Curry & lager pasties, a vegetarian spin on the Friday night treat for week-day lunchtimes
It's January, everyone is back at work and we are finally getting some cold weather (and brrrr....it is chilly). New Year's resolutions are in full swing (early days enthusiasm) so to keep up the motivation of my new thriftier lifestyle and with a surfeit of homegrown potatoes to use before they start to sprout I decided to bring a little pastry goodness to the working week's packed lunches.
Homegrown potatoes do not come conveniently washed and it's no fun on a cold day to spend hours scrubbing them at the sink so rather than just prepare those needed for Sunday dinner I cleaned a whole bucketful and steamed them in their skins in several batches, allowing them to cool before packing in the fridge for future use. With a rainy afternoon and the radio on, it was the perfect time to make a little rough puff pastry forming the basis of these vegetarian pasties, using Dan Lepard's ale-crust potato pasty recipe as my starting point.
Vegetarian curry & lager pasties - makes six large pasties
For the lager rough puff pastry
325g gluten-free strong white bread flour (or use ordinary strong white bread flour)
175g wholegrain spelt flour
2 tsp salt
300g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
250ml lager (or beer) - I used a bottle of Stella which comes in 284ml bottles (which meant a cheeky swig for the chef whilst making the pastry)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp nigella seeds
For the potato filling
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
2 tsp nigella seeds
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
½ thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric
3 tsp curry powder
50g frozen peas
500-600g cooked potato, cut into small pieces
4 tbsp full fat yoghurt or crème fraȋche
60g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
salt and black pepper
Put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and pour in the lager. Mix together roughly with your hands until you have a rough looking dough (there will be large chunks of butter in this). Turn out onto a floured surface and roll out to about 1cm thick, fold in each side by a third then roll and fold again. Wrap up in cling film and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes to chill. Repeat this procedure twice more, chilling for 30 minutes between each double roll and fold and leaving for a final 30 minutes in the freezer before using.
Heat the oil on a medium heat and add the seeds, keep an eye on them, swirling the pan a little until the mustard seeds start to pop. Turn the heat down, add the shallots and cook until soft, add the garlic, ginger and chilli and fry for another minute or so. Stir in the ground spices, stir for another minute, then add the frozen peas, followed by the potato. Turn off the heat, add the yoghurt or crème fraȋche, chopped coriander and stir to combine so that everything is coated in the spicy sauce. Allow to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180℃ and unwrap your chilled pastry. Cut the dough in half and roll out each half to about 23 x 33cm and 1cm thick, divide each of these halves into equal thirds. Place a large spoonful of the potato mix onto half of each of the six pastry pieces. Brush a little water along the edges and bring over the other side of each piece to form the pasty. Press to seal using a fork and when you have done all six, return them to the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes. At this point you can freeze any spare pasties on a tray, before bagging them up when frozen*.
When the pasties have chilled, place them on a baking tray and brush with beaten egg all over. Slit the top of each pasty 3-4 times and sprinkle over a little nigella seeds. Bake them for about 40 minutes or until golden.
On a cold day in the office, when everyone else is munching cardboard sandwiches, you will receive glances of envy as you fill your face with one of these.
*Frozen pasties should be defrosted and egg washed before cooking.
Homegrown potatoes do not come conveniently washed and it's no fun on a cold day to spend hours scrubbing them at the sink so rather than just prepare those needed for Sunday dinner I cleaned a whole bucketful and steamed them in their skins in several batches, allowing them to cool before packing in the fridge for future use. With a rainy afternoon and the radio on, it was the perfect time to make a little rough puff pastry forming the basis of these vegetarian pasties, using Dan Lepard's ale-crust potato pasty recipe as my starting point.
Vegetarian curry & lager pasties - makes six large pasties
For the lager rough puff pastry
325g gluten-free strong white bread flour (or use ordinary strong white bread flour)
175g wholegrain spelt flour
2 tsp salt
300g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
250ml lager (or beer) - I used a bottle of Stella which comes in 284ml bottles (which meant a cheeky swig for the chef whilst making the pastry)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp nigella seeds
For the potato filling
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
2 tsp nigella seeds
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
½ thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric
3 tsp curry powder
50g frozen peas
500-600g cooked potato, cut into small pieces
4 tbsp full fat yoghurt or crème fraȋche
60g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
salt and black pepper
Put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and pour in the lager. Mix together roughly with your hands until you have a rough looking dough (there will be large chunks of butter in this). Turn out onto a floured surface and roll out to about 1cm thick, fold in each side by a third then roll and fold again. Wrap up in cling film and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes to chill. Repeat this procedure twice more, chilling for 30 minutes between each double roll and fold and leaving for a final 30 minutes in the freezer before using.
Heat the oil on a medium heat and add the seeds, keep an eye on them, swirling the pan a little until the mustard seeds start to pop. Turn the heat down, add the shallots and cook until soft, add the garlic, ginger and chilli and fry for another minute or so. Stir in the ground spices, stir for another minute, then add the frozen peas, followed by the potato. Turn off the heat, add the yoghurt or crème fraȋche, chopped coriander and stir to combine so that everything is coated in the spicy sauce. Allow to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180℃ and unwrap your chilled pastry. Cut the dough in half and roll out each half to about 23 x 33cm and 1cm thick, divide each of these halves into equal thirds. Place a large spoonful of the potato mix onto half of each of the six pastry pieces. Brush a little water along the edges and bring over the other side of each piece to form the pasty. Press to seal using a fork and when you have done all six, return them to the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes. At this point you can freeze any spare pasties on a tray, before bagging them up when frozen*.
When the pasties have chilled, place them on a baking tray and brush with beaten egg all over. Slit the top of each pasty 3-4 times and sprinkle over a little nigella seeds. Bake them for about 40 minutes or until golden.
On a cold day in the office, when everyone else is munching cardboard sandwiches, you will receive glances of envy as you fill your face with one of these.
*Frozen pasties should be defrosted and egg washed before cooking.
Thanks, I may refine the size a little, they are quite big (although that's not a problem in this house!).
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