Vegan Curry Empanadas

I had a brain explosion a few days ago and decided that I needed to attempt something mind-bendingly tasty. This is the result. Handheld curried goodness. I baked mine because I hate frying and at least pretended that it was healthier. Then I remembered how much fat is in the empanada dough. Oh well, dears, you should make this anyway! It tastes like heaven in a pie-like crust. Make this shit already.

Makes at least 6 empandas depending on the size and how full you fill them. I made 6 that were cut about 6 inches in diameter before folding. The dough makes enough for several more, but I stopped at 6.

Empanada dough:

• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 cup fat (I used 5 TB shortening and 3 TB vegan butter)
• 1/3 tsp baking powder
• 1 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 3/4 cup ice water

1. Combine all ingredients except the water in your food processor and pulse until it looks like pebbles. Then add the water 1/4 cup at a time, pulsing until the dough just holds together. It took me 3/4 cup, but your flour may be drier and need just a smidge more. 
2. Once you get to that point, I gently smooshed the dough together and cut it into 2 balls.Touch it as little as possible. Flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Flour your counter and roll each ball out to 1/4 inch thickness. I used a 6-7 inch diameter bowl, flipped it upside-down and cut around it with a knife. 
4. Fill them up, then seal the edges by pushing the edge together like this:
Press the edges together Then fold it over like so:
5. I lined my baking sheet with a piece of parchment and sprinkled it with a little flour for good measure. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F while you're assembling the empanadas. I melted a tiny bit of vegan butter with a dash of curry powder and brushed it on each of the empanadas before baking. Cook about 20 minutes in the middle of the oven, then turn on the broiler for about 3 minutes to brown up the top a bit. The end result should look something like this:

I know you need to know what I did to make the filling, so here it goes!


Okay. So, you need some stuff.

Filling:

• 3 small red potatoes, diced quite small
• 1 cup of cauliflower florets, cut about the same size as the taters
• 2 large white mushrooms, chopped small
• 3/4 cup frozen peas
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup red onion, finely diced
• about 6 ounces faux ground beef (I used LightLife Smart Ground Original)
• curry powder
• turmeric
• coriander
• salt and pepper
• 2 TB soy sauce 
• 1-2 TB oil or vegan butter

What you should do with it all:

1. Boil some water. Add the potatoes and cauliflower until fork-tender. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat a nonstick skillet with the butter/oil over medium heat. Once hot, add the vegan beef, onions, and garlic. Cook for about 4 minutes, then add the cauliflower, peas, mushrooms and potatoes, and the rest of the spices and soy sauce. Add the spices until you're satisfied with the flavor. I think I cooked mine about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool while you roll out your empanada dough. It should look like this: 

Okay. So, these are pretty time consuming. I'll give you that. But, they are SOOO worth the effort.