Curry Puff or often called karipap by the Malays, is a type of deep fried semi-circular shaped stuffed pastry with a wide varieties of fillings. It is one of the most popular snack in South East Asia, namely Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and India.
In a large bowl, combine and whisk together the gluten free all-purpose flour, potato starch, xanthan gum and salt. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture.
Pour 450ml of just boiled water into the well in the bowl, stir and combine the flour.
Then add in the rest of the 50ml boiled water gradually as you use your hands to knead the dough until you have a smooth dough and is not sticky.
Divide the dough into 2 portions. Seal in ziplock bags and let the dough rest on the benchtop for 1 hour.
For the filling:
Place all the ingredients for the chilli paste into a food processor, blend until you get a smooth paste.
Heat up a non-stick frying pan with 3 tablespoons of rice bran oil, stir fry the chilli paste prepared in step 6, the curry powder and curry leaves for 3 minutes on low heat or until aromatic.
Then add in all the sweet potatoes and stir fry for 10 to 15 minutes or until sweet potatoes are soft. Stirring frequently.
Follow by adding in all the chickpeas and baby peas, coconut cream and salt, stir and combine all the ingredients for another 2 minutes on low heat. Discard curry leaves and set aside in a large bowl to cool.
For the pastry:
Dust the work surface and rolling pin with some gluten free flour.
Remove 1 bag of dough from the refrigerator, divide the dough into 4 smaller portions.
Work with 1 portion at a time, roll into ropes of 1½ inch thickness.
Cut each rope into 1½ inch pieces and roll them into balls.
Flatten each ball into a disc or patty. Use the rolling pin to roll each ball into a circle.
Continue to roll out each dough, turning it as you roll, to form a thin 4 inch round pastry.
Spoon some filling onto the middle of each pastry. With lightly dust fingers, carefully press and seal the edges together. Press until the edges are thin out.
Using your fingers, fold over the edge, then twist and fold to form rope edge.
Place on a tray until ready to deep fry.
For cooking the curry puffs:
Heat up a wok half filled with rice bran oil. Deep fry each filled pastry for around 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown on medium to low heat. Turning the pastry a few times to brown evenly during frying. Drain on kitchen paper towels.
Repeat until all the curry puffs pastries are cooked. Deep fry the pastries in 4 to 5 batches.