Veg Puff (Bakery Vegetable Puffs)

Veg Puff is a popular Indian bakery snack made with puff pastry sheets and a spiced vegetable filling. Mixed vegetables like potatoes, peas, carrots and onions are sauteed with aromatic spices to make a delicious filling that perfectly complements these flaky, light and crisp golden puffs. I’m going to show you how easy it is to make them at home.

Whether you are hosting an Indian chai party or a kid’s Birthday these vegetable puffs will steal the show. My expert tips section will teach you how to prep-up ahead, keep them crisp for longer and things to avoid while making a larger batch.

About Veg Puffs

Puffs generally refer to a snack that puffs up during baking or frying. They come in many different shapes & sizes with fillings ranging from a simple vegetable saute to creamy or spicy chicken. As the name says, Veg Puffs are made with 100% vegetarian filling using mixed vegetables and no meat or egg is used.

These are known as Vegetable Puffs all over South India and veg patties or puff patties in Western India & North India. These are oven baked and are different from the Southeast Asian fried Curry Puffs made with a curried potato & chicken filling.

Like Egg Puffs, Veg Puffs are also a mid-day & evening snack popular among children and young populations. You get to see these everywhere in bakeries, canteens and cafes. They are usually eaten hot or warm with ketchup and Chai. Actually they taste great on their own, for a more fancy combo you may serve them with Cilantro/coriander chutney or Mint Chutney.

Unfortunately the bakery puff pastry is made with lots of vegetable margarine (dalda/vanaspati). If you want to make these healthier, look for butter pastry sheets/rolls rather than those made with margarine.

To differentiate from the egg puffs and chicken puffs, these Veg Puffs are usually shaped to rectangle (in South India) and to triangle in North India (veg patties).

Photo Guide

How to make Veg Puffs (Stepwise Photos)

Preparation

1. Prepare and add the following veggies to a steamer basket or bowl and steam until fork tender. You can use a steaming pot or a cooker for this. I use my instant pot to steam on high pressure for 6 mins.

• 1 cup diced potatoes (150 grams from 1 medium aloo, peel & dice to ¾ inch)
• ½ cup diced carrots (70 grams from 1 medium, peel & dice)
• ½ cup green peas (60 grams – frozen or fresh, may sub half with frozen sweet corn)

2. To make the filling prep up the following

• Fine chop 1 small onion (⅓ cup – 45 grams, may omit)
• Rinse and pat dry 1 sprig curry leaves (optional)
• Optional – Chop or slit 1 green chili (serrano pepper, optional)
• 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste (or ¾ tsp each grated)
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder or paprika
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• ½ teaspoon garam masala (more if you want)
• ½ teaspoon sea salt (adjust to taste)
• 1 tablespoon coriander leaves (or 1 tsp kasuri methi)
• Crush ½ teaspoon fennel seeds (optional)

Make the filling

3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and fennel seeds. When they sizzle, add the onions, curry leaves, chilies and half of the salt. Saute

4. Saute for 4 mins until they turn golden. Add ginger garlic and fry for a minute.

5. Reduce the flame and stir in chili powder, turmeric, garam masala and remaining salt.

6. Pour 2 to 3 tablespoon of water and deglaze the pan to prevent burning.

7. Add the steamed veggies & saute for 2 to 3 mins. Turn off.

8. Stir in coriander leaves and lemon juice if you want. Taste test to adjust salt.

9. Cool down completely. Remove the curry leaves if you prefer and portion out to sizes. I roughly divided mine to 4 portions. (3 to 4 tbsps is ideal)

Make Veggie Puffs

10. Thaw your puff pastry sheets at room temperature, until easy enough to handle. Mine takes only 5 to 6 mins. It depends on your indoor temp.

11. Cut each pastry sheet to 4 portions. Place 3 to 4 tbsps vegetable stuffing in the center of each cut puff pastry. Make sure you don’t overfill the pastry. Brush 2 parallel edges with little water.

12. Bring one edge over the other and gently tap with fingers, don’t press down with pressure. I prefer to leave a little gap on the sides for the steam to escape. This keeps the puffs crispy slightly longer.

13. Brush with milk or unsalted melted butter (or beaten egg with 2 tbsps milk) and place in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 mins. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 400 F/ 200 C for 15 to 20 mins.

Baking

14. Place in the center and bake for 20 to 22 mins or as instructed on the package, until golden & flaky. (Smaller ovens and toasters may take only 15 mins)

Cool the tray on a wired rack for at least 5 mins. If serving kids, pls cool them completely as the filling remains hot for quite long. Serve Vegetable puffs hot or warm with ketchup, cilantro/coriander chutney & chai.

Expert Tips

• Avoid overcooking veggies to the extent they are water logged. Steaming or pressure cooking them in a steam basket just until fork-tender, is the best way to prevent them from being water-logged. Water logged mushy veggies release more steam & soften the puffs while they are waiting to be served.
• Use oil only as needed while making the filling, as excess oil can make the base of your puffs too greasy and will give you a greasy mouthfeel.
• You can make the filling 2 days ahead and store in the refrigerator or in the freezer for a month. Thaw in the refrigerator and reheat in a wide pan on a medium heat on the stove top. Potatoes may become slightly mealy.
• You can bake the veg puffs a few hours ahead and keep them in a warm oven at low temperature to retain their crisp texture. Alternately you may refrigerate upto 2 days in a air tight container and warm up in a preheated oven.
• While making larger batches, use the fan option or air fryer option in your oven. These setting will ensure all your puffs in multiple trays bake evenly at the same time without having to swap the trays.

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