Chicken Puffs

I recently returned from a trip to Kerala. Although we have lived in Delhi for over 20 years now, Kerala still feels like home. Of the many things that I miss about Kerala while growing up in Delhi and now, far away in London, food is on top of the list. Of course, my mother’s cooking is mostly Malayalee in content, and my cooking is also greatly influenced by Malayalee flavours, but there are flavours that aren’t often reproduced in home kitchens which I miss. Chicken puffs is somewhere around the top of that list. The crunchiness of the puff, which is a perfect contrast to the soft and spicy chicken filling inside is one of my more vivid memories of Kerala bakeries. So when I saw the recipe (and enticing accompanying photographs) on Ria’s website (http://riascollection.blogspot.com/2011/01/curried-chicken-puffs-with-homemade.html), there was no way I could have resisted!  

I didn’t go to all the trouble of rolling out my own pastry. It happened to be my birthday weekend and I wasn’t in the mood to spend too long in the kitchen, so I ended up using store bought pastry instead. I saved the hard work and creativity for the filling instead and came up with my own recipe, which was good but not as spicy as I would have liked it to be. The curry leaves though, were a good addition, and I think they really contribute to that unique Kerala flavour that I was longing for. I was out of garam masala and will add it next time round, hopefully, with better results.