Egg Puffs
If I were to ask you to name a snack – a bite of which teleports you straight back into your childhood, most of you would say “Egg Puffs”. Crispy and as the name says, puffy with a perfectly boiled egg halve nestling inside it on a bed of savory filling – these puffs have definitely been an integral part of every 80’s and 90’s kid. These were quite inexpensive and have been integral to those walk home from school conversations between friends. There was a time when we would source them from the local bakeries but with puff pastry being available very easily these days, we can easily make Egg Puffs at home.
How to make Egg Puffs
Some of you may ask, what is puff pastry. Well, it is a flaky French pastry made of butter laminated dough. The more the layers of lamination, the flakier and puffier the pastry. The hot air from the oven, melts the butter in the layers and the steam from it makes the dough layers rise, giving it the puffiness and the multiple layers we see in the casing of a Puff. Making the puff pastry is an extremely tedious process and with puff pastry being readily available these days at the grocery stores, we might as well go for it, to cut-down the effort and time needed to make the puff pastry.
To make the Egg Puffs, we first need to make the masala filling. For this, in a frying pan, splutter some mustard seeds in some vegetable oil. Follow this with chopped onions and saute on medium heat until soft and translucent. Add chopped tomatoes and saute until soft and mushy. Add salt, along with Chilli powder, Coriander powder and Turmeric powder and mix well ensuring the ground spices don’t burn. Cook until the mixture turns aromatic. Take the pan off the heat and allow the Masala filling to cool to room temperature.
Roll out the puff pastry and divide into 8 equal squares of roughly 10x10cm. We need to be quick with assembling the puffs as, the longer the puff pastry stays out of the refrigerator, the soggier it gets with the butter in it melting and this makes it difficult to handle the pastry and assemble the Egg Puffs. Halve some hard-boiled eggs and season them with Salt and Pepper. Do ensure that the eggs return to room temperature after cooking.
Place a spoonful of the masala filling on the puff pastry square and place a halved egg over the spooned masala (cut-side facing downwards). Smear the edges of the pastry sheet with water. Fold one corner of the pastry square to the middle, on top of the egg. Repeat for all 4 corners and pinch the ends together (to prevent the pastry from opening up while baking). Place these assembled puffs on a baking sheet and brush them with Milk. This lends them a beautiful golden brown colour while baking.
Place them in the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake at 200 degree C for about 30mins or as mentioned on the puff pastry packet (do check in between, to prevent burning). Take the Egg Puffs out from the oven and allow them to cool a bit. Serve the Egg Puffs with Tomato Ketchup or some Chutney on the side.
Egg Puffs
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1 pc Onion, Large, thinly sliced
- 2 pc Tomato, finely chopped
- ½ tbsp Chilli powder
- ½ tbsp Coriander powder
- ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
- Salt, as needed
- 4 pc Hard boiled eggs, halved and seasoned with Salt & Pepper
- Rolled puff pastry, approx. 10 x 10 cm per puff
Additional Ingredients:
- ¼ cup Water (for sealing the pastry)
- ¼ cup Milk (for brushing)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 220°C
Making the Masala filling:
- Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and let them splutter
- Add the onions and saute on medium heat until soft and translucent
- Add the chopped tomatoes and saute until soft and mushy. Add salt
- Add the chilli, coriander and turmeric powders. Mix well and saute on low heat until you get a nice aroma. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. The masala filling is ready.
Assembling the puffs: (see notes before you begin assembling)
- Cut the puff pastry into squares (approx. 10x10cm). Roll them out a bit to elongate the ends
- Spoon a tablespoon of the masala filling to the center of each pastry square
- Place a halved egg over the spooned masala (cut-side facing downwards)
- Smear the edges of the pastry sheet with water
- Fold one corner of the pastry square to the middle, on top of the egg. Repeat for all 4 corners and pinch the ends together (to prevent the pastry from opening up while baking)
Baking the puffs:
- Place these assembled puffs on a baking sheet and brush them with Milk
- Place them in the middle rack of the oven and bake (see notes) for about 30mins (do check in between, to prevent burning)
- Take the Egg Puffs out of the oven and allow to cool a bit
- Serve hot with ketchup or some chutney on the side
Notes
- Before assembling the puffs, ensure that the prepared masala filling is atleast at room temperature, else the heat from it will melt the butter in the puff pastry and it will be difficult to handle the puff pastry
- It is advisable to prepare the masala mix a day before and refrigerate, if time permits
- Be quick with assembling the puffs, else the butter in the pastry would begin to melt and make it difficult to handle the puff pastry
- Follow the baking instructions mentioned on the puff pastry packet as these may vary between brands.
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