Taste pie’d piper

The term easy as pie is indicative of the ease of eating the pastry dish, also alluded to the ease of doing anything. I like to take it as giving description to the actual ease of making pie because it is actually quite simple. In our household, we each have our favourite type of pie. I’m a periperi girl, first born enjoys chilli Russian and the last born alongside hubby are pepper steak fanatics. There is nothing like the reassurance that I get from eager palates, as each of the boys in the household keep hovering around the kitchen, drawn in by the wonderful aroma of homebaked pie enveloping the house. I quite enjoy moments like these, as it means I’m not toiling away by myself and have a bit of company. Tota hela, time spent in this kitchen should be a teachable moment for everyone in the house, so I prefer when they join me and ask questions or ask if they can assist. I endeavour to have empowered gents in our home, which can throw down at the drop of a hat.

Making pie is a labour of love as far as prepping one’s ingredients. Beyond that, it’s really smooth sailing and with repeated effort it becomes second nature. I can now whip together pies of various filling in record time, but this took practice. The truth is that most procedural things in life are perfected by correct repetition, and thus the age old adage; practice makes perfect. Here’s how you can become a taste pied piper yourself and draw attention to acquired skill in the kitchen. Share those pie creations to our Facebook page @Chellzkitchen.

Ingredients

Chicken breasts diced

Diced carrot - 2

Diced potato - 2

Diced Onion - 2 Butter - 6 large tablespoons

Peas - frozen Crushed garlic (as preferred/1 spoon per pie filling) Rhodes tomato paste - 2 spoons Hinds medium curry

Instructions

1 cup

Hinds chicken spice

Hinds cayenne spice Cornflour – 3–4 spoons

Puff pastry - 2

Eggs - 2

Nutriday Plain yogurt- ½ cup Oil

Salt & pepper

Season chicken with Hinds chicken, cayenne spices and salt and pepper to taste. Brown the chicken on a medium heat pan using a little oil and a spoon of butter. Set aside once cooked through in 5-8 minutes.

Making the pie filling:

Using medium to low heat, add onion, garlic, ginger and vegetables and cook in butter until tender.

Make sure vegetables are diced small enough that they will completely cook through.

Add 2 spoons of Rhodes tomato paste and Hinds curry powder to 2 cups of water in small cereal bowl and blend into a stock. Gradually add to the vegetables and cook until fragrant. Reintroduce the chicken and add Nutriday yogurt, along with the peas and allow to simmered for a few minutes.

Thicken the sauce by adding corn flour, a spoon at a time, and observing consistency.

Dust your bread board or work station with a little flour then lay out your puff pastry and cut out the pies bottoms (circles/ squares) and tops and set aside. Having removed your filling from the stove, spoon the chicken curry filling into the pastry bottoms making sure to leave enough edge room for sealing.

Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius

Place you pastry lids on, close the pies and press sides together using the back of a fork. Beat your eggs and use a little egg wash to brush over the lids. Bake for 1520 minutes until crisp and golden brown (it helps to keep checking from the 15 minute mark for your perfect golden brownness.

Tota hela, time spent in this kitchen should be a teachable moment for everyone in the house, so I prefer when they join me and ask questions or ask if they can assist