Curry Puffs: Curry puffs are, perhaps, one of the best examples of East meets West, or Raj meets Indian. They are a kind of sausage roll where, instead of sausage meat, the filling is minced (curry) kheema Makes: 36 curry puffs Time required: One hour 55 minutes

Ingredients

How to?

400 g puff pastry For the filling: 500 g cooked kheema curry For the kheema curry: 4 tbsp (60 g) ghee 225 g onions, chopped fine 3 flakes (6 g) garlic, chopped fine 2 fresh green chillies, chopped 450 g coarsely ground lean minced beef 150 g carrot, cubed fine 200g tinned plum tomatoes 1 tbsp (15 ml) tomato ketchup 700 ml tomato soup 40 g coriander leaves, chopped fine 2 tsp (10 g) garam masala powder 1 tbsp (15 g) dried fenugreek leaves (optional) salt to taste For the spices: 2 tsp (10 g) coriander powder 1 tsp (5 g) turmeric powder 1 1/2 tsp (7 g) cardamom powder

DIVIDE the pastry into four equal pieces. Carefully roll out one piece three mm. thick and about 22 cm square. Then cut the square into three strips, each about 7.5 cm wide. Put a line of filling down the centre line of each strip. Fold the pastry over the filling, pressing the edges firmly together, sealing with a little water. Brush with a glaze of water or egg white, and spike the roll a few times to let the air out when it cooks. Freeze the pastry for later use, if required. Put the 12 strips onto a greased, flat oven tray, and bake in a preheated oven at 190 C/375 F/Gas 5 for about 20 minutes, or till well browned. Cut each strip into three pieces. Serve hot or cold with salad and chutney. They can be frozen when cold. To prepare the kheema curry: HEAT the ghee in a frying pan. Add the onions, garlic and green chillies. Stir-fry for about five minutes, till the onion is translucent. Add the spices. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes, sprinkling a little water when required. Mix in the mince and stir-fry until it browns. Put into a casserole, cover and bake in a preheated oven at 190 C/375 F /Gas 5 for about 20 minutes. Add the carrot, tomatoes, ketchup and tomato soup. Stir well and bake for a further 20 minutes. Stir in the coriander leaves, garam masala powder, fenugreek leaves and salt to taste. Cook for 20 minutes. Serve hot. (This recipe is great in its own right, served with Indian breads or rice. It is also the base as stuffing for curry puffs, shepherd's pie and potato mince rissoles.)

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