20 replies to this topic

[trillium]

Ok all you "elsewheres", I'm hoping to make Singapore style curry puffs for the partner's bday because it's what he really longs for. Has anyone out there made these at home? I am probably going to use a recipe from Thian's site but I'd love to hear about any first hand making. Especially if you've skipped the whole two skins thing, or if you have hints on how much filling to put in a certain sized amount of wrapper.

thanks
trillium

[chan25]

Don't know if this helps but ...

My uncle made them for me when I visited him a while ago in NYC, I have no idea what he used to make the filling, but the skin was made with phyllo dough IIRC. Baked in the oven and it was yummy. I have a bad picture of what they looked like before they got baked.



He made a second batch the next day which turned out even better. Maybe the filling had a chance to settle overnight.

Edit to say that I think deep fried ones taste better but these were not too bad (and healthier too)

Edited by chan25, 17 June 2005 - 11:12 PM.

[Dejah]

I think that looks more like puff pastry? I buy puff pastry sheets and cut them to whatever size I want the pastries to be. Easier than from scratch. Phyllo would make a crisper pastry. That would be great too!

I have made the filling with ground chicken or beef...with the addition of curry powder or paste, chopped onions, garlic, and mashed potato. The potato makes a nice binding agent and gives the filling a better mouth feel.

[chan25]

Puff pastry, that was it!

I think you got the ingredients for the filling spot on too Dejah.

[trillium]

Those look very tasty, but the parnter has nixed the puff pastry idea. He wants the old school Singapore type, where the dough is more like a samosa or empanada dough and the chicken and potatoes are in chunks. And deep fried! Like Old Chang Kee before it was huge. Birthdays come only once a year, so I'm going to do my best.

regards,
trillium

[prasantrin]

Those look very tasty, but the parnter has nixed the puff pastry idea.  He wants the old school Singapore type, where the dough is more like a samosa or empanada dough and the chicken and potatoes are in chunks.  And deep fried!  Like Old Chang Kee before it was huge.  Birthdays come only once a year, so I'm going to do my best.

regards,
trillium

The last time I was in Singapore, I had what must have been "old school Singapore type" curry puffs. They were more empanada-like and were fried. The dough was slightly sweet, though. I thought it was much more like Filipino empanadas than South American-style empanadas I've had. If the purpose of the double-skin method is to create a layer, the recipe I've linked to may accomplish the same thing with the pinwheeling of the dough. With this recipe, I would only follow steps 1-6, then slice the dough a thicker than they suggest, roll it into a larger circle, fill and fry.

I would try both dough methods and see which he liked better--there's no harm in having a lot of curry puffs .

Edited to add a very blurry picture of some Singaporean curry puffs--the one with the red dot was sardine, and the other was chicken curry, I think.

Edited by prasantrin, 22 June 2005 - 10:09 PM.

[trillium]

Thanks for the tips. Maybe I should make both kinds of dough and just spend the whole day doing it and decide which one we like better. It's true, you can't have too many curry puffs, and I owe him. Last night he cooked his own birthday dinner... nasi lemak... since it was a celebration, he even fried the ikan belis instead of baking them like he normally does. The cats went nuts, but we didn't share, it was too good.

regards,
trillium

[prasantrin]

Have you made your curry puffs, yet? And if you did, how did they turn out? I've been thinking of curry puffs lately. Mmmmmm...

[trillium]

I didn't. We made 2 batches of beer that weekend instead (his choice). And now it seems to hot to deep fry inside. I'm afraid the burner we use for outside cooking would make the oil too hot. When I make them, I promise to take pictures and report back. We made Singapore style chicken satay last night. Tonight is fried chicken (bought) and som tom and sticky rice. Oh yeah, and I have some sweetened, salted coconut milk in the fridge to make ice cream.

regards,
trillium

[annachan]

Those look very tasty, but the parnter has nixed the puff pastry idea.  He wants the old school Singapore type, where the dough is more like a samosa or empanada dough and the chicken and potatoes are in chunks.  And deep fried!  Like Old Chang Kee before it was huge.  Birthdays come only once a year, so I'm going to do my best.

regards,
trillium

The last time I was in Singapore, I had what must have been "old school Singapore type" curry puffs. They were more empanada-like and were fried. The dough was slightly sweet, though. I thought it was much more like Filipino empanadas than South American-style empanadas I've had. If the purpose of the double-skin method is to create a layer, the recipe I've linked to may accomplish the same thing with the pinwheeling of the dough. With this recipe, I would only follow steps 1-6, then slice the dough a thicker than they suggest, roll it into a larger circle, fill and fry.

I would try both dough methods and see which he liked better--there's no harm in having a lot of curry puffs .

Edited to add a very blurry picture of some Singaporean curry puffs--the one with the red dot was sardine, and the other was chicken curry, I think.

The dough in picture looks very much like the dough the Chinese use for a sweet empanada-like items that is stuffed with cocnut, peanut and sugar. I'm not sure how the dough is made, I just know it has lard in it.

Anyway, we made curry puffs once using spring roll wrappers. They came out nice and crispy. We took the wrapper and cut each into 3 long strips. We put fillings in one end and just started folding triangles until we use up the strip.

[trillium]

Just to bring up an old thread, I finally made curry puffs this weekend since my mum was visiting and is good with pastries. Yes, I'm shameless, and I wanted help since the other cook was busy making mee siam!

Anyway, we used the recipe from The Star because thats the one that seemed closest to some notes scratched down from consulting with Singaporean mum.

They turned out really well, but next time I'm going to do a different curry filling, this one wasn't the yellow kind I think I would like better. The skins came out very flakey, and unlike those the partner remembers from Old Chang Kee. I used less water then the recipe calls for and let the dough rest for 4 hours in the fridge. Next time my mum wants to try the double skin recipes...I've created a monster...actually two curry puff eating monsters....

regards,
trillium

[Tepee]

Homemade curry puffs! Yum! When my mom made them, I could scarf down 8 at least. Don't make them myself as I hardly do any deep-frying at home for various reasons.

Old Chang Kee is OK, but you have to catch them on a good day when the oil they use to deep-fry in is still fresh. Otherwise, I just go to my regular Malay stall. I prefer to order from them, specify that I'd like more meat (chicken or beef), and I'm in curry puff heaven.

[trillium]

Yeah, Old Chang Kee is not what it used to be, last time they were tried, they disappointed, but the partner has fond memories of eating them when he was a child and there was only 1 shop front.

Curry puffs to order are unfortunately (or fortunately from the waistline point of view) just a dream here in Portland, unless you make them yourself.

The mee siam turned out really good too, we did it the old fashioned way with a separate gravy and a separate frying and garnishing sambal. Super yum, but I'd kill to be able to just go eat it at my favorite stall, it's a lot of work.

regards,
trillium

[Keith_W]

Here is my effort.

[Blether]

Nice ! What's the pastry ? And is that a purpose-made bowl or a private inspiration ?

[Keith_W]

Hi Blether, what purpose-made bowl? If you are talking about the plastic curry puff maker, I bought it for $1 at a Chinese dollar shop. The pastry is a standard short crust pastry - for every 100gm plain flour, I used 45gm lard and 45gm water.

[Blether]

Ah, those are swivels at the sides. I get it. Thanks. What a great tool.

[nikkib]

those look goooood!

[nickrey]

What temperature did you deep fry them at Keith? They look delicious.

[Keith_W]

Hi Nick! These were deep fried at 180C. I let the oil creep up to 190C because I know they will drop 10C the moment I drop the first batch of curry puffs in :)

BTW the pastry can be used for other things, like empanadas. I suppose that curry puff is a Malaysian empanada anyway :)

[threestars]

These curry puffs looks exactly like Empanadas. What's their difference by the way?