Curry Puffs

1. Assemble in a bowl the flour, butter, sour cream, and the salt if desired (unless using salted butter). Use a butter knife to draw the ingredients together to make a dough. If the dough feels too dry to touch, add some water a little at a time until the mixture turns into a pliable dough. Cover the dough with a dry tea towel and place it in the fridge or somewhere cool to rest until needed.
2. Bring a pot of water with some salt to the boil. In the meantime, peel the potatoes, roughly chop and place them in the pot of boiling water. Wait for it to cook until soft enough to mash, roughly ten minutes. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain and mash them roughly.
3. In the meantime, place a large fry pan with the 2 tablespoons of oil on a medium-high heat until the oil is hot. Add the mustard seeds and the curry leaves and stir for a few seconds until the seeds pop. Now add the onions and stir for another minute or two, followed by the two pastes. Stir this mixture for roughly 5 minutes or until the onions turn golden brown. Now add all the spice powders used, as well as salt and pepper if desired. Stir this mixture for a minute or two to fry the dry spice powders until fragrant and take it off the heat.
4. Add the mashed potatoes to the spice mixture and stir to combine, incorporating the flavours with the mashed potatoes. Check for seasoning and let it chill before assembling.
5. Before assembling the curry puffs, place a medium size saucepan with enough oil on medium-high heat, suitable for deep frying the curry puffs.
6. Assemble the curry puffs by dividing the dough mixture into 8 to 10 ping pong ball size portions. Roll out each piece of dough into flat rounds. Place a tablespoon of the cooled potato mixture into the centre and fold the pastry over to make a semi-circle, then pinch the edges together to seal the mixture in. You could crimp the edges by folding or simply make patterns on the edges with a fork, but do not puncture the pastry. Once the oil has come to the right temperature (drop a small piece of pastry into the oil, and when it floats immediately the oil is ready), place about 3 to 5 curry puffs into the oil, depending on the size of your pan, and cook for roughly 5 minutes, turning once or twice, until the pastry takes on a golden brown colour on both sides. Drain the oil by placing the curry puffs on a colander lined with paper towels to absorb the oil. Once all are cooked, serve them onto a platter with a sauce or chutney of your choice in the middle.

Malaysians are well known for making their spiral pastry curry puffs. When there’s time, after rolling the ping pong size ball of dough into a round, roll it into a tight scroll then press it down flat, you’ll already see the spiral visible in the pastry. Gently roll this out to a round and carry on as previously with the filling. Well-seasoned curry puffs don’t require a chutney or sauce to accompany them, but a chutney can easily be made to impress your guests: blend equal parts fresh coriander and mint with 1 green chilli in a small food processor, season with salt, sugar and white vinegar to taste. If you’re time-poor, store-bought hot and mild sauces are just as good!