These Sri Lankan Curried Beef Buns (Meat buns) are perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or as an appetizer/snack! Stuffed bread is legendary in Sri Lankan cuisine. It’s both comfort food and convenience food. The most famous and favorite of all is the Fish Bun, known as Maalu Paan (maalu = fish, paan = bread). Soft, fluffy bread rolls shaped like triangles, stuffed with a spiced fish and potato filling. What’s not to love? Another type of stuffed bread that I love to make and eat would be these Curried Beef Buns! Also known as mas paan (in Sinhalese) or simply meat buns. A spicy, flavorful beef curry stuffed inside soft, freshly baked bread. It could serve as an appetizer, breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, you name it. These curried beef buns are loved by all! In Sri Lanka, these are called Mas Paan, where mas = meat and paan = bread, as I mentioned before. So you can use beef, chicken, pork, lamb, goat etc. as the meat filling for these meat buns. The filling is also sometimes mixed with potatoes, but I actually prefer these curried beef buns with just the meaty filling.
The Bread for the Curried Beef Buns
The bread that I use for these meat stuffed buns is my hot dog bun recipe. It’s a versatile recipe that makes soft, delicious bread rolls for hot dog buns, hamburger buns etc. So it’s perfect for these meat buns as well. The dough is really soft here, so if it’s too sticky, you will need to flour your hands to make it easier to handle it and shape it. I prefer to let the dough rise overnight in the fridge, because the chilled dough is easier to handle and less sticky. So it’ll be easier to portion and shape the chilled dough the following day. This bread recipe contains egg and milk. You can substitute the milk with more water, OR a plant based milk if you are lactose intolerant. You can substitute the butter with vegetable oil, coconut oil or canola oil as well. Since this isn’t a vegan or vegetarian recipe, I’m hoping that you won’t have a reason to leave out the egg. The addition of the egg and milk helps soften the dough, so it’s an important step. However, if you absolutely have to leave out the egg as well, you will need to add a little more water to get the right consistency – maybe about 3 to 4 tbsp. I use AP flour for these meat buns recipe because I prefer a very soft bread. But if you’d like to use bread flour, that’s totally fine too. You may need to add extra water or milk to get the right consistency again, so keep an eye on the dough to get that slightly sticky, and shiny smooth ball of dough. Using a stand mixer makes the whole process easier. If you’re using your hands to knead the dough, make sure to lightly dust your work surface and hands so that the dough doesn’t stick too much.
Notes on the curried beef filling for these meat buns
As I mentioned before, you can substitute the beef with pork, chicken, lamb or goat meat. The cooking time may vary according to the pan that you’re using, since you’re cooking the meat filling until the liquid has completely evaporated. So it’ll take longer to cook in a smaller pan (because larger surface area means faster evaporation). You need a dry curry filling here to get perfect results. So whether it’s water (like a gravy/sauce), or oil, there shouldn’t be liquid in the filling, because the bread dough could soak up that liquid while baking, creating a soggy mess. If you DO somehow end up with an oily curry, simply scoop up the oil and discard it. OR, add some chopped, cooked, floury potatoes. Potatoes can easily soak up some of that oil too.
Options for the curried beef filling
I used the recipe for my popular spicy black pork curry to make this beef curry filling. We love the peppery, spicy curried filling for these meat stuffed buns. But you can also use the chicken curry recipe that I used here or my beef curry recipe as well, but make sure to NOT add any extra liquid or coconut milk, to keep the curry dry. Another option is the beef, potato and pea curry filling that I made for the stuffed beef roti here.
Should I use ground meat (minced meat) or meat chunks?
Depends on your preference. Meat chunks – If you use meat chunks, you need to start with smaller pieces of meat, so that you can actually stuff the bread with the meat. So it can be a little tedious to cut the meat into smaller chunks, and because they are chunk, it’ll be a bit harder to add more filling inside the buns too. However, this is what I prefer, because I like the texture of soft, meaty pieces of the beef filling inside these curried beef buns. It’s more satisfying than ground meat. Ground meat – This is the easier option because the meat is already ground and you don’t spend time cutting the meat. You can also add more filling. Just make sure to buy LEAN ground meat so that you don’t end up with a lot of fatty oil when you cook the meat filling.
What if I don’t like spicy food?
This curry is spiced with A LOT of black pepper. If you don’t like black pepper, you can certainly reduce the amount of the spice that you add. I wouldn’t recommend removing the black pepper altogether though.
Tips on how to fill the buns properly – with no torn edges, seams or under filled beef stuffed buns (see the photos above)
This bread dough is soft and stretchy. Use your hands to flatten out the bread dough to a circle, with the edge thinner than in the middle. Next, cup the bread dough piece in your palm, add add 2 heaping teaspoons (regular teaspoons, not measuring teaspoons) of the filling in the center. Since the dough is stretchy, you can press the filling into the middle. Your cupped palm will help keep the filling in place. Next, stretch the dough over the filling and pinch it together to seal. Since the dough is sticky, it should seal easily. If not, then use a dab of water to help seal the dough. After the edges have been pinched together, roll the bun around in your palm a little, to smoothen out the seams/edges. Then place the filled buns in the prepared pan with the seam side down.
These meat buns are super versatile!
We enjoy eating these Sri Lankan mas paan any time of the day! You can even make a double batch and refrigerate or freeze them for later. These beef stuffed meat buns taste delicious warm, OR at room temperature. Breakfast – these meat buns are perfect as an on-the-go breakfast. Lunch – these are a great alternative to your sandwich. These are a very popular lunch time meal in Sri Lanka. Snacking – perfect road trip snacks. Next time you hit the road, make a big batch of these spicy curried beef buns and pack them in boxes. They travel well and are not messy at all, while saving you a trip to a fast food restaurant. Dinner – these are also perfect as a light dinner option, with maybe a side salad. If you love curries, and meat stuffed bread, or want to try a slice of Sri Lankan cuisine, these Sri Lankan mas paan (curried beef buns) are a great place to start!
More related flavor-packed Sri Lankan recipes to check out
Chicken curry Beef curry Lamb curry Spicy dry beef curry (devilled beef) Curried beef roti Sri Lankan Chinese rolls (fried crepe rolls) Fish cutlets Fish patties
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