Chicken Curry Empanadas Recipes

SPICY CHICKEN EMPANADAS

Steps:

• For the empanada dough: Mix all empanada ingredients in a mixer. Let dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
• For the filling: Bake the chicken breast until fully cooked. Put breast meat in a food processor and pulse until chopped (you don't want very small pieces). Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil. Add onions, green and red bell peppers, salt, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, red pepper, oregano and basil. Cook until onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Pour in chipotle sauce and stir. Finally add tomato sauce. Allow filling to cool.
• To form the empanadas, knead the dough. Roll the dough out by hand or with a commercial sheeter. Cut out circles of dough. Place a dough circle in an empanada mold if you have one, but it's not necessary; fill with chicken mixture. Wet the edges of the dough with your fingers. Close the mold to seal, or fold dough over filling and use the tines of a fork to seal the edges. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Use a pastry brush to paint empanadas with an even coat of egg wash.
• Preheat a convection oven to 450 degrees F, or regular oven to 400 degrees F. Place empanadas on greased baking sheets. Bake for 3 minutes in convection oven or 10 to 15 minutes in regular oven.

CHICKEN CURRY EMPANADAS

Steps:

• See Photo Galleries for images of all three instruction sets. Also the video at the beginning of the blog shows how to crimp the dough edges.
• Dough
• Cube two sticks of cold butter. The wrappers can be folded in half and saved for lightly greasing the baking sheets.
• In a small bowl, beat two eggs. Mix in the white vinegar and water.
• Put flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, or food processor with metal blade. Pulse or mix a few times to distribute the salt.
• Add all the butter pieces and mix/pulse until crumbly and no pieces are bigger than pea-sized. This also can be done in a bowl by hand, with two butter knives or a pastry cutter.
• Slowly drizzle in the egg-vinegar-water mixture while running the mixer.
• As soon as the dough comes together, remove it from the bowl, knead it a few times on a lightly floured counter, and then divide it in two pieces.
• Shape the pieces into squares (about one inch thick) to make later cutting easier. Wrap the squares tightly and refrigerate them at least 30 minutes and up to two days.
• Filling
• Grind 1 pound of raw chicken (about 2 breasts) in a food processor. If you don't have a food processor, you can slightly freeze the chicken to make it easier to handle, and then chop it into small pieces with a sharp knife.
• Chop the onion and pepper(s).
• In a large fry pan, heat the oil, and then add the onion, pepper, and spices (not the salt). Saute, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and translucent.
• Add the ground chicken, bread crumbs, and water. Lightly simmer for about 10 minutes until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Stir frequently and add more water to deglaze the pan if the mixture begins to stick to the pan.
• The filling should be wet but not watery. When you scrape some filling to the side, a puddle shouldn't form in the empty space, but if you press down on the mixture with a spoon, some liquid should creep over the edges of the spoon.
• Mix in a half teaspoon of salt, taste the filling, and add more as needed.
• Let the filling cool for about a half hour. You can transfer it to a bowl and refrigerate it to speed cooling. Also, you can make it a day ahead and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.
• Assembly
• On a flat clean workspace, set out a rolling pin, bench knife or large knife, two large lightly greased baking sheets, and extra flour for dusting.
• Flour your work surface and remove one of the dough squares from the refrigerator.
• Unwrap the dough and cut it into 12 squares (4x3).
• Smoosh the cubes into small round discs.
• Roll each disc into a circle about 4-5 inches in diameter and ~1/8 inch thick. Flour lightly, just to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin. The finished pieces can be layered in a staggered way.
• When you have finished all twelve, cover them with a slightly damp towel or a piece of plastic wrap to prevent them from drying while you do the next twelve.
• After all 24 circles are rolled out, begin preheating your oven to 375F, and remove the filling from the refrigerator.
• Assemble empanadas using your first batch of 12 dough circles first. I found it easiest to lay a dough circle in the palm of one hand, and put a dinner-spoonful of filling into the middle of the circle. Then I folded the dough in half and laid the empanada on the baking sheet. Resist the temptation to overstuff.
• Crimp the edges of the empanada with a fork, or using your two index fingers: one to anchor/limit the dough fold, and the other to fold the dough edges up and inward.
• When 12 empanadas are finished on the baking sheet, brush the top of them with a beaten egg, and put them in the preheated oven to bake for 25 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
• While the first sheet is baking, assemble the second set of twelve empanadas and egg-wash them.
• You can put the second baking sheet in the oven while the first is still cooking. Just make sure to rotate and shift the tray(s) every 5 minutes or so.
• Let the empanadas cool about 10 minutes before eating.
• Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for a few days.
• Freezing is best done with uncooked empanadas before the egg-wash. Freeze on a flat surface and then transfer to a plastic bag or sealed container.

CHICKEN EMPANADAS

Steps:

• Mix together first 8 ingredients, and refrigerate until ready to assemble empanadas.
• On a floured surface, roll out pie shells and cut into 4-inch circles (use all the pie dough by re-rolling scraps).
• Place approximately 2 tablespoons of chicken mixture in center of dough circles.
• Fold each circle in half and crimp edges with a fork.
• Place on a baking sheet and brush tops with egg yolks.
• Sprinkle top with mixed salt and chili powder.
• Bake 12-13 minutes at 400F degrees.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.
• Freezes well.

CHICKEN EMPANADAS

Steps:

• Pour olive oil into a saucepan; add onion, poblano, garlic, salt, pepper, chipotle, cumin, oregano, cayenne, and cooked chicken, pressing down as you go. Add currants.
• Place saucepan over high heat; cook until onions begin to soften slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in diced tomatoes with green chiles. Pour in 1/3 cup water and mix to combine.
• Bring mixture to a simmer; reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquids are cooked down, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Chill thoroughly before use, 1 to 2 hours.
• While filling simmers, combine flour, salt, and sugar for dough in a bowl with your hand. Grate in cold butter, pausing as needed to combine. Drizzle in beaten egg and water. Mix with a fork until it starts to form a shaggy dough.
• Use your hands to squeeze mixture into a lump of dough; transfer to a work surface and knead into a ball of dough, 10 to 15 seconds.
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Unwrap chilled dough and transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Use a bench scraper to divide into 8 equal pieces.
• Roll each dough piece into an 8-inch circle.
• Drain any excess juice from filling. Top each dough circle with a rounded 1/2-cup measure of the chicken mixture. Sprinkle some pepper Jack cheese over top.
• Brush edges of each dough circle with a small amount of water to dampen; fold over and seal with fingertips, making sure to not trap in any pockets of air. Crimp using your fingertips or a fork.
• Combine beaten egg and 2 teaspoons water for egg wash. Transfer empanadas to the prepared baking sheet and brush over egg wash. Sprinkle with cayenne.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until browned and crispy on the edges, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes before serving.