Malaysian curry puff with mango yoghurt dip recipe

A classic Malaysian starter from Gary Rhodes served with a fruity dip, perfect for a party

Gary Rhodes: "These are classically cooked with beef and baked with a Malaysian pastry, which creates a spiral textured finish. Here I’ve created a vegetarian option to this dish, using puff pastry for a quicker and simpler finish. These eat well as a starter or warm snack bites."

Makes approx 16-20

• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 3 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 level tbsp medium curry powder
• Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
• ½ tsp salt
• Pepper
• Pinch of sugar
• 750g potatoes, boiled in their skins until tender
• 2 x 375g sheets of pre-rolled puff pastry
• Flour, for dusting
• 1 egg, beaten

For the mango yoghurt dip

• 150ml natural yoghurt
• 1 fresh ripe mango cut into cubes and 1 tsp honey, or 4 tbsp of mango puree
• Squeeze of lime

1. Warm the oil in a large saucepan. Once hot, add the chopped onions, garlic, curry powder, lime zest and juice, simmering gently until softened, allowing the onions to slightly colour. Once at this stage, season with salt, pepper and a generous pinch of sugar.

2. Meanwhile, peel the cooked potatoes and cut into 1 cm dice, seasoning with salt and pepper. Stir the cooked potatoes into the cooked onions, allowing them to slightly break, but still maintaining some texture. Recheck for seasoning and leave to cool.

3. Roll the pastry sheets so they are a little thinner and approx 1-2 times their original size. Allow to rest for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

4. Divide each of the rolled pastry sheets into 6-8 squares, saving any trimmings. Brush the border of each square with a little of the beaten egg.

5. Divide and place a tablespoon of the potato mix onto 1 half of each folding over the remaining half and sealing each together. Refrigerate to rest and firm. The pastry trimmings can now be rerolled, dividing the sheet into more squares, and continue as above.

6. Once firm, using a round cutter, trim to achieve a pasty or turnover semi-circle shape, leaving a slight border around each.

7. These can now be brushed with the remaining beaten egg before baking at 200°C/gas mark 6 for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a crisp golden brown.

8. To make the mango yoghurt dip, simply blitz all of the ingredients together in a blender until smooth. The puffs are now ready to serve with the mango dip.

Cook's tip: Chopped fresh mango can also be added to the dip, offering a fresh flavour and texture. The puffs also freeze very well, defrosting and baking as listed, or baking from frozen adding a further 6-8 minutes to their cooking time.

Recipe by Gary Rhodes for Malaysia Kitchen, a worldwide celebration of Malaysian Cuisine