Karifurawaa to masshuruumu no karee pan / curried cauliflower and mushroom pastry

Great for breakfast and lunch! This savory pastry is intended to be eaten with other dishes, and only a moderate amount of spices are used to flavor the filling. It freezes well too, making it a handy, virtually ready-to-eat snack.

1 pastry (1/9 piroshki-style dough recipe and 1/3 of filling recipe):
239 calories; 10.9 g protein; 9.8 g fat; 28.7 g carbohydrate; 22.2 g net carbs; 60 mg sodium; 7 mg cholesterol; 6.5 g fiber


<Ingredients>

(Enough for 3 pastries; 66-67 g dough for each pastry)
Piroshki-style dough (not in photo)

Approx. 150 g cauliflower (154 g in photo)
3 large or 4 medium mushrooms (104 g in photo)
1/6 large or 1/4 medium onion (39 g in photo)
1 sprig parsley
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp shiokoji salted rice malt
1/2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp butter (optional)

<Directions>
1.

Chop cauliflower.
Place in microwaveable container, cover, and microwave for 2-3 minutes until done (becomes transparent), removing and checking every 60 seconds or so.

Let cool with cover on to make it more tender. 

2.

Meanwhile, finely chop onion and parsley, and slice mushrooms.

3.

In frying pan, heat oil, and saute cumin seeds until fragrant.

Add onion, and saute on medium heat until somewhat translucent. 

Add mushrooms, and cook until done.
 

Add shiokoji, curry powder and garam masala, mix well, and remove from heat.

4.

When cauliflower is cool enough, place in cloth, and squeeze out excess water.

Empty in a prep bowl.
Add butter (if richer taste is preferred).

Add curried onion and mushrooms as well as parsley to cauliflower, and mix well.

Filling is ready. 

5.

Flatten pastry dough, put one-third of filling, and tightly seal by pressing both ends.
(When using multiple filling options, changing shapes according to filling will help when serving.)

6.

Bake at 400F/200C until golden, approx. 20 minutes.

Cool on rack. 

<Notes>

• If a glossy look is desired, apply egg wash before baking.
• Any leftover curried cauliflower and mushroom filling makes a great addition to omelets.
• Replace cauliflower with potatoes for a more starchy filling (becomes closer to samosa or aloo paratha).
• Standard karee pan [curry pastry] in Japan is deep-fried with panko bread crumbs and comes with curried vegetable and meat stew filling. Several bakeries in Tokyo claim that they invented karee pan (sometime 1910s-1930s). One of these bakeries says that their owner back then improvised Russian piroshki and made Japanese karee pan.