Chicken curry pie

You should know by now that I appreciate a good curry. And I had big curry plans this week. But between the physically exhausting weekend I had, work and motherhood; I’ve been a bit too busy to cook anything that needs even a little effort.

My plan was to make a different curry every day of the week. From different cuisines and countries. I think I’m still going to do it but maybe not in one week. I want to make Jamaican lamb curry, Thai green curry, Singapore curry, Mauritian cari poisson and the Indonesian rendang.

But tonight I’m going to stick to flavours I know very well, cooked many times, tasted it even more times. Durban Indian curry :- P. But the dilemma I’m facing is; I also love pies and as much as I feel like a good curry tonight but I’m also craving pie. It’s been a while since I made pie. And I had a thought, what if I combined the two on one plate. Chicken curry pie!

What do you need?

• 4 Chicken breasts- deboned and cut into cubes.

• Veggies- spring onions, onion, garlic, celery, mushrooms.

– Spices- 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds, 2 star anise, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 5 cardamom seeds, 3 bay leaves, 1 tsp of cloves, 2 cinnamon sticks/powder, 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp of chili flakes.

• Beef stock cube

• Puff pastry

– 1 egg

What to do?

• Dry roast the solid spices- mustard seeds, star anise, fennel seeds, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon ( if using sticks) and the cardammon seeds for 5 min. Then add 2 tbs of olive oil and continue roasting for 5 min. Strain the oil and discard the seeds, keeping the bay leaves and cinnamon.

• In a pot with the spice infused hot oil, add onions and soften, then add garlic, spring onion, celery, mushrooms and cubes of chicken breast. Add into the pot, 1 beef stock cube, curry powder( mild or hot, it’s your choice). Coat well over 1 minute, then add 3 tbs of tomato purée and 50 ml of red wine. Cook for 1 minute and take off the stove. The point is not to cook the chicken on the stove but to combine the components and coat with these lovely spices and flavours.The cooking will happen in the oven, and the chicken should not be overlooked. Otherwise it’ll be dry and will ruin the pie.

• Flour a clean surface with flour, then ‘roll out’ puff pastry until thin. Then cut pieces just big enough to double over on your pie dishes. Place the pastry over greased pie pots/dishes. Then in with the chicken mixture, top the mixture in the little pots with 1 tsp of coconut milk and a sprinkle of salt. This will help add moisture.

Then fold the mixture in the pot. And ‘brush’ the top of the folded pastry with a beaten egg( egg wash).

Into a preheated oven at 230 degrees for 20 minutes.

Now pour yourself a glass of wine and relax 😜.

In 20 min take out of the oven and serve with an English spinach and nectarines’ salad.

Bon Appetit! 😊