Chetna Makan's masala chicken pepper pie recipe
Chicken curry is one of my top comfort foods, I love it when the chicken and spices marry together with lots of onions and garlic, as they do here. This recipe uses a delicious chicken curry as the pie filling, topped with flaky filo pastry.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 2 medium-sized onions, finely sliced
- 1 bird’s eye green chilli, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 x 2.5cm (1 inch) piece of fresh root ginger, finely chopped
- 1 x 400g (14oz) can of chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 0.5 tsp chilli powder
- 8 skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 green pepper, roughly chopped
- 4 tbsp double cream
- 20 g fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
- 270 g pack of ready-rolled filo pastry
- 25 g salted butter, melted
Details
- Cuisine: Indian
- Recipe Type: Chicken
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 10 mins
- Cooking Time: 60 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Heat a wide, shallow pan (with a lid) and add the coriander seeds. Dry-toast them for a minute or so until they are fragrant and have changed colour slightly. Remove them to a mortar and pestle and crush to a powder.
- Heat the oil in the same pan and add the fenugreek seeds. Once they start to pop, add the onions and chilli and cook over a medium-low heat for 10 minutes until golden. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute. Next add the tomatoes. Cover and cook for 5 minutes until everything comes together.
- Stir in the salt and ground spices and the crushed coriander seeds. Follow with the chicken and pepper, cover and cook for 10 minutes until the chicken is done. Remove from the heat, stir in the cream and coriander leaves and transfer to a 23cm (9 inch) pie dish. Let it cool slightly.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Unroll the pastry, brush each sheet with the melted butter and then tear and scrunch the sheets on top of the chicken filling. Bake for 25–30 minutes until golden. Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Easy Baking by Chetna Makan is published by Hamlyn (£20) (www.octopusbooks.co.uk). Photography is by Nassima Rothacker.
You might also like:
An interview with Chetna Makan
Pulled tandoori-spiced chicken recipe