These vegetarian curry puffs are so full of flavour and make the perfect snack, appetiser or party food! Made using store bought puff pastry and a bunch of delicious vegetables, and with both air fryer and conventional oven cooking methods, you’ll love how easy these are to make.
Hello and welcome to my very first Air Fryer recipe! I bought my air fryer in January of this year mostly because I was curious as they were becoming quite popular – basically everyone I knew had one.
Since then, I really haven’t used it for much outside of cooking frozen chips – which I admit it does amazingly well.
I always wondered why it was a necessary appliance when the oven does the same thing. And I honestly don’t think it is, but it does work really quickly and gives some beautifully crispy results.
It’s also excellent as a second oven. So if you’re cooking for a party for example, you can have your oven occupied and still be baking away using your air fryer – possibly making these vegetarian curry puffs.
Of course, you can make these curry puffs in the oven, and the instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post include both conventional and air fryer methods, but I was pleasantly surprised how light and flakey the pastry became in the air fryer compared to the oven, so if you have one, I recommend giving it a try.
The only downside of the air fryer is that the one I have is quite small, meaning I can only fit 4 in the basket at a time, so while the individual cooking time is less, the total becomes longer as you’ll need to cook in batches.
However you decide to cook these vegetarian curry puffs, they’ll make the perfect appetisers or finger food for a party. The filling couldn’t be simpler and the combination of vegetables ensures that these are so full of flavour.
You can serve them with a sauce of your choice, or simply as they are.
Key Ingredients
You really don’t need much on hand to make these little vegetable curry pastries plus you can easily adapt this recipe to suit what you have available.
- Onion, carrot and celery – starting the curry filling off with this ultimate flavour base known as mirepoix to give us a base to build from.
- Potatoes – the heart of our curry filling, potatoes give it substance, thickness and tastes great.
- Curry powder – the key ingredient, there really isn’t a suitable substitute.
- Turmeric – if you don’t have it, you can leave it out, but I personally love the addition of turmeric for that extra flavour and colour.
- Vegetable stock – if you don’t have it, you can use water instead, but the stock just adds that little more flavour to ensure these curry puffs are anything but bland.
- Frozen peas – adds a little colour and freshness.
- Puff pastry – most ready to use puff pastry from the supermarket is dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan, but as always, make sure to read the label.
Step-By-Step Instructions
To make the curry filling, I like to use my heavy based enamel dutch oven pot as it sautés on the stove really well, helps build delicious flavour and has a lid. But the best pot to use is the one you have.
The first step is to prep. This means getting all of the ingredients out and ready, and chopping up all of the vegetables.
To make the curry filling, you’ll heat some oil in the pot and sauté together the onions, carrot and celery until soft. You want to do this slowly, so if the onions are starting to darken, then it’s likely the heat is too high, so turn it down.
Next, add in the potatoes, curry powder and turmeric and mix together until everything is coated in the spices and smelling amazing.
Add in the vegetable stock and using a wooden spoon mix, scraping the bottom of the pan (this is where all the flavour is hiding) and mix before adding in the frozen peas.
Turn down the heat and place on the lid and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through – you don’t want a crunchy potato!
Check frequently and scrape the bottom with your wooden spoon to ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom. If it’s feeling a little dry, you can add a splash more stock to loosen it up. Once cooked, season with salt and pepper to taste, and set aside to cool down.
Get your pastry sheets out of the freezer and let defrost on the kitchen counter while the filling is cooling. The filling doesn’t need to be cold, but you don’t want it to be hot as it will make the pastry difficult to work with.
Cut out circles from your pastry, depending on the size you want – I just use a wide rimmed glass or a small bowl usually to measure – and place about a tablespoon of filling in the centre of each circle.
Fold the circle in half and gently press the edges together to seal. From here, you can easily just use a fork to crimp the edges down, or for the way I’ve done it in my pictures (which is by no means perfect), gently pinch the edge and pull up and over. Repeat as you move around the edge.
Pinch, up, over. It takes a bit of practice, and the first one is usually pretty rough, but eventually you’ll find a rhythm that works for you.
Cut a small slit in the top and brush the tops with a little bit of dairy free milk which will help the tops go golden brown.
Bake either in the oven or the airy fryer (both instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post) until the tops are golden brown.
Recipe FAQs
Yes you certainly can! I love to make these in advance of when I need them, particularly when they are for a party as you don’t want to be crimping a bunch of small pastries right before your guests arrive.
You have a couple of options. You can make the pastries and keep them in the fridge on a tray ready to bake fresh, or you can pre bake them and just heat them up right before you’re ready to serve them. Either way they will taste delicious.
You can also freeze the cooked pastries for about a month in an airtight container.
I love to make these curry puffs in advance or keep them stored in the freezer. To reheat, place on an oven tray covered in aluminium foil for about 20 minutes before removing the foil for an additional 5 minutes to crisp up the pastry.
You could also reheat these in the air fryer.
More party food:
Classic Sausage Rolls
Easy Baked Beef Meatballs
Pork, Sage and Pancetta Gourmet Sausage Rolls
Seared Scallops with Avocado, Smoked Salmon and Caviar
Thai Chicken Meatballs
Vegetarian Curry Puffs
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ brown onion
- 1 small carrot
- 1 stick celery
- 2 medium potatoes
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ cup vegetable stock
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 6 sheets puff pastry
Instructions
- Start by preparing the vegetables. Peel and dice the onion, and dice the carrot and celery. Chop the potatoes into 1cm cubes and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan with high sides or a small dutch oven over medium high heat and add the onions, carrot and celery and saute for 5 minutes or until the onions are soft. Turn down the heat if they are browning too quickly.
- Add in the potatoes, curry powder and turmeric and mix together until everything is coated in the spices. Continue to cook for a minute or two until the spices are fragrant.
- Add in the vegetable stock and using a wooden spoon mix, scraping the bottom of the pan and mix. Add in the frozen peas and mix to combine.
- Turn down the heat and place on the lid and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through. Check frequently and scrape the bottom with your wooden spoon to ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Once cooked, season with salt and pepper, and set aside to cool down.
- While the filling is cooling, take out your sheets of puff pastry and let defrost on the bench.
- Cut out circles from the pastry and scoop about a tablespoon of the filling into the centre of each and fold in half, crimping the edges. Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling. Brush the tops of each with a little dairy free milk and cut a small slit in the top.
- Conventional Oven: Preheat the oven to 180°C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Place the pastries evenly apart on the tray and place into the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
- Air Fryer: Preheat the air fryer for 2 minutes at 180°C. Lightly spray the basket with cooking oil and place the pastries on the base, ensuring there is at least a 2 cm gap between each. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown on top. Repeat as necessary until all curry puffs have been cooked.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
Sherry says
I love curry puffs!