Curry puff

Curry puff
Type Snack or Appetizer
Place of origin Southeast Asia
Region or state Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and India
Main ingredients Curry, chicken, potatoes
Cookbook: Curry puff  Media: Curry puff

Curry puff (Malay: Karipap, Epok-epok; Chinese: 咖哩角,咖哩饺; pinyin: gālí jiǎo; Thai: กะหรี่ปั๊บ, rtgs: karipap, IPA: [kà(ʔ).rìː.páp]) is a snack of Southeast Asian origin. It is a small pie consisting of specialised curry with chicken and potatoes in a deep-fried or baked[1] pastry shell, and it looks like the Portuguese stuffed bread called Empanada. The curry is quite thick to prevent it from oozing out of the snack.

A common snack in Southeast Asia, the curry puff is one of several "puff" type pastries with different fillings, though now it is by far the most common. Other common varieties include sardines and onions or sweet fillings such as yam.

Though differing in the type of pastry used, the shape and structure of the curry puff may suggest that it has its origins in the Cornish pasty.

Curry Puffs are a very popular snack item in Indian Bakeries. Several variations of it are available based on the content of the puff, including Egg puff, Potato puff, chicken puff, veggie puff and Paneer puff. Curry puffs are enjoyed throughout, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and India.


Malaysia

In Malaysia, this snack can be found in many stores, especially at Indian and Malay food stalls. Another Malay version of this snack is known as epok-epok and teh-teh which is smaller than the curry puff. The curry puffs from Indian bakeries differ from epok-epok in the use of 'layered' pastry that creates a flaky crust. Other varieties of the epok epok are filled with a half boiled egg instead of chicken. Another alternative is tinned sardines.There are also vegetarian curry puffs that are in fact not spicy and made from shredded radish, tofu and grated carrots. They are often eaten with sweet chilli sauce.

Manufacturers have developed a version of the curry puff that can be frozen and later reheated by the consumer. These are suitable for the export market and can be produced in volume for shipment to various regions, such as the Middle East, where there is demand. In addition, new fillings have been experimented with, including tuna and black pepper.

In Indian food stalls in Malaysia, it is quite common to find vegetarian curry puffs with potatoes, carrots and onions as fillings.

Indonesia

Indonesian pastel with vegetables and beef inside

In Indonesia, curry puff is known as pastel, although it does not necessarily contains any curry powder. Pastel derived from Portuguese influence in Indonesia, it refer to pie of crust made of thin pastry filled with meat (usually chicken) mixed with vegetables (chopped carrot and beans), rice vermicelli and sometimes egg, then deep fried in vegetable oil. It is consumed as snack and commonly sold in Indonesian traditional markets.[2]

The similar North Sulawesi version replace thin flour pie crust with bread and filled with spicy cakalang (skipjack tuna) is called panada.[3] This snack is very popular during Ramadhan.[2]

The similar Riau Islands version of curry puff is called epok-epok.

Singapore

Curry puffs are commonly seen in Singapore's Pasar Malams and other stalls in shopping centres. Additionally, the aforementioned epok-epok is a popular variation in some of Singapore's hawker centres, usually amongst Malay stalls. Alternatively, the more common type of curry puff has a thick or flaky English-style crust, with a mixture of Chinese and Indian styles in the filling.

They may also be categorized into hand-made or mass-produced machine-made puffs. Both variations are popular in Singapore, although some might argue that the former is typically more delicious.

Other puff snacks modelled on the curry puff concept have also been introduced. For example, 1A Crispy Puff also sells puffs with yam, durian, corn, red bean, nata de coco, grass jelly, bird's nest and even custard fillings.

Besides the more "exotic" fillings mentioned, there are also more conventional flavours which are quite popular with the locals. These puffs are readily available in Singapore, which include sardine, black-pepper chicken and tuna fillings. For example, Pie Connection sells these hand-made puffs.

In Singapore, Old Chang Kee has been selling curry puffs for over 70 years and now has outlets all over Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Other well-known brands include 1A Crispy Puff and Sim Sun Pastries. Polar Puffs and Cakes introduced a version of the curry puff that uses Western puff pastry, which has a different taste and shape.

Ingredients

Thai Karipap normally only contains chicken, potato, onion and curry powder

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Curry puffs.
  1. ↑ http://www.malaysianfood.net/recipes/recipecurrypuffs.htm
  2. 1 2 "Benhil Market, "Takjil" Heaven". Tempo.co. 13 July 2013.
  3. ↑ "Panada Recipe (Manado Tuna Stuffed Bread/Pastry)". Indonesia Eats. 4 September 2010.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.