Curry puff

Curry puff is one of the Malaysian’s local foods which are of Malay origin that can also be known as ‘Karipap’ or ‘Epok-epok kentang’. It is a type of snack that consist of a pastry pie filled with dry curry potatoes and a small piece of hard boiled egg in a deep fried pastry shell. It may include other alternative filling such as sardines, vegetarian’s filling (potatoes, carrots, and onions) and many more.

Main ingredient used in curry puff

For the dough
- Plain flour
- Margarine
- Salt

For the filling
- Potatoes (cut in cubes)
- Onions (chopped finely)
- Curry powder
- Salt
- Sugar

Additional filling
- A small piece of hard boiled egg

How to make it

1. To make the pastry, mix flour with margarine, salt, and knead well.
2. Let it rest for 30 minutes and then cut it into circles (approximately 3 inches) in diameter.
3. For the filling, heat up the oil and fry the onion gently until golden brown.
4. Add in all other ingredients and fry till fragrant.
5. Add water and fry till it dry for softening the potatoes.
6. After the filling is done, place a little filling along with a small piece of hard boiled egg on the pre-cut dough, fold over and pleat the ends of the pastry to seal the filling.
7. Deep fry the puffs until it’s golden.
   
   

Nutritional value

The amount of nutrient can be obtained from a piece of curry puff (approximately 40g per piece).

RNI (Daily Recommended Nutrient Intake) percentage for each curry puff approximately:

Energy (kcal) - 7%
Protein (g) – 6%
Fat (g) – 11%
Carbohydrate (g) – 5%
Sodium (mg) – 2%

How these nutrients are absorbed?

Carbohydrates which are mainly from the potato contained in the curry puff consist of starch. This starch is made up of amylose and amylopectin is broken down starting in the mouth and the small intestine via the pancreas which breaks down these compounds to become glucose. Depending on the needs of the body, it then can go through glycogenesis to produce glycogen which is stored in the liver and muscle or broken down via glycolysis to produce energy. The product of glycolysis which is pyruvate will then enter other pathways such as the tricarboxylic acid cycle or known as Kreb cycle (Ophardt 2003).

Lipid which comes from the curry powder or the oil in the puff pastry is mainly made up of triglyceride (triacyglycerol). It is broken down in the mouth by lingual lipase and goes through lipolysis in the small intestine via emulsification by bile and also broken down by pancreatic lipase and the end product is glycerol and fatty acid. The triglyceride is then rebuilt in the erythrocytes (red blood cell) and is used to form chylomicron which consists of triglyceride, cholesterol, phospholipids and protein. This chylomicron is used to deliver lipids or more accurately triglyceride to cells to be used as an energy source for other cells. Besides that, activated fatty acid such as palmitoyl CoA derived from palmitate acid also goes through beta oxidation in the mitochondria. The end product is Acetyl CoA which can be used in the the TCA cycle to be oxidized and to produce energy.

Protein from the egg and the pastry puff begins to be digested in the stomach and the small intestine via a series of enzymes to produce amino acid and peptides. Amino acids are used in anabolism in the body to synthesize other protein or nitrogen containing compounds in the body such as enzymes, carnitine, transport proteins and structural proteins. The excess amino acid goes through transamination which generates dispensable amino acid and deamination where the amino group of the amino acid is removed and it becomes a carbon skeleton. This removed amino group must be removed in our body via the urea cycle in the liver as high level of ammonia is toxic to our body. The carbon skeleton on the other hand can be used to produce energy when the body has insufficient energy level. It can also synthesize glucose via gluconeogenesis as oxaloacetate and pyruvate which are the carbon skeleton of aspartate and alanine respectively are intermediates in gluconeogenesis.

Figure 1: Overview of Metabolism (Ophardt 2003).

Source: http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/600glycolysis.html

Ways to Improve

Vegetables such as carrots and peas can be incorporated into filling to increase the fiber and vitamin of the curry puff. High quality oil such as olive oil can be used in the preparation of the curry potato in order to lower the amount of saturated fat intake. Baking the curry puff could also be a healthier alternative compared to frying as it prevents the puff from absorbing more oil. This will lower the amount of fat that will be present on the puff itself. Water dough can be used to replace the conventional dough (Oil dough) that is usually used for the puff pastry that consists of high amount of margarine which is a hydrogenised vegetable oil. Water dough only uses about 1 tablespoon of margarine and the rest are replaced with water.

Physiological benefits

Carbohydrates from the potato are the main source of fuel or energy for our body’s metabolism especially glucose. It can also be stored as glycogen in our body for further use. Furthermore, a small significant portion of starch from potato has a certain resistant to digestion in the stomach and small intestines where it limits the amylatic degradation (Applebaum 2009). Thus, this resistant starch is considered to have similar physiological effects and health benefits as fiber by preventing colon cancer and also give a sense of satiety for a longer period of time.

References:

1. Ministry of Health, 2009. Recommended Nutrient Intake [Online]. Available from: http://www.moh.gov.my/opencms/opencms/moh/rni.html [Accessed on 18 February 2009].
2. NutriWeb, 2001. Malaysian Foods Composition Database [Online]. Available from: http://www.nutriweb.org.my/searchfood.php [Accessed on 19 February 2009].
3. MyHealth, 2008. Recommended Nutrient Intakes [Online]. Available from: http://www.myhealth.gov.my/myhealth/eng/dewasa_content.jsp?lang=dewasa&sub=0&bhs=eng&storyid=1135840426872#Energy [Accessed on 19 February 2009].
4. Ophardt, C. E., 2003. Elhurst College. Overview of Carbohydrate Metabolism [Online]. Available from: http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/600glycolysis.html [Accessed on 19 February 2009].
5. Malaysian Food, n. d. Curry Puffs [Online]. Available from: http://www.malaysianfood.net/recipes/recipecurrypuffs.htm [Accessed on 19 February 2009].
6. Applebaum, S. W., 2009. The Journal of Nutrition. Digestion of potato starch by larvae of the Flour beetle [Online]. Available from: http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/reprint/90/3/235.pdf [Accessed on 26 February 2009].
7. Sareen S. Gropper, Jack L.Smith and James L.Groff. Advanced Nutrition And Human Metabolism , Fifth Edition. Pg 69 – 98, 140 – 159, 189 – 213.

Prepared by:

Kam Pei Yee 1000613215

Yap Wye Ken 1000613712