Kerala Style Egg Puffs are made with boiled egg and a spiced onion filling, enclosed in crispy, flaky puff pastry. This is the perfect snack for your evening chai or brunch menu!
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The custom of tea-time or chai-time in an Indian household is woven into our social fabric. Chai-time is an integral part of forging friendships, and lasting relationships. I certainly hold my chai-time rituals very close to my heart. We begin our day with a cup of my favorite Masala Chai, brewed with milk, sugar, and grated ginger. This magical elixir helps me get through most of my day, until around 4 pm when it's time for my second cuppa.
If you're looking for a sweet treat with puff pastry, check out this puff pastry cinnamon rolls and these apple and pear turnovers.
What are Kerala Egg Puffs?
These Kerala-style egg puffs are a fitting accompaniment to a hot cup of tea. Puff pastry parcels packed with boiled egg and an onion-tomato masala, seasoned with spice powders. Perfect for unwinding on a long and tiring day, easy to whip up, and oh, so addictive.
These egg puffs are a signature fixture in many bakeries in Kerala (in South India). Usually made with margarine instead of butter, these puffs have a unique appeal about then and are especially popular among office-goers, who very often head to these bakeries for a tea-time break, and grab a steaming hot cup of chai to go with an egg puff.
Typically, bakery egg puffs are made with a filling that consists of a spicy onion-tomato mixture, seasoned with curry leaves. A hard-boiled egg is sliced and added to the filling. I prefer to make them with a lighter version of the same masala, and I love adding some grated carrots to the filling too, to give the filling more body.
Another recipe I make quite often with store-bought puff pastry are my sweet potato and pea samosas, another snack that goes perfectly well with Masala Chai.
Recipe Ingredients
To make these Kerala Eff Puffs, you will need:
Eggs - The eggs are boiled, cooled, and then sliced in half to be stuffed in the puff pastry before baking. You can pre-boil the eggs and store them to be used in this recipe later.
Carrots, Onions - I like adding grated carrots to the recipe, they add so much flavor and a touch of sweetness. Cook the carrots with the onions to make the egg puff masala for the filling.
Spices - I use a combination of Turmeric, Kashmiri Chili Powder, and Coriander for the spice mix. You can also add some curry leaves and garam masala if you like.
For a quick and easy egg curry recipe, try my South Indian Egg Curry recipe
Step-by-step Recipe Instructions
To make egg puffs at home, you need just a few ingredients - store-bought puff pastry, onions, grated carrots, tomato paste, a few spice powders common to Indian cooking, and boiled eggs of course! I make my boiled eggs in the Instant Pot, and they cook perfectly every time.
Begin by making the 'masala' - as the onion mixture is called. Start by heating vegetable oil in a saucepan on the stovetop. To this, add sliced red onions and saute untill the onions are soft, but not caramelised.
Then add the grated carrots and saute for a few minutes. Add in the spice powders and cook the mixture for a few minutes more.
Add the tomato paste and mix well. Add salt and a pinch of sugar to season. Turn off the heat and keep the mixture aside to cool.
Boil the eggs - if using an Instant Pot, cook on Manual mode for 5 minutes, followed by Natural Pressure Release for 5 minutes, and then transfer the eggs to a bowl of cold water for a further 5 minutes. This 5-5-5 method is what I use to boil eggs perfectly every single time.
Pre-heat the oven. To assemble the egg puffs, Lay out a strip of puff pastry on parchment paper placed on a baking tray. Spoon out some of the masala on one half of the puff pastry strip. Place half an egg on the egg masala, and fold the strip of puff pastry over.
Using a fork, crimp the edges of the puff pastry to seal them. Optionally, brush over some beaten egg whites over the puff pastry before baking them, to make the puff pastry beautifully golden brown.
Finally, bake the egg puffs at 180 C for 15-20 minutes, until your Kerala bakery style egg puffs are nice and golden brown. Eat them warm, serve along with a hot cup of masala chai!
Tips and Recipe Variations
Adding Carrots for Flavor - The classic egg puff recipe using just onions in the filling, however, after some experimenting, I find that the use of grated carrots really improves the taste of the filling. Feel free to skip the carrots if you want to stick to the original recipe for Kerala Egg Puffs.
Make egg puffs ahead - Make the masala for the egg puffs a couple of days ahead, refrigerate and assemble and bake before serving.
Make them Vegetarian - Skip the eggs, and use your choice of vegetarian filling. You can add grated paneer, or mashed boiled potatoes, or peas instead of boiled eggs.
More Indian Snack Recipes
Kerala Egg Puffs Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 Eggs
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 onions thinly sliced
- 1 carrot grated
- ½ tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp red chili powder
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- ⅓ tsp sugar
- Salt to taste
- 1 sheet all-butter puff pastry thaw, if using frozen sheets
Instructions
Boil the eggs:
- Instant Pot method: In the Instant Pot, cook the eggs on Manual or Pressure Cook mode for 5 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, perform a quick release of pressure and take out the eggs. Transfer eggs into a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes. The eggs will peel easily.
- Stovetop method: Place eggs in a saucepan on the stovetop. Cover them with water and bring to a boil. After the water comes to a boil, continue boiling for 7 minutes for hard boiled eggs. Transfer to a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes to cool. Then peel the eggs.
- Chop the eggs into half and keep aside for later.
Make the egg masala:
- Heat the vegtable oil in a saucepan.
- Saute the onions in the oil in a pan over medium heat, untill softened.
- Add the grated carrots and saute for 2-3 minutes more.
- Lower the heat add the spice powders.
- Mix well, add the tomato paste, salt and sugar to season.
- Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool.
Assemble the egg puffs:
- Lay out the puff pastry sheet and cut into strips (approx. 5 inch x 10 inch).
- Place a heaped tablespoon of masala on one half of the strip.
- Place an egg half over the masala.
- Fold the strip over, and use a fork to crimp the edges and seal them.
For the egg wash (optional):
- Beat an egg with a little water to prepare the egg wash for the puff pastry.
- Brush a little of the egg wash on the surface of each puff pastry parcel before you bake them.
- Bake the parcels at 180C / 350 F for 15- 20 minutes, untill nice and golden brown.
Notes
Nutrition
Loved it! Ty!
I’ll prob double the masala and slice the eggs into 4 next time! I love more masala!
So glad to hear that you liked it!
i did not see the measurements for the tomato paste how much do i use ?
Hi Radhika, thank you for pointing this out. I have updated the recipe card. Hope you give it a try!