Tandoori Chicken Puffs by Nami of Just One Cookbook

As part of our Culinary & Cultural journey – encouraging people everywhere to use spices in their cooking as a way to explore and connect with other cultures – we asked our friend Nami of Just One Cookbook to try a new flavor in her kitchen. 

The recent winner of the CBS San Francisco's Most Valuable Blogger Award 2011, Nami is well known for her wide range of Japanese recipes, so to give her a new challenge, we offered her a touch of spice to see what she would come up with. And she did not disappoint with these wonderful tandoori pastries.

While growing up in Japan, I didn’t really eat food that contained spices. If you have been to Japan or are acquainted with Japanese cuisine, you probably agree with me that you do not find many spices in Japanese recipes. The food is rather mild and subtle. Times have changed and the younger generation in Japan enjoy more international food, which include spicier cuisines like Thai and Indian. But the vast majority of spices are still rather “foreign” to most of us.

When Reese & Mark from Season with Spice were featuring a spice shop about a month ago, I mentioned to them that I had never been to one before, so they generously offered me an opportunity to work with a spice of my choosing. Although I don’t use many spices in my cooking, I do enjoy eating spiced (not spicy) food. Yes, that’s another challenge - I didn’t get “proper” training on eating spicy food while growing up. My stomach can’t really handle spicy food and my poor husband who’s crazy about spicy food does not get to enjoy it at home.

But back to the spice shop topic. Reese & Mark asked me to pick one spice, and my mind went blank when I saw the amazing selection of spices. I’ve heard some of the names before but I wasn’t sure which one to choose! In the end I picked Tandoori Seasoning because my children love my Indian neighbor’s Tandoori Chicken. After a few days I received a package from the spice shop and as soon as I opened the cardboard envelop, I smelled the nice aromatic spice. There is definitely a difference between pre-packaged spices from a supermarket and ones from a spice store. Even with the spice package still sealed in an air-tight package, the aroma is so strong that it keeps escaping from the pantry. Every time I smell it, I start brainstorming new recipe ideas.

I wasn’t sure how spicy this mix was, so I decided to make a puff pastry to allow the pie sheet to balance the tone of spiciness. Just in case it was too spicy for the children. Well, it turned out that my children absolutely loved these little puffs and they loved the taste of Tandoori spice!

My children are lucky to grow up in the US, enjoying multicultural dishes from a young age. I pretty much grew up eating just Japanese food since that was my mother’s specialty. Living in San Francisco, we have so many varieties of food around and we get to enjoy many different cuisines. I’m really excited to explore a new level of cooking, using spices in my food. I think it’s never too late to train myself with spicy food, right? I hope you and your children will enjoy these Tandoori Chicken Puffs!

Tandoori Chicken Puffs by Just One Cookbook
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 40 mins | Cooking Time: 20 mins | Total Time: 60 mins
Yield: 26 pastries

Ingredients:
2 pkgs (4 sheets total; 16oz x 2) puff pastry sheet

Chicken
1/2 lb ground chicken
2 Tbsp. yogurt
1/2 - 1 Tbsp. tandoori seasoning
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
A few drops lemon juice

Vegetables
1/3 cup vegetable mix
1/2 -1 tsp. Tandoori Seasoning

Egg Wash
1 egg
1 Tbsp. water

Method:
1. In a bowl, marinate the chicken with the seasonings for a few hours.

2. While you are waiting for the pastry sheet to be half thawed, start cooking the filling. In a frying pan, heat oil on medium high heat and cook the chicken. When it starts to change color, add the mix vegetables and a little bit more of the Tandoori Seasoning. When everything is cooked, turn off the heat and set aside to cool.

* Please note: the picture shows double amount.

3. Place the puff pastry sheets on a lightly floured surface and cut them into 9 circles per sheet using a (2½ inch diameter) round cookie cutter.  Roll up the scraps into a ball and re-roll them and cut into circles. 

4. Preheat the oven to 400F degrees.  Beat the egg and water in a small bowl.

5. Place half of the pastry circles (26 circles for me) onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Then put a small amount of filling in the center and brush the edges of the pastry circles with the egg wash using a pastry brush.

6. Put remaining pastry circles on top of the filling and press the edges of the circles firmly to seal with a fork.

7. Using a kitchen knife, make 2 small slits on top of the pastry and brush the top of pastries with the egg wash using a pastry brush.

8. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastries are a nice golden brown on top.  Remove from the oven and let the pastries cool slightly on wire cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Thank you so much Nami for sharing this delicious recipe on Season with Spice!