Veg Puffs or Curry Puffs are bakery-style mini snack bites that are crispy and flaky with flavorful vegetarian filling inside. A perfect evening snack, appetizer, or finger food recipe using puff pastry sheets.
Also, check out the popular evening easy-to-make Indian snacks recipe.
About the recipe
Veg puffs are also called Indian bakery-style curry puffs (karipap), potato curry puff, or vegetable puffs.
You go to any Indian bakery, and you will find it hard to resist the smell of warm and delicious puffs snack. I remember these vegetarian puffs, twice as large as shown here, were available for just Rs 5 (6 cents) when I was a kid 🙂 Nothing can beat the combo of warm puffs with Indian hot tea (chai). Some chai dukan also serve with tomato ketchup and spicy green mint chutney.
All these bakeries, like Iyengar, Variar sell the best puffs with different fillings. Some popular ones are paneer puffs, mushroom puffs, egg puff, chicken puff, etc. Among all the most loved puffs is the one with vegetable filling.
Veg puff recipe using pastry sheets
I have prepared these mini veg puffs or puff snack bites using puff pastry sheets. You can make puff pastry sheets at home, but it is time-consuming, plus getting those layers at home is quite difficult. You will need lots of butter or shortening. You can check my recipe for croissants to get those layers.
When you are hosting parties like Diwali, Christmas, Thanksgiving, or birthdays or want something quick as an evening snack, I would say these puff pastry sheets come to your rescue. You do not have to worry about the outcome. It is never going to fail. It's perfectly crispy and flaky.
For the veg puff filling, I generally use those veggies that are available in my pantry. Feel free to use any combination of veggies. Some that go well with puffs are potato, cauliflower, beetroot, beans, capsicum, mushroom, paneer, green peas, etc. Use any combination of your choice. Make sure the filling is dry, or you will get a soggy puff.
You can prepare regular bakery-size puffs with the same recipe below.
Because I prepared this for a party and the number of kids attending was more, I felt bite-size snacks were good to grab and eat. The only difference while preparing for kids is to exclude chili or Chile powder.
To be honest, I loved these mini veg puff bites over regular, easy-to-eat, and perfect-size appetizers or finger food for any get-together, cocktail, mocktail party, super bowl party, or game night with a large crowd. There is no compromise in taste or texture. The only drawback is people lose count of how much they ate and will keep going for multiple helpings 🙂
Ingredients
Except for the frozen puff pastry sheets, veg puff ingredients are simple and very basic. The recipe for this vegetable puff is flexible. You can vary all the ingredients to your liking.
Puff pastry sheets: I love and use store-bought puff pastry sheets from Pepperidge Farm®. You will find them in the freezer section of your grocery store.
Vegetables (veggies): Don't skip the onion, garlic, and ginger. You can add or combine the vegetables like potato, mushrooms, carrot, capsicum (bell pepper), cauliflower, and green peas.
For the flavoring: Tomato sauce or ketchup, garam masala powder or curry powder, coriander leaves.
Love it spicy and not making it for kids, then add red chile powder or chopped green chile.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Step-by-step instructions
- Thaw the puff pastry sheet as per package instructions.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F or 200 degrees C. Place parchment paper on a baking tray and keep it aside.
Make the veggie filling for veg puff bites
- Heat oil in a pan. Add onion, garlic, and ginger and saute till onion becomes translucent. (If you are adding green chilies, add it at this stage)
- Add all the veggies now - potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, capsicum, cauliflower, and frozen green peas. Make sure the veggies are cut into very small bites so they cook faster, plus they are easy to eat. Else it will come out of the puff. You can also put them in your chopper.
- Cover this with a lid and cook on medium flame till the veggies are cooked through. This may take approx 5 to 6 minutes.
- Add the ketchup or sauce, cilantro, garam masala powder, salt, and red chile powder and saute it. See that this filling or stuffing is dry.
- Switch off the flame and keep it aside.
Bakery-style vegetable puffs
- Dust the working surface. Lightly roll the puff pastry sheet once.
- Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut sheets into 24 rectangular pieces for bite-size puffs. That is three horizontal rows (width-wise) and 8 vertical columns (length-wise) from each sheet.
- Spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons of filling on the center of each rectangle and fold it over the filling. Brush the edges of each rectangle with egg wash, water, milk, or cream, and use a fork crimp to seal the edges.
- Place these on a baking tray.
- Brush the top of each one of them with egg wash (or with milk or cream, or butter for the vegetarian version). This is done to give the baked puffs a shiny look. Brush vegan butter for vegan curry puffs.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or till it is golden and crispy.
- Serve these mini veg puffs or puff bites when they are still warm, and enjoy. If not serving immediately, let them cool down and then store them in air-tight container.
Pro Tips
- Just before baking, I have done egg wash on all the mini bites to get that flaky and butter-shiny golden color. If you are doing a vegetarian version, you can use milk, cream, or butter to glaze it just before baking. For vegan puffs, use vegan butter. But please do brush for that beautiful golden color.
- Both red chile powder and green chilies can be used or completely excluded if you do it for kids.
- Some other veggies that go well include beetroot, beans, sweet corn, baby corn, or even paneer.
- Make sure the filling is dry, or else you will end up getting a soggy puff.
- Instead of mini bites, you can make regular rectangle vegetable puffs like the one sold in a bakery by cutting each puff pastry sheet into nine rectangles.
- If you have leftover samosa filling, you can even use that as a filling to make these curry puffs. Also, check out our puff pastry samosa recipe.
- Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets are vegan. So if you brush it with vegan milk or butter at the end instead of egg, these mini veg puff pastry bites become vegan!
Serving suggestions
These veg puff pastry bites taste amazingly delicious with a cup of hot Indian tea (masala chai). Serve it warm with spicy green coriander mint chutney, or for a sweet combo, serve it with tomato ketchup.
Mini Veg Puff in Air Fryer
If using an air fryer, place the filled puff pastries on a single layer in the air fryer basket. Bake at 390 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes. Flip halfway through.
Recipe FAQs
Bakery-style veg puff contains 184 calories. Each of these mini puff bites contains 69 calories.
Indian savory puffs are made using puff pastry sheets (homemade or store-bought) along with mashed potatoes (aloo), vegetables of your choice, and basic spice powder.
It is an additive evening snack or a party appetizer. But it is not good for your health if you eat it every day as it is high in fat content.
Yes. all puffs are made using all-purpose flour (maida).
More Puff Pastry Recipes
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Recipe card
Mini Veg Puffs | Curry Puff | Puffs Snack
Equipment
- Baking tray
Ingredients
- 2 Pastry Sheets
- 1 medium Onion , finely chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic , finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon Ginger , chopped
Use any combination of veggies of your choice. Make sure you cut them into tiny pieces so that they cook faster and are easy to eat. I have used
- 1 large Potato
- 3 large Mushrooms
- 1 medium Carrot
- 1 small Bell pepper or capsicum
- ⅓ cup Cauliflower
- ½ cup Green peas
Other Ingredients
- 1 to 2 tablespoon Tomato sauce or Ketchup
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala powder or Curry powder
- 2 tablespoon Cilantro or Coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon Red chile powder adjust to taste or green chilies finely chopped
- Salt , to taste
Instructions
- Thaw the puff pastry sheet as per package instructions.2 Pastry Sheets
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F or 200 degrees C. Place parchment paper on a baking tray and keep it aside.
Make the veggie filling for veg puff bites
- Heat oil in a pan. Add onion, garlic, and ginger and saute till onion becomes translucent. (If you are adding green chilies, add it at this stage)1 medium Onion, 3 cloves Garlic, 1 tablespoon Oil, 1 tablespoon Ginger
- Add all the veggies now - potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, capsicum, cauliflower, and frozen green peas. Make sure the veggies are cut into very small bites so they cook faster, plus they are easy to eat. Else it will come out of the puff. You can also put them in your chopper.1 large Potato, 3 large Mushrooms, 1 medium Carrot, 1 small Bell pepper, ⅓ cup Cauliflower, ½ cup Green peas
- Cover this with a lid and cook on medium flame till the veggies are cooked through. This may take approx 5 to 6 minutes.
- Add the ketchup or sauce, cilantro, garam masala powder, salt, and red chile powder and saute it. See that this filling or stuffing is dry.1 to 2 tablespoon Tomato sauce, 1 teaspoon Garam Masala powder, 2 tablespoon Cilantro, Salt, 1 teaspoon Red chile powder
- Switch off the flame and keep it aside.
Bakery-style vegetable puffs
- Dust the working surface. Lightly roll the puff pastry sheet once.
- Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut sheets into 24 rectangular pieces for bite-size puffs. That is three horizontal rows (width-wise) and 8 vertical columns (length-wise) from each sheet.
- Spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons of filling on the center of each rectangle and fold it over the filling. Brush the edges of each rectangle with egg wash, water, milk, or cream, and use a fork crimp to seal the edges.
- Place these on a baking tray.
- Brush the top of each one of them with egg wash (or with milk or cream, or butter for the vegetarian version). This is done to give the baked puffs a shiny look. Brush vegan butter for vegan curry puffs.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or till it is golden and crispy.
- Serve these mini veg puffs or puff bites when they are still warm, and enjoy. If not serving immediately, let them cool down and then store them in air-tight conatiner.
Curry Puff In Air Fryer
- If using an air fryer, place the filled puff pastries on a single layer in the air fryer basket. Bake at 390 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes. Flip halfway through.
Notes
- Just before baking, I have done egg wash on all the mini bites to get that flaky and butter-shiny golden color. If you are doing a vegetarian version, you can use milk, cream, or butter to glaze it just before baking. For vegan puffs, use vegan butter. But please do brush for that beautiful golden color.
- Both red chile powder and green chilies can be used or completely excluded if you do it for kids.
- Some other veggies that go well include beetroot, beans, sweet corn, baby corn, or even paneer.
- Make sure the filling is dry, or else you will end up getting a soggy puff.
- Instead of mini bites, you can make regular rectangle vegetable puffs like the one sold in a bakery by cutting each puff pastry sheet into nine rectangles.
- If you have leftover samosa filling, you can even use that as a filling to make these curry puffs. Also, check out our puff pastry samosa recipe.
- Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets are vegan. So if you brush it with vegan milk or butter at the end instead of egg, these mini veg puff pastry bites become vegan!
Serving suggestions
These veg puff pastry bites taste amazingly delicious with a cup of hot Indian tea (masala chai). Serve it warm with spicy green coriander mint chutney, or serve it with tomato ketchup for a sweet combo.Nutrition
This post on mini veg puffs or Vegan curry puff bites was first published in Oct 2019. Updated with calorie information, and more stepwise details.
Tisha
These make the best finger food snacks for a game day get together!
Julia
What a delicious recipe! Perfect for entertaining at home!