For the puff part of these appetizers, you'll be using a box of frozen puff pastry — only the pastry will, of course, need to be thawed. (Le Moing suggests doing so in the refrigerator.) You'll also need an egg and some milk to make an egg wash.

To make the filling, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high, then fry the onions just until they start to turn brown. Stir in the garlic, ginger, and curry powder, and cook the mixture for about 1 minute. The ground chicken goes into the pan at this point. As you cook the meat, stir it to break up any chunks. Once it is no longer pink inside, which should take about 3 minutes, add the potatoes, tomato puree, coconut milk, water, brown sugar, and salt. Cover the pan and simmer everything for about 10 minutes.

When you can easily stick a fork into the potato pieces and the pan contents look less liquidy, it's time to turn off the heat and stir in the lime juice. Add as much salt as you like, then let the filling cool completely. If you won't be making the puffs right away, you can refrigerate the filling for up to 3 days, but don't let it sit any longer, as it might start to go a bit "off."

When you're almost ready to start baking, turn on the oven and set it to 350 F so it can preheat, then line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out the puff pastry (you should have 2 sheets) into a pair of 12x12-inch squares. Cut both squares into tic-tac-toe grids, each with 9 equal pieces.

Beat the egg with the milk and use this egg wash to brush the sides of each of the 18 squares. Plop 2-3 tablespoons of filling into the middle of each piece of pastry, then fold over the corners to create triangles with the filling inside. Crimp the edges with a fork or your fingers to seal.

Spread out the curry puffs evenly on the baking sheets, making sure that they're not crowded or they might not bake correctly. (If you plan to freeze your puffs, you may do so at this point, removing them from the trays once they are solid so you can store them in a plastic bag. When you bake the frozen puffs, Le Moing says they do not need to be thawed.)

Use the rest of the egg wash to brush over the exposed tops and sides of the puffs, then sprinkle them with salt. Bake for 30 minutes, at which point they should be puffy, browned, and very hot — so Le Moing says to let them cool for at least 10 minutes before you bite into them. These curry puffs can be eaten either warm or at room temperature, and while Le Moing notes that "traditionally, you don't eat Malaysian curry puffs with sauce," she likes to dollop on some plain yogurt. Not only will this cut down on the spiciness, but it also makes for what she calls "a nice cold contrast to the hot filling." 

Le Moing typically serves these as an appetizer, or she plates up 2-3 per person to make a full meal with a side salad or blanched veggies. Leftovers, she tells us, will keep for 5 days in the fridge and can be reheated in the oven at 350 F for 5 minutes.