Veg Pattice (Spicy Vegetable Turnover)

At the far end of Apte Road lies a tin shed that looks like the aftermath of an eager pyromaniac's unsuccessful experiments. This is the legendary Santosh bakery and the last time I saw it, the walls inside were black from being baked all day, everyday for the last couple of decades. I have fond memories of Santosh Bakery growing up. I remember my dad on his way back from work would make a stop at Santosh Bakery to bring home some hot vegetable pattice. The evening batch would come out at exactly 5:00 p.m. and there would be a huge line to get your hands on a dozen of these bad boys. The veg pattice (not to be confused with meat patties) is a spicy vegetable mixture in a puff pastry. The one thing I absolutely loved about Santosh Bakery was that it appealed to all classes. It was really nice to see a bullock cart parked behind a Mercedes. And their respective drivers standing close to the furnace in the hot Indian sun, in a line where they are all the same. Santosh Bakery serves some really great products. Straight from the oven sourdough bread, cream rolls, cakes, nan-katai, rusk toast, brun butter (hard bread rolls) all wrapped in day old newspaper. I have been dying for a pattice for a while, but the thought of making the dough seemed like too much effort. Until I read on Spice and Rice that Pepperidge Farms makes puff pastry sheets. So here they are. And a quick shout out to my friend Gayatri for whom I made these.

Ingredients
1 Sheet Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry
2 boiled Potatoes
1/2 cup shredded Carrots
1/2 cup Peas
1/2 cup Cauliflower
1 Onion finely chopped
1 tsp Tomato paste
1 tsp crushed Garlic
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 Tsp Salt

Method
Heat oil in a pot
Add garlic and onion and stir till golden brown on edges
Add tomato paste and stir
Add carrots, peas cauliflower and stir
Add Salt, Turmeric, Chili and Garam Masala
Cook the ingredients adding little water at a time
When it's cooked, add potato and mash together into a coarse paste
Allow to cool
Cut pastry sheet into 3" squares and lay them on an ungreased cookie tray
Place a small ball of the filling in the centre of each square and fold over
Seal edges by pressing lightly
Pre-heat oven at 400º F
Place in oven and bake at 400º F for 15 min
Remove when the pastries turn golden
Serve with Chai and tamarind sauce