Vegan Air Fried Mushroom Eggplant Empanada

One of the highlights of my trip to New York with my daughter, Wendy, after Labor Day, was eating at the kiosks that line up Broadway. Nuchas, which specializes in artisan hand held foods, was one of them. It peddles empanadas including the delicious Vegan Curry Shitake Mushroom Empanada in Turmeric Pastry.

This recipe in this blog post is based on the ingredients enumerated in the Nuchas menu for their vegan shitake empanada. I guessed the amounts of the ingredients and how they were prepared.

The filling came together easily and was pretty close to how the ones from Nuchas tasted. The pastry dough is another story. I used the recipe from this website. However I did not use almond meal given in the recipe and that was the cause of my difficulty kneading the dough. Almond meal has its natural oil which helps in the texture of the dough to be pliable. In any case I was able to handle the dough using all purpose flour by using more water.  It did not give a  pastry with some crunch to it but still was delicious.

Vegan Air Fried Mushroom Eggplant Empanada

Inspired by New York City Nuchas' Vegan Curry Shitake Mushroom Empanada

• 1\2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 oz cremini mushrooms, chopped
• 1\2 medium eggplant, microwaved (note 1) and chopped
• 1 zucchini, cut into small cubes
• 2 potatoes, microwaved (see note 2), peeled and cubed
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1\2 cup coconut milk
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1\2 tsp coriander powder
• 1\8 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Add the onion and garlic in the broth and allow the broth to boil at medium heat till the onion and garlic are cooked. 

Add the mushroom and eggplant to the mixture and cook in the broth till the mushroom pieces are cooked. 

Add the rest of the ingredients and heat the mixture till the zucchini is barely cooked and still crunchy and the spices are blended.

Cool and spoon into prepared vegan pastry dough, recipe shown below.

Notes:

1. Slice the eggplant lengthwise and place the pieces on a paper towel and cover them with another paper towel. Microwave on high for three minutes.

2. Make three shallow slits on both sides of the potato and microwave at high setting for 2-3 minutes  for each potato or 4-6 minutes for two.

Vegan Three Ingredient Pastry Dough

Adapted from this website

• 1 1\2 cup all purpose flour (original recipe used almond meal)
• 1\3 cup cornstarch
• 2 tbsp flax meal in 6 tbsp water (allow to bloom for 8-10 minutes)
• 1\4 tsp salt
• 1 to 1 1\2 cup water or as needed (might need less with almond meal because it has its natural oil)

Mix flour, cornstarch, flax meal in water and salt in a bowl. Add water as needed till the dough can be kneaded and stretched. 

Form into a cylinder and cut into 12 discs. 

Assembly of the empanada

Roll each pastry dough disc into a circle. Place about  1 tablespoon of the filling on one half of the circle and fold the other half over. Crimp the edges.

Air fry the empanadas in the air fry basket in batches at 390 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes.