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Chicken Balti Pie

Indian Inspired Balti Pie

  • Heat Medium
  • Serves 4
  • Prep 15 mins
  • Cook 45 mins
Chicken Balti Pie

Spicing up the very British Pie

Hari says

The Balti pie has become a match day delicacy that is enjoyed by so many football fans up and down the country each week. Personally - I love a pie, I love pastry and I love the spice of Indian dishes too, so what better then all those amazing flavours and textures all together to give the ultimate satisfactions.

This pie was actually created by a company called My Pie London - they loved my Chicken Balti recipe so much that they created a pie with my gorgeous chicken filling. They are a fantastic pie company created by Chef Chris Bumby who travels around in his Pie Van treating us to some of the best pies fillings ever.  From my Balti pie to a steak, Jalapenos and cheddar and many more - his pies rock!

For this pie I have just used some bought pastry - it is so easy to use. But if you want to make your own have a look at my Sausage Roll recipe and use the same method.

So here it is, the recipe for my Balti pie -  I just had to share it with you all and I hope you love it as much as I do! 

*Photograph by Jason Buckner

  • Ingredients
  • Method
  • 3cm ginger
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 2 tomatoes, quartered
  • 1½ tsp garam masala
  • 1½ tsp cumin seeds, crushed
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed 
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tbsp full-fat Greek yogurt
  • Salt, to taste
  • 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 6 green chillies, chopped (reduce if this is too many for you)
  • 700g boneless chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-size chunks
  • 200g spinach, sliced
  • Black peppercorns, freshly ground
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice, or to taste
  • Large handful of finely chopped, fresh coriander leaves 

Pastry

  • 6 sheets puff pastry
  • 1 egg, whisked
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds

Method

  1. Blend together the ginger and garlic and set to one side.
  2. Grind the cumin and coriander seeds and set to one side.
  3. Blend the tomatoes to a paste and stir in the ground spices, garam masala, turmeric, Kashmiri chilli powder, yoghurt and salt.
  4. Heat the oil in a non-stick saucepan (or karahi if you have one) and add the mustard seeds. 
  5. Once the mustard seeds pop, add the bay leaf and chopped onion.
  6. Stir and cook on a medium heat. After about 15 minutes add the minced ginger and garlic with the chopped green chillies for 10-20 minutes until the onions are golden. If the onions catch, add a splash of water and continue to cook the onions.
  7. Stir in the blended tomatoes, spices and yoghurt mix. Turn the heat up and stir until the mixture thickens and you are left with a thick masala paste (10 minutes).
  8. Add the chicken pieces and stir into the thick masala to coat it. 
  9. Reduce the heat and place the lid on the pan. Leave to cook for about 20 minutes, stirring every now and again.
  10. The chicken will produce a lovely thick gravy. Once the chicken is cooked through add the spinich and cook for a few minutes. You can adjust the consistency of the sauce just add a little hot water to loosen to ensure you have enough sauce for the pie. 
  11. Once cooked, add some black pepper and a squeeze of lemon, then check the seasoning.
  12. Stir in the chopped coriander and remove the bay leaf.

Pastry

  1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
  2. Using four 9cm pie tins or foil pie cases cut out 4x12cm circles from pastry sheets and push into each of the tins. Divide the filling to fill each pie tin.
  3. Use the remaining pastry to cut out four 11cm rounds to top the filling.
  4. Cover pies with pastry rounds, crimping edges to seal. Make a hole in the centre of the pie.
  5. Brush with egg wash and scatter with mustard seeds. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

 


Served with

Serve with some masala mash and spiced green beans and dare I say it.....some Bisto chicken gravy!! Happy days!

This goes well with

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“ Thank you for printing this recipe for my delicious Chicken Balti Pie ”

Comments

Comments (2)

  • john barfoot

    john barfoot

    15 December 2020 at 18:10 |
    Hari. Do you blind bake the pie pastry in the cases
    John B

    reply

    • Hari Ghotra

      Hari Ghotra

      06 January 2021 at 19:28 |
      Hi John No I didn't in this case but you can do.

      reply

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Hari Ghotra