For fall and winter, we have our vegan spin on the Classic Cornish Pasty. The flakiest and buttery vegan pastry encases chunky root vegetables and a savoury thyme gravy. We have air-fried these plant-based cornish pasties (or hand pies) to achieve perfectly cooked golden pastry with a tender filling of pumpkin, sweet potato, mushroom, and root vegetables.

VEGAN PUMPKIN AND ROOT VEGETABLE HAND PIES

This autumn and winter vegan lunch recipe proves that eating vegan does not mean missing out on taste and texture!

One of my favourite fall recipes is our Harry Potter Pumpkin Pasties that are vegan. I’m a true Potterhead and eating these makes me feel like I’m on the Hogwarts express charging along to Hogwarts for a new school year!

A fond cornish pasty memory of mine is from when I used to indulge in a piping-hot vegan “vegetables in a wheatmeal pastry” pasty from the train station on the way to placements as a medical student.

The stall was from a company that handmade their pasties in West Cornwall using traditional techniques.

Whilst you can argue this isn’t the “proper” cornish pasty experience, as I was munching these along the South Coast rather than Cornwall, this was as close as I could get!

The pasties were phenomenal. They had the most wonderful and rich filling – not dry at all but instead, the vegetables were enveloped in a thick and silky sauce.

I was kept fueled and nourished during long and tiring days, so it’s no surprise that they were originally invented to sustain Cornish tin miners 100 years ago!

TRADITIONAL CORNISH PASTIES

Whilst we all have our own interpretation and recipe of a Cornish pasty, the higher powers, aka “The Cornish Pastry Association” (not Tom Cruise) have given us a set of rules!

A whole genuine Cornish pasty consists of at least

12.5% meat – beef only!

25% vegetables – potato, turnip (swede), onion & seasoning (salt and pepper)

all ingredients must be uncooked when the pasty is assembled

the pastry must be savoury and can be shortcrust, rough puff or puff

the pastry has to be able to withstand baking and handling without breaking and can be glazed with egg or milk

the edges are crimped to one side to create the characteristic Cornish pasty finish

Pasties are definitely not dainty, cute English food but robust large pockets of steaming thickly cut vegetables that are hearty and super warming.

Our vegan hand pies take inspiration from the classic Cornish to make a pure vegetarian filling and vegan pastry.

WHY AIR FRY HAND PIES?

Make the most of your air fryer to make seriously amazing hand pies!

Using the air fryer is quicker than a conventional oven. It also prevents the risk of a soggy bottom as the circulating air ensures the crust is crispy all around.

The semi-cooked vegetable filling softens down to perfection and the pastry develops a beautiful coveted golden-brown finish.

THE BEST VEGAN CORNISH PASTY FILLING

I love my pasties to be heaving with plenty of piping-hot filling. The pasty is packed with pumpkin, sweet potato, parsnip, mushroom and onion

All ingredients are easily available in grocery stores from the autumn or fall

We have not used any meat alternatives but decided to celebrate the beauty of delicious vegetables instead.

Mushrooms lend a “meaty” texture and a great flavour.

We have made a gravy using thyme, veggie stock and nutritional yeast. The nutritional yeast gives a nutty “cheesy” flavour that is so savoury and delicious

These hand pies are :

✅totally plant-based

✅vegan filling lunch idea

✅handheld portable lunch idea

✅buttery and flakey rough puff pastry

✅filled with chunky autumn vegetables

✅have a silky gravy flavoured with thyme and nutritional yeast

✅have a tantalising umami flavour

HOW TO MAKE PERFECT FLAKY VEGAN PASTRY USING TREK AND FLORA

Traditional pastry is made with lard and butter. We wanted to make a vegan recipe where you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between them.

We have made vegan pasties in the past using wholemeal flour and oil but this time we wanted to make a vegan rough puff

The fat

To shorten the pastry, we have used plant-based substitute Trex which is a vegan shortener and can easily be found in the chilled section next to butter.

We have used non-dairy Flora plant butter as a substitute for traditional butter.

If you wanted to make a vegetarian pastry, you can use normal butter instead of lard.

The flour

To make the perfect pastry, we have used Canadian strong white bread flour. This flour is famed for its superior quality. The end result leads to fuller flavour and a nutty crust.

We have used Marriage’s brand but you can buy own-brand Canadian wheat flour in some grocery stores too.

If you can’t find this specific flour, then use any strong white bread flour.

To glaze

To glaze the pasties, we used a little hemp milk but you can use other non-dairy milk such as oat milk

GLUTEN-FREE CORNISH PASTY

HOW TO MAKE AIR FRYER VEGAN HAND PIES:

FREEZING AND STORING PERFECT HAND PIES:

IF YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE

VEGAN CORNISH PASTY RECIPE - AIR FRYER VEGETABLE HAND PIES

Ingredients

• 3 cups + 2 tablesppon strong white bread flour*
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 block vegetable sortening** 250 grams
• ¼ cup vegan butter
• 150-175 ml chilled water
• 250 grams butternut squash
• 200 g swede
• 100 g sweet potatoes
• 100 g parsnips
• 100 g mushrooms
• 1 big white onion
• 200 ml hot water
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 2-3 tablespoon nutritional yeast 20-25grams
• 2-3 tablespoon dairy free milk

Instructions

• Sift canadian strong white flour in a bowl, add salt. Add chunks of chilled vegan shortner and butter.
• Rub loosley using your fingers. We need to see bits of butter in there, so don’t rub into the flour completely.
• Add chilled water little by little and mix. Make firm rough dough.
• Wrap it up using cling film and leave it to rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Once the pastry has chilled, place the dough onto lightly floured surface. Roll it out in to a rectangular shape, roughly 20x50cm.
• Do not over handle the dough, we want see marble effect of the vegrtarian shortening running through it.
• Now fold down the third down to the centre, then the bottom third over that. (please see video).
• Turn the dough a quarter turn to the left or right and roll it out again 3 times its length and fold it again just like you did the first time.
• Cover with cling film and chill once again for 1-2 hours in the fridge.
• Whilst the pastry dough is resting in the fridge, make root vegetable filling.
• Peel and cut all the vegetables you are going to use.
• Prepare a thyme gravy by adding a vegetable stock cube, thyme, oregano, garlic powder and ground black pepper to hot water and stir
• Heat very little oil in a pan, add all of the cubed vegetables. Add the thyme gravy and cook until the vegetables are around 50% cooked. They will cook the rest of the way in the air fryer
• Add a cornstarch slurry and nutrional yeast. Mix and set aside to cool completely.
• Roll out the pastry until it is 1/2 cm thick. Using a 6inch plate, cut out a circle
• Spoon some filling onto one half of the pastry leaving some gap at the edges. Add a small cube of vegan butter in the centre
• Brush some cold water around the edges and then fold over and crimp
• Cut a small hole into the pastry with a knife to allow air to escape
• Brush with non dairy milk
• We used our Instant Pot Pro Crisp to airfry these hand pies.
• Set up the Pro Crisp with the air fryer basket and tray.
• Place the pasty in the Instant Pot and use the Air Fryer lid.
• We air-fried for 25 minutes on 200C and that worked well for us.
• Preheat oven to 190C/374F or gasmark 5.
• Once pies are filled and crimped put them on baking sheets and put hem straight in to your oven.
• Bake them around 40-50 minutes or until nice and golden all over including the base.

Video

Notes

Nutrition

PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.

VEGAN CORNISH PASTY RECIPE - AIR FRYER VEGETABLE HAND PIES

Ingredients

• 3 cups + 2 tablesppon strong white bread flour*
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 block vegetable sortening** 250 grams
• ¼ cup vegan butter
• 150-175 ml chilled water
• 250 grams butternut squash
• 200 g swede
• 100 g sweet potatoes
• 100 g parsnips
• 100 g mushrooms
• 1 big white onion
• 200 ml hot water
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 2-3 tablespoon nutritional yeast 20-25grams
• 2-3 tablespoon dairy free milk

Instructions

• Sift canadian strong white flour in a bowl, add salt. Add chunks of chilled vegan shortner and butter.
• Rub loosley using your fingers. We need to see bits of butter in there, so don’t rub into the flour completely.
• Add chilled water little by little and mix. Make firm rough dough.
• Wrap it up using cling film and leave it to rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Once the pastry has chilled, place the dough onto lightly floured surface. Roll it out in to a rectangular shape, roughly 20x50cm.
• Do not over handle the dough, we want see marble effect of the vegrtarian shortening running through it.
• Now fold down the third down to the centre, then the bottom third over that. (please see video).
• Turn the dough a quarter turn to the left or right and roll it out again 3 times its length and fold it again just like you did the first time.
• Cover with cling film and chill once again for 1-2 hours in the fridge.
• Whilst the pastry dough is resting in the fridge, make root vegetable filling.
• Peel and cut all the vegetables you are going to use.
• Prepare a thyme gravy by adding a vegetable stock cube, thyme, oregano, garlic powder and ground black pepper to hot water and stir
• Heat very little oil in a pan, add all of the cubed vegetables. Add the thyme gravy and cook until the vegetables are around 50% cooked. They will cook the rest of the way in the air fryer
• Add a cornstarch slurry and nutrional yeast. Mix and set aside to cool completely.
• Roll out the pastry until it is 1/2 cm thick. Using a 6inch plate, cut out a circle
• Spoon some filling onto one half of the pastry leaving some gap at the edges. Add a small cube of vegan butter in the centre
• Brush some cold water around the edges and then fold over and crimp
• Cut a small hole into the pastry with a knife to allow air to escape
• Brush with non dairy milk
• We used our Instant Pot Pro Crisp to airfry these hand pies.
• Set up the Pro Crisp with the air fryer basket and tray.
• Place the pasty in the Instant Pot and use the Air Fryer lid.
• We air-fried for 25 minutes on 200C and that worked well for us.
• Preheat oven to 190C/374F or gasmark 5.
• Once pies are filled and crimped put them on baking sheets and put hem straight in to your oven.
• Bake them around 40-50 minutes or until nice and golden all over including the base.

Video

Notes

Nutrition

PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.

Originally, sweet boondi or Meethi Boondi is made by deep-frying small balls created from light gram flour (besan) batter. They are then immersed in a sugar syrup. These pearls are often offered in temples as prashad or shaped to make boondi ladoo. We have made our boondi sugar free and healthy by using 100% natural sweetener, stevia.

Learn how to make this healthier and sugar-free boondi with our step by step video tutorial.

SWEET BOONDI WITH NO ADDED SUGAR

When I was young, Boondi Ladoo, or boondi na ladwa, were my favourite Diwali sweet and I couldn’t wait. As I’ve got older, I’ve grown to love Mohanthaal

My memories of boondi start from when my Mum used to make boondi in large kadais. I was barely tall enough to see above the counter but I used to love to sit and watch from a distance.

We used to, and still do, visit the Swaminarayan Temple in Neasdon and I always looked first for the little ziplock bag of tricolour boondi inside the pink prashad boxes.

If you’ve never visited the Neasdon temple before, you absolutely must! It’s famous too – it was featured in the Diwali episode of the Teletubbies!

WHAT IS BOONDI?

Boondi is an Indian sweet or mithai that is enjoyed throughout the year but most particularly around Diwali.

Boondi are small balls or pearls that can be either sweet or savoury. They are made from fine besan (gram flour or chickpea flour) batter.

The batter is passed through a perforated spoon or jharo (a ladle with small holes) into hot oil or ghee.

The little droplets of batter are quickly deep-fried until they are just crunchy.

The boondi are quickly removed from the hot oil or ghee before they brown.

To make meethi boondi , these peals are dropped into a saffron sugar syrup. The sugar syrup cools and hardens a little and coats the boondi. This boondi can be pressed together to form balls called boondi ladoo – chopped nuts are often added at this stage.

To make savoury or khaari (salty) boondi, a little salt and red chilli powder is added. We have experimented and succesfully made Palak Beet Masala Boondi and added in this tasty Panch Ratna Chevdo .

The perfect boondi is round, not flat and will not have a “tail” or be teardrop-shaped. They will also not clump together. This recipe goes through ways to achieve perfect boondi.

WHY MAKE BOONDI WITH NO ADDED SUGAR?

As someone who has grown up eating delicious traditional mithais, I would be the first person to say that if you are going to make Indian mithai, just enjoy it the proper way to the fullest. Do not take shortcuts and try to make recipes that are lower in fat, or lower in sugar or compromise on deep frying.

HOWEVER.

Even I am pleasantly surprised but thrilled to inform you that this sugar-free boondi tastes EXACTLY like the original sweet boondi that uses a proper sugar syrup.

The texture also comes very close to the standard boondi recipe. The only difference is how the sugar syrup hardens.

This recipe makes Indian mithai healthier as we have not added refined sugar. Although, we have of course deep-fried the boondi so the recipe isn’t entirely guilt-free!

Sugar free boondi doesn’t need proper syrup, we are simply dissolving the sweetneer into the water. We are not looking for “thread” consistencies.

This boondi recipe is the perfect sugar free Indian sweet for diabetics.

Did you know that we have more sugar free mithai recipes on our blog. We have created and posted Sugar free Indian sweets for diabetics .

No added sugar slow roasted mawa peda

No added sugar Badam katli

No added sugar Shrikhand

CAN I MAKE SUGAR FREE BOONDI LADOO?

After creating our sugar-free sweet boondi, we took many attempts to make boondi na ladwa with sweeteners.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of the sweetener syrup, the consistency isn’t sticky enough to shape into balls. The ladoo simply break as the boondi do not stay sticky and form a mass.

We tried sprinkling water to the sugar free boondi but that just makes the boondi go soggy and you loose the texture.

We also tried adding ghee before shaping but this too wasn’t sufficient.

However, we will keep trying and update this if we find a way!

INGREDIENTS FOR SUGAR-FREE SWEET BOONDI

this recipe is made without bicarbonate of soda and rice flour.

● Gram flour – we will need fine gram flour known as besan for meethi boondi recipe.

● Oil – any neutral oil like sunflower

● Food colour – we used yellow and red mixed together to make a deep orange.

● Ghee – we used our homemade desi ghee

● Nuts , cardamom powder for flavour

● Saffron – a few threads of good quality saffron threads

HOW TO MAKE ROUND BOONDI?

Boondi recipe is a fairly easy Indian sweet to make. The only hard part is to create round boondi in every batch.

As long as you to follow a few key steps you will have perfect boondis without tail and flat.

● Make a slight runny batter Boondis prepared with a thick batter produce boondis with tail and sometimes they go very flat too. For round boondis free flowing thin batter works best, the batter consistency should be same as crêpe batter.

● Let the batter drop into oil itself if you have the batter thin enough it should drop into hot oil on its own, if not quickly add a tablespoon of water and mix before frying the next batch.

● Do not use a spoon or ladle to spread the batter let the batter drop on its own in the oil, if not dropping that means the batter is not runny enough to drop itself. If you use spoon to spread the batter your boondi will be with tails and look flat.

● Do not shake or tap the boondi jaro let the batter drop itself in the hot oil, do not shake or tap ladle. This way you are forcing batter to drop quickly and batter looses its shape.

● Keep the boondi jaro/ladle height of 3/4 inches from oil – if you keep boondi ladle very high or too low over the oil and pour the batter on it, boondi will be flat. Keep jaro at least 4 inches or 10 cm above the kadai with hot oil.

● Clean boondi jaro or ladle after frying every single batch of boondi – once you have used ladle to drop the boondi batter, wash it with clean water after every single batch. If the jaro is not cleaned, next batch of boondis won’t be round.

1. What type of gram flour shall I use to use make boondi?

To prepare boondi you will need fine gram flour, also known as Besan.

2. Why my boondis are flat and with tails?

If your boondi batter is too thin then the batter after falling from the ladle will flatten and the boondi after frying will be flat.

If the boondi batter consistancy is too thick, it won’t drop itself easily in droplets and tails will be formed. Therefore keep the boondi batter consistency should be not too thick or not to thin but flowing.

The batter should drop on its own and so should not loose its shape.

3. How many ladle or jaro will I need to make boondi?

Minimum you will need two ladle or jara to make boondi. To drop the boondi you will need special equipment called BOONDI NO JARO and to fry the boondi you need a normal jaaro.

4. I don’t have boondi jaro, what can I use instead?

Use a normal jaaro that has larger holes. If you have a jaaro with small holes you will get motichoor.

5. Why my boondi is not crispy?

Oil or ghee must be added to the batter to make crispy boondi.

6. How to make colourful boondi?

Yes, you can. To add colour to the boondi you can use edible colours such as egg yellow, yellow, orange, red and green.

Edible colours are available in powder form and gel. Don’t add too much colour but instead use a little at a time. The colour will deepen upon frying as well so keep the batter colour slightly lighter

7. Can I add edible camphoor in boondi?

We have not added edible camphoor in the boondi, but have tasted in prasad boondi which is available from south Indian temples.

If you decide to add, just add a size of mustard seed once you mix boondis in sugar syrup.

LEFTOVER MEETHI BOONDI RECIPES

HOW TO MAKE SWEET BOONDI RECIPE WITHOUT SUGAR?

IF YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE

HOW TO MAKE BOONDI SUGAR FREE

Ingredients

• 1 cup gram flour/besan
• Pinch edible colour - yellow and red
• Oil to fry
• 3-4 tablespoons of ghee
• Tap water
• 1 cup stevia
• ¾ cup tap water 170milliliters
• 10-12 saffron threads
• ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
• 3-4 tablespoons of almond and pistachio slivers

Instructions

• In a mixing bowl take sift besan. Prepare smooth and free flowing batter by adding water little by little.
• Add colour and 1 teaspoon ghee, mix again.
• Cover the bowl with a lid and leave it to rest for half an hour. *
• Heat oil in a kadai.
• Fry boondis by keeping a special boondi ladle (jaro) over the hot oil kadai.
• Pour small amount batter on the jaro and let the batter drop itself in the hot oil.
• Fry the boondis about 30-40 seconds, then remove using a normal jaro.**
• Repeat this process until you finish frying all the boondis.
• If using diffrent colour for boondis, fry them last such as green colourd ones.
• Don’t forget to wipe or wash the boondi jaro after each frying.
• Keep fried boondis aside.
• In a pan mix stevia and water.
• Add saffron threads.
• Bring it to first boil on medium heat, simmer just for 1 minute.
• Turnoff the heat, add cardamom powder.
• Now add fried boondis along with remaining ghee, mix well and leave it for half an hour to soak up all the chasni.
• Then add slivered almond and pistachio.
• Once cooled completely serve in a bowl.

Video

Notes

• *Boondi batter can be left to rest for 10-12 hours or over night.
• **Boondi cooks fast, so it is important to insure not to over cook else it will turn dark brown.
• For vegan boondis use oil instead of ghee.

Nutrition

PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.