Flakey pastries

Puff pastry is a laminated dough. You make a lean dough, put a slab of butter on it, and fold to make a package. That package is then rolled and folded several times with a rest in the refrigerator between "turns." While the process isn't hard, it takes some practice. The various steps span several hours.

You can see a video of the technique here:

These are fried crusts. Deep frying them makes the outside crisp and the inside moist.

Here's the Malay curry puff search results in Google.

Several recipes that demonstrate the process.

Pastorio

Yup that's it; thanks Bob. I completely forgot about google req

this recipe it's bakedreq

Yes, they probably just laminate as best they can and toss it around the wok in some hot oil.

Are you trying to duplicate an item that you ate on the malaysian countryside, possibly supplied by someone who doesn't have access to a pastry chef's favorite tools?

Every cook does the best they can with the resources that are available. You can get a far superior product if you work with refrigeration as described by Vox, but you don't *have to do that to get a fried pastry that is flaky.

There are elements of technique for laminating without the benefit of refrigeration - for example you can start with a relatively dry dough but let it hydrate for a half an hour or more before working it, and then dusting lightly with flour before each fold. But the results aren't as good as going all-out with an actively cooled stone slab and resting in the sub-zero between steps.

I'm highly skeptical of the authenticity of curry recipes that include 'curry powder'. At least without a link for a recipe for same. 'curry paste' receives similar skepticism.

I've been known to make a vindaloo or curry from scratch, and 'curry powder' isn't really an ingredient. I do however have a large selection of whole spices and a coffee grinder that's never seen a coffee bean.

Just sayin.

The instructions at the link say that you can use refrigerated puff pastry dough from the supermarket. The instructions for the dough at the link wouldn't even make a decent pie pastry let alone something that resemples puff pastry. There is nothing wrong with that except it seems very strange that these two very different produts would be equated. Julia Child has instructions for "blizt" puff pastry. It is made with large chunks of butter and the dough gets a few turns, but is not refrigerated. I have made this for the top of pot pies and for a quick base for a rustic tart. I think it would be a good alternative to the recipe at the link.

This one isn't attributed to Julia, but sounds like what you were describing:

Blitz Puff Pastry

• 1 pound bread flour * 1 pound butter, cut in cubes * 1 1/4 tsp. salt * 8 oz. cold water

Mix all ingredients together and pat out somewhat flat. Turn in left and right side. Roll the pastry out to make somewhat smooth. Fold opposite sides in and roll again. Cut to desired pastry shape. Fill and bake at

350 degrees until golden brown.

Dave

If you're thinking of Oriental layered pastries common In China, Taiwan and the surrounding Asian countries

Here is a commonly used method...that I had done some twenty years back..

They first prepare a dough of medium gluten flour, salt, water and some add little bit of yeast ....and fat( usually pork lard or sometimes vegetable oil).

...They combine pork lard with flour and make a paste like roll in fat . This is then spread on the sheet of a prepared dough evenly. rolled into an oblong shape. about 2-mm thick Then dough is then rolled to form cylinder, (pulling and pushing to make a tight roll) . then coiled into a spiral and allowed to rest . The rest of the dough and paste is processed similarly. That is done for the reason to create layers or lamination..... That when cut vertically with a knife you will see a spiral of alternating layes of fat paste and dough.. That layered dough is then cut to a disk about 2-5 cm depending on the thickness of the pastry cylinder or the size of the expected pastry case.

The filling is then placed in the center and the edges are wet with egg and then pressed to seal. it can be crimped decoratively like scallop designs etc. It can be fried or baked ......the latter is usually brushed with egg before being loaded into the oven.

On Thu 19 Jan 2006 08:33:41p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Dave Bell?

Mix how, Dave? Cut butter into flour/salt first, then add water? Bread flour for pastry? Very curious...

Good questions, Wayne! But you see the entire text of the recipe, as I found it...

Dave

On Fri 20 Jan 2006 12:40:02a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Dave Bell?

Dave, I found this one for Quick Puff Pastry which I understand is the same as Blitz Puff Pastry. The ingredient quantities are virtually identical. The directions are more explicit. One notable difference is in the flour used. Comparing the two recipes, I think bread flour is probably not the best choice, since the idea is to minimize gluten development.

Quick Puff Pastry Makes 2 pounds This is a simple alternative to a classic puff pastry.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 2 cups cake flour(not self-rising) 1 teaspoon coarse salt 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, very cold, cut into small pieces 1 to 1 1/4 cups ice water 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 1. Sift together all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt into a large chilled bowl. Cut in butter pieces using a pastry knife until the butter is in very small lumps, about 1/2 inch in diameter. 2. Combine ice water and lemon juice, and stir into the flour mixture, a little at a time, pressing the dough together with your hands until it comes together. 3. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface, and roll it into a 1/2-inch-thick rough rectangle, approximately 12 by 18 inches. The dough will be very crumbly. Fold bottom of the rectangle toward the center, then the top of the rectangle toward the center, overlapping the bottom third, like a letter, and give the dough a quarter turn to the right. Roll the dough into a large rectangle, 1/2 inch thick, and fold into thirds again. This completes the first double turn. Remove any excess flour with a wide, dry pastry brush. Repeat rolling, folding, and turning process two more times to execute another double turn, refrigerating the dough for a few minutes if the butter becomes too warm. Wrap the dough in plastic, and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour. 4. Remove chilled dough from the refrigerator. Repeat rolling, folding, and turning process again to execute one more double turn. There will be six turns in all. The dough needs to be rolled out to a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle each time. With each turn, the dough will become smoother and easier to handle. Store the dough, wrapped well in plastic, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or in the freezer for 3 months.

I posted some notes in rec.food.cooking about a way to make a pie crust this way with further comment about making a rough puff paste. Here it is, edited...

Pie crust (double-crust 9-inch pie) - 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter/shortening, 8 ounces (2 cups) flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 ounces (1/4 cup) water.

Rough puff paste - a pound of butter (4 sticks), 15 ounces of flour (4

1/4+/- cups and 1/2 cup more for rolling it out), a teaspoon salt and a cup of water.

The usual direction for making pie crust is to cut the shortening into the flour. That results in small flakes or mealiness (still acceptable) depending on the fat used and the method of dispersal.

Rather than cutting the fat into the flour (and salt, sugar or whatever else you put into it), I've been cutting the (very cold) fat into small cubes (1/4 to 3/8 inch), tossing it with the (very cold) flour to coat and keep separated, adding a little ice water, and then dumping the whole thing on the counter to roll rather than to mix as usual.

The point in making a crust is to get little bits of fat scattered throughout the flour matrix for the distinctive texture of pie crust. Traditional approaches have included using a pastry blender, two knives, or fingers to break the fat into smaller pieces. Here's a new way...

Toss the fat cubes in the combined dry ingredients to coat and stir through. Add water. Then dump the whole thing out onto a counter where you can roll it out. Roll over the pile of stuff heavily. It'll still be powdery. Roll a few times, then slide a pastry scraper under the edges and fold it into a small pile. Roll again and scrape up again. The cubes of fat are being flattened and spread through the flour. Scraping and folding keeps the fat in sheets. Each rolling will make it all become more cohesive. After several rollings, scrapings and foldings, you'll have a crust with the fat dispersed in larger sheets than usual. The finished crust will be flaky in a different way than usual. The flakes are larger. And the crust, IME, is somewhat more waterproof.

It handles easily after the few rollings. I chill it before lining pans with it. Gather it into a flat disk, wrap with plastic and chill for 1/2 hour. Then finish as usual. I usually roll it thicker than traditional crusts - like 1/4 inch or so. It eats very nicely, absorbs juices without getting soggy.

Puff paste (both classic and rough) uses butter which has

20% water in it. When it bakes, the water flashes over to steam and causes the puffing by forcing layers apart.

Puff pastry contains at least as much as (or, more often, more butter) than flour. When making a rough puff paste, you add more water than for this sort of pie crust. And when you roll it, you do turns like with classic puff paste. With this pie crust, you spread it (it will stick to the surface) and scrape it back up onto itself and reroll. There's no effort to make layers as in puff paste. No turns, as such.

Pie crust (double-crust 9-inch pie) - 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter/shortening, 8 ounces (2 cups) flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 ounces (1/4 cup) water.

Rough puff paste - a pound of butter (4 sticks), 15 ounces of flour (4

1/4+/- cups and 1/2 cup more for rolling it out), a teaspoon salt and a cup of water.

Pastorio

yes. That's it. I doubt that Julia invented it, buy she has it in her books.

There are pictures and instructions here:

On Fri 20 Jan 2006 06:38:56a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Bob (this one)?

Thanks for posting this again, Bob. I didn't see it the first time.

On Fri 20 Jan 2006 07:52:38a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Vox Humana?

Thanks, Vox. Saved for reference.