Every now and then, your hunger pangs are such that you simply have to run to the closest bakery and buy a host of baked delights. The good old puff, of course, unfailingly makes it to the list. With those greasy flakes dropping all over as you take a bite, a simple crunchy puff filled with spiced vegetables, meat, or a seasoned boiled egg is enough to make our evenings (or even middays) worth that trip to the bakery.
There are many stories associated with its history, but in India the puff was introduced by the British, whose Cornish pasty dates back to the 1300 AD. One can also give credit to the French puff pastry, the Portuguese empanada, and the Malay curry puff among others for the several transformations that the unassuming puff has undergone over the years.
In Bengaluru, any conversation surrounding puffs is incomplete without the mention of the friendly neighbourhood bakeries, which are peppered across the city itself and the state of Karnataka as a whole. These mostly hole-in-the-wall spaces are undoubtedly a treasure trove of baked treats, taking you straight back to childhood with their familiar waft of freshly baked bread and sweet nibbles.
According to Vijayashankar, the second generation owner of OG Variar & Sons (better known as Variar Bakery), puffs have come a long way. “Although Variar Bakery was started in the 1950s, puffs weren’t a part of the menu till the 1980s. It was eventually added thanks to the influence of the visitors we had from Mumbai (then Bombay) who were fond of it and asked us to start making them,” he says. The Variar Bakery is one of the oldest and most well-known in the city.
Different types of puffs at Variar Bakery
Today, in addition to the regular vegetable puffs, the bakery sells the crunchy puff pastry in a variety of forms — the most popular being the khari biscuits. Plain or twisted, the khari biscuits here come in a range of flavours including pepper, chilli, and pudina. Bangalore’s favourites are the sweet puffs — there is the cream roll with a cherry on top, and then the dilkush or dilpasand (a crispy pie filled with desiccated coconut, nuts, and spices). In future, Vijay aims to replace the margarine in the puffs with butter for a healthier option. “We have been researching and experimenting to get the right texture and flavour,” he says.
Dilpasand at Variar Bakery
Thanks to its versatility, the modest puff has even found itself on the fancy menus of high-end restaurants, and experts believe the experiments done with it are endless. Recently, Roxie, an Italian-themed crafthouse in Bengaluru, even conducted a festival called the ‘Puffizza Festival’ to pay homage to the evolution of puff pastry in India. The menu featured an array of ‘puffizzas’ — puffs with a pizza-inspired twist — with flavours from different places like Landour Bakehouse in Mussoorie, Kerala’s eggs puffs, and Iran’s mutton puffs being showcased.
Puffiza at Roxie
The restaurant’s executive chef Vivek Pawar says that puffs are similar to croissants and Danish buns, as the technique of cooking remains the same with a focus on layering. “In India, we have our own versions of layered dishes such as Amritsari kulchas and Malabar parathas,” he points out. Vivek too has fond memories of the snack from the years he spent in Mumbai, as he was growing up. “We would go to these government cafes called Mafco as an occasional treat and enjoy the khari biscuits and puffs. They are better known as patties there,” he says.
The gourmet puffs crafted by Rhea Aaron, who specialises in Goan and Asian cuisine, are some of the most popular and exquisite ones available in the city. Founder of the very successful Klaa Kitchen, a cloud kitchen, Rhea prefers puffs with more filling and less pastry. “I always wanted to change the idea of how a puff should be, so the ones I make are more like the Cornish pasty,” she says.
The favourites among her customers are the butter chicken, butter paneer puffs, and Alice’s beef pasty, which she has fondly named after her mother. “Parathas are relished with butter chicken or butter paneer, so why not a puff with these fillings?” she asks. Rhea also dishes out open pasties where the puff dough is cut into squares, filled with seasoned mushrooms and dill hollandaise, and blow torched on top. With her pot pies, savoury pinwheels, beef wellingtons and sweet cinnamon roll pinwheels with cream cheese frosting, Rhea proves that there is much one can do with a simple mix of flour and butter. “If you don’t want to add any filling, just cut the puff pastries up and toss them in cinnamon sugar and it’s delicious,” she says.
With endless experimentations with its shapes, sizes and fillings, the endpoint is that a puff, whether it’s a simple snack from the local Iyengar bakery or an exquisite nibble from a high-end dining space, will always remain just as delicious. As Rhea from Klaa Kitchen puts it in a nutshell, “It’s flour and butter baked in layers and stuffed with your favourite filling. What’s there not to love about it and what can go wrong with it?”
Deepa Natarajan Lobo is an independent journalist and content writer from Bengaluru with over 15 years of experience in the field of media and writing. She writes on a broad range of topics like human interest, lifestyle, food, art & culture, and entertainment among others, and has also edited two books.