Butter Chicken Pot Pie - A Simple Leftover Recipe

I've been wanting to do this for over a year: make a butter chicken pot pie. For this method, you'll need leftovers. The best way to do it is to make a double batch of butter chicken and save the leftovers for this project.

This is a simple pot pie recipe, although there are a lot of steps. However, if you're used to making pies, this will be a breeze. Since I made my pie to freeze, I didn't get a great shot of it, so I did the best I could with photoshop 🙄

I've noticed with my pot pies, that I always need to slightly over-season the filling. For some reason, whenever the filling tastes perfect, once it is baked it seems to be lacking flavour. This is particularly true for English pasties and puff-pastry-type pot pies. So in this recipe, I've used a little extra salt and seasoning for the filling, and also some seasoning for the crust.

Some fenugreek leaves, and even some whole cumin or carom in the crust mix will make the crust look unique and help to send the message that this pie is something truly special.

Butter Chicken Pot Pie Ingredients:

Filling

1. 3 cups butter chicken (chicken pieces and gravy)
2. 1 small purple onion, large-diced
3. 1 cup half-inch diced potato
4. 3tbsp flour
5. 1/2 tsp salt
6. (optional) 1/2 tsp each: cumin, fenugreek leaves, paprika
7. (optional) 1/4 cup green peas

Crust

8. 2 cups unbleached flour
9. 2/3 cups butter or shortening (or a combination)
10. 1/2 tsp salt
11. 1/2 tsp fenugreek leaves
12. 1 tsp vinegar or AC vinegar
13. 1/3-1/2 cup hot water


Butter Chicken Pot Pie Method

Prep 

I made my butter chicken pot pie to freeze and give to a friend. It makes a great, unexpected gift. If you're going to bake right away, preheat your oven to 350 F. You'll need:



- a strainer,
- two mixing bowls,
- a small sauce pan,
- a greased 9" pie tin,
- a pastry blender,
- a rolling pin,
- and cup measures.

Procedure

1. Get two cups of water boiling for your cup of potatoes
2. Over a mixing bowl, place your butter chicken and gravy in a coarse strainer: the kind you use to strain noodles (i.e., not a colander).
3. Place 2 cups flour, salt, fenugreek leaves, and shortening in another mixing bowl, and mix with pastry blender or a fork. You should be able to work these ingredients into a mixture of pea-sized pebbles, if it is too dusty, add a bit of shortening, and if it's sticking way to much add a bit of flour. 
4. Add vinegar and 1/3 cup water to your pebble-sized flour mixture and see if you can get the whole thing into a dough ball. If you still have some mix that won't adhere, add just a little more water. It should self-adhere without being too sticky.
5. Place your potatoes in the boiling water, and boil for four minutes.
6. Dice your onion while the potatoes are boiling.
7. Strain your potatoes and set aside.
8. Add the 3 tbsp flour to your butter chicken gravy that has drained from your strainer, along with the salt, and other seasonings and whisk until mixed well. 
9. Using your hand, shred the chicken and add it to the gravy.
10. Add your diced onion and par-boiled potatoes (and optional peas) to the gravy. Mix well


11. Divide your dough ball into two halves, one a little bit larger than the other. 
12. flour all surfaces, including your hands and rolling pin, and roll out the bottom dough ball. Place bottom crust into a greased, floured 9" pie tin. (To move the crust from the countertop to the pan, I fold the rolled crust into quarters, then unfold it into the pan.)
13. Place your filling in the bottom crust, roll out the top crust, crimp, perforate, and bake at 350 for 1 hour. 

 

November 12, 2020 — Ben M

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