Karipap Gai (Chicken Curry Puff)

Today's post is a substantial hike in the difficulty levels! Normally I try and make dishes that are easy to follow and make but Karipaps (Curry Puffs) are particularly difficult, or the pastry is at least. As you might be able to see it's a multi-layer puff pastry that is folded in such a way that ends up with an open spiral-like finish. This is the first time I've ever tackled anything like this so it really was a challenge but with a bit of practise, hopefully you can manage it too.

The filling is a fairly simple chicken and potato curry-at least that part is easy to do!

The pastry involves making two lots of dough, both slightly different mixes.

For 8 curry puffs, you'll need:

For the Inner Dough:

• 120g plain flour
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

For the Outer Dough:

• 300g plain flour
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup water (you may not need all of it)
• big pinch salt
• big pinch sugar

For the Curry Filling:

• 4 small/2 medium potatoes, peeled, cut into 2 cm squared cubes and pre-boiled for 3-4 minutes
• 2-3 chicken thighs, cut into 2 cm squared pieces
• 1 small onions, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon mild curry powder
• 1 teaspoon of chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• a big pinch salt
• vegetable oil for frying

Start by making the filling, as it'll need to be cool by the time you make the doughs.

Heat a small splash of vegetable oil in a pan until hot, then fry the onions until softened. 

Add in the chicken pieces, frying until cooked; about 2-3 minutes. Pop in the spices and salt and mix well. 

Gently add in the cooked potato, stir everything well and cook for a couple minutes more. Leave to cool while you make the pastry...

Make the inner dough

Pour the oil into the flour, it'll quickly and easily make breadcrumbs and then with a little further squeezing and kneading will become a smooth, oily dough. Divide into 8 equal balls (each will be about golf ball size).

Make the outer dough

Put the sugar and salt into the flour, add the oil as before, using your fingertips to make 'breadcrumbs'- this will be a dry mix at this stage. Slowly add in the water bit by bit, kneading gently to bring the dough together. You do not want a dry crumbly dough, it needs to hold together so add enough water to make sure you've got a smooth, pliable dough that will hold itself together.

Divide the outer dough into 8 equal sized balls and use a rolling pin to roll them into a flat circle.

No need to leave the dough to rest, lets move straight on to the rolling....

Making the pastry...

Work on an oiled work surface or board to make life a lot easier for yourself.

Place a ball of the inner dough into the middle of a flat circle of outer dough and fold and squeeze the outer dough around the inner dough ball so it's fully encased. Repeat for the rest of the dough. You now have 8 enclosed dough balls.

Take one of the enclosed dough balls and roll it flat rolling only forwards and backwards- you want a long, narrow 0 shape to the dough, as thin as you can get it.

Loosening the dough from the work surface, roll it up like a cigar, rolling away from yourself (open rolled ends are to your left and right)

Pick up the rolled dough and turn it 90 degrees (an open rolled end is facing you). Use the rolling pin to roll out the dough, like we did at the beginning, into a long narrow 0 shape. Again, use your hands to roll it up like a cigar (or sausage roll!) pushing it away from you before turning it 90 degrees.

Rinse and repeat... 

Altogether I did 3 cycles of rolling out, cigar rolling and turning. As long as you do the same actions each time and turn the dough in the same direction you'll be fine.

On the final cigar roll, smooth the roll off, smoothing the ends into the dough as much as possible and gently manipulate into a more even roll. Cut this roll into 8 equal slices, leaving you with something resembling the picture above.

Give yourself a well deserved pat on the back!!

Filling & Cooking

Heat a deep fat fryer or heavy pan of vegetable oil while you start to fill the dough. Yes more oil, these are not healthy snacks!!

Take one of the dough slices, placed flat on the work surface and roll flat with the rolling pin straight down on top of the layers, again, aiming for an elongated '0' shape. As you roll, you'll see the layers start to stretch and open up. Aim to get the dough quite thin, about 5mm is ideal.

Lift up the rolled dough and place a tablespoon of the cooled curry filling into the inside, fold both halves of the dough together and pinch and twist the edges to seal it tightly.

Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling.

Cooking in batches, deep fry for 6-8 minutes until crispy and light brown.

Serve with pickled cucumber/chilli/shallot (known as ajaad- click for the recipe) to help cut through the rich pastry.

Fall into a heap!!

Gaeng Kari Moo & Ajaad (Pork Indian style curry & cucumber pickle)

This was just the right kind of dish for a cold evening, warm and comforting, spicy but not hot. It’s as close a dish as you’ll find in Thailand to how we stereotypically think of a curry. It’s name (Gaeng= Curry in Thai, Kari = Curry in Tamil) basically means that it is a Thai interpretation of an Indian curry and as such has a lot of spices that you would normally find in garam masala. In terms of looks and main ingredients, it is also quite similar to a Massaman curry and is kept very simple, using just meat, onions and potatoes but the paste has some obvious differences. Feel free to change the meat to chicken or other veggies. The ajaad (pickle) adds sharpness and acidity to balance the mild and slightly sweet curry sauce.


For two big portions use:


For the yellow curry paste-

• half a red onion/ 6 thai shallots, peeled and roughly chopped


• 1 stalk of lemongrass, peeled, trimmed and roughly chopped


• 1 bulb of garlic, peeled


• a thumb sized piece of galangal, roughly chopped


• 2 red chillies


• a tablespoon of coriander seeds


• a heaped teaspoon of cumin seeds


• a teaspoon of fennel seeds


• a tablespoon of tumeric powder


• a heaped tablespoon of mild curry powder

in a dry pan, add the coriander, cumin and fennel seeds and lightly toast over a gentle heat until they smell fragrant and are just starting to go brown. Get them off quickly otherwise they’ll burn and be useless. Pour them into a mortar and grind into a fine powder. After, add in the powdered turmeric and curry powder, stir and pour out into a bowl.

Take the fresh herbs (garlic, chillies, galangal, lemongrass and onion) and like I did for the Khao Soi recipe, put these ingredients into a tin foil parcel and place directly over a low flame or place in the grill. This will roast/ char the ingredients but keep an eye on them all the time and keep moving the foil parcel- especially if you use direct flames. Take off after 5 minutes or when the herbs have softened and have some colour on them.

Put them into the mortar and bash them up until you have a paste. Put the paste into the bowl with the dry spices and mix well.

That’s the curry paste done. Now onto the pickle….


For the pickle use:

• about ¼ of a cucumber, thinly sliced and cut in half


• about 50ml of white wine vinegar


• about 50 ml of water


• ½ a big red chilli, sliced


• a sliver of red onion/ 1 shallot, very finely chopped

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and let them steep in the vinegar while you make the rest of the curry


Finally, for the curry, use:

• 200g of lean pork leg, cubed


• 8 new potatoes / 2 big potatoes (peeled), cut into bite size pieces


• 1 white onion, cut into bite size pieces


• 200ml of coconut milk


• 300ml of water


• a splash of liquid seasoning (stock/ maggi/ a stock cube etc)


• a big pinch of sugar


• a big splash of fish sauce (nam pla)


• fresh coriander for garnish.

In a wok, heat the coconut milk on high, try not to stir and after a few minutes it should start to split,and the oils will become visible. At this point add in the curry paste and stir well. It should become a very thick sauce. Cook for a minute before adding in half of the water, the stock, the pork, onions and the potatoes. This bit takes the longest; depending on your potatoes, it can take up to 30 minutes for the potatoes to soften. Keep an eye on the liquid, and keep topping up the sauce if needed. When the potatoes have softened, add in the sugar and fish sauce and have a taste. If everything’s fully cooked and to your liking, serve with fluffy rice or even flatbread and sprinkle over the coriander, serving the ajaad on the side.

Gaeng Massaman Gai (Muslim Curry with Chicken)

The name reflects this curry’s historic roots. Massaman or Matsaman is a deviation of the word Muslim and this dish borrows it’s flavours from southern Thailand and Malaysian cuisine where the local population is of a majority Muslim faith. That said, you won’t find pork in this curry, unlike many other Thai dishes from central or Northern Thailand where the majority faith is Buddhism and pork is widely eaten. Massaman curries are easy to make, have very few ingredients, are creamy, salty, a little sweet and are very mild due to the lack of chillies.

For 3 big or 4 smaller portions, use:

• 2 big chicken breasts, cubed


• 2 big potatoes, cut in large chunks


• 1 onion, cut into large pieces


• a small handful of peanuts (lightly salted or unsalted)


• 50g Massaman curry paste (I’ve used Aroy- D brand but some supermarkets sell their own Massaman pastes)


• 1 can (400ml) coconut milk


• 1 cup water (maybe more, maybe less depending how thin you want your curry to be)


• a big pinch sugar


• a big splash of tamarind concentrate (use more lime juice if you don’t have access to an Asian supermarket for this) 


• a big splash of fish sauce (nam pla)


• a lime for squeezing over

Boil a pan of water, when boiling add the cubed potatoes and par boil for just 5 minutes. Drain and save them for later. In the now empty pan, heat on high and add the coconut cream- the thick part of the contents of the tin, throw in the curry paste and stir to mix through, you should start to see the red oils separate. When this happens, add the chicken and stir for a moment before adding the thin coconut milk, stir and turn the heat down to a simmer. Add the water. I prefer a thinner curry so use almost equal amounts of water and coconut milk. If you prefer a thicker curry, use less or even no water. Let this cook for 10 minutes before adding the onions and potatoes. Add in the fish sauce, sugar and if you have it, the tamarind (or lime juice). After another 5 minutes it should be ready. Stir half the peanuts through and sprinkle the other half over the top of the curry when you dish it out. Squeeze more lime over and serve with hot fluffy white rice.