Curried Chicken Pot Pie

This is a recipe I’ve sort of been playing with for the last 3 years or so. Recipe first, bitching or what have you after. Bear with me, I’m exhausted and this is my first time writing this one down.

Curried chicken pot pie, as bastardied by yours truly, with significant help and input from friends and other people’s recipes.

Pie Crust Recipe:
Current favorite is here for pie crust. Short version if you don’t wanna link clicky:

Two and a half cups of flour
Two sticks of (very) frozen butter
Cup+ of ice water
Tsp salt
Tbsp sugar

Cut up butter into chunks with a very sharp knife. Add 1.5 cup of flour to the food processor (if you have one). Add salt and sugar. Briefly pulse (if by hand then sift or whisk together). Add butter. Pulse in food processor until resembles crumbs. (Cut up butter until about pea sized, then reach in and smoosh, lots. If you don’t like touching, recommending using an item for it. Can use also two butter knives or if you have it, a pastry cutter. Do you, is what I’m saying)

Pour into a bowl. Gradually add a tiny bit of ice water at a time, whilst turning over with a rubber spatula. Once it starts to come together and no more pockets of loose flour, pour onto a counter (lightly floured if sticky, or add flour/water as needed, but not a lot. Gently press together. Form into a larger disc. Cut in half. Form each half into a desk, wrap thoroughly in plastic wrap, let sit in fridge for at least 1 hr. Dealer’s choice. Can also freeze.


Ingredients:
Chicken thighs (breasts will also do, tho I tend to break them down more than thighs) for the no. of people you’re feeding.) (2.75lbs)
4 tbsp butter
1-2 Yellow onions (white can do) diced
(recommend, also, carrots and celery if that’s what you prefer in pot pie. I don’t, so I usually substitute for crunch and sweet/less sweet with bell peppers finely diced. Could also add parsnips if to your tastes. )
Garlic to preference (in my case, about 5 cloves) minced
(Optional: This time I added a tandoori seasoning mix from a local store. Previous times I have not, so ymmv. if you got the goods, got nuts. If not, no worries)
2.5 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp red chili powder
Some smoked paprika
1 tsp thyme
2 bayleaves
1 stem of rosemary
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chicken stock

Dice onions and garlic. Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper, paprika, and thyme until generally coated. Heat pan until metal is hot, then toast the curry powder, cumin, and red chili powder to the pan to pan toast them. Trust me, it’s delicious. It’ll change the color of the spices a little, keep them moving, make it a very short trip to pan, then pour over the chicken.

Add neutral oil to pan. Add onions and garlic. (at this point, if you have them, also veg re: carrots etc). Allow to sit and simmer for a minute. Should pick up whatever leftover spices left in the pan. This is good, move it around a lil. Pan should be on high heat, or medium high if it’s a cast iron.

Add chicken, skin side down if you have skin on (I do not), into the hot pan, and let that cook for a bit until it starts to form a crust on bottom. Flip each piece over once it’s gained some color. Add 4 tbsp of butter to the middle of the pan and lid it, while lowering the temperature to a solid medium heat (on mine, a 4)

Once the butter has completed melted, move everything around a little, and then let it cook awhile longer. At this point, add heavy cream, and the rosemary. Have them all simmer together for awhile at a low heat. Add paprika, curry powder, salt, pepper etc to taste as per your preferences. Add bayleaves. Add about a tbsp of flour (more if you want it thicker.) Chicken stock should also go in at this point. Lid it, leave it on low and leave it alone.

Prep pie crust: Take bottom half out of the fridge, roll it out. Any firm cylinder will work for this – seriously. I used a poster tube one time when I couldn’t find a rolling pin.

Anyways. Lightly flour your cylinder. Lightly flour your pie crust. Roll it out. When you have it to the thinness you want – I’d personally say not see through but floppy, like it’s a fabric. Don’t ask me for measurements, I honestly do not know.

Roll pie crust into your baking vessel of choice.
Par bake! (Pre bake a lil so it holds up better. Since this is a gravy pie, I want it to not fall apart, ergo..par bake). Set oven to 425.

Either poke your dough with a fork all over so it can expand, or you can add aluminum foil to the middle in a large basket shape and fill with rice/dry beans to serve as dry weight. I personally have pie weights because I make a lot of pie.

12-14 minutes is the recommended time for a parbake. I am paranoid, so I do 12. Set a timer on your phone, microwave, oven, I don’t care, just set a timer. You will not remember. Something will happen. Be kind to your brain.

I need to get more pie weights. ANYWAYS. Par bake your crust. Return to the chicken on the stove. By now it should be tender enough to pull apart with tongs, fork or whatever your implement of destruction is. I added a little extra flour and pepper to thicken it up and took the lid off for awhile. I want it to thicken up a little more before I put it in my pie crust.

Remove other pie crust from fridge and roll out again, to appropriate thickness and lightly flour your cylinder and counter before you do so.

When pie crust sufficiently par-baked, pull out of oven, fill with chicken stew, top with *other* pie crust, and brush with one egg, beaten with about a tablespoon of water.

Drop oven to 375. Stick pie into oven. Bake until you deem done – I usually go with when the crust starts to lightly brown at the highest points.

I’ve been sort of playing with this idea for the last two or three years because I love savory pastries. Love pie crust, and Shepherd’s pie, but generally don’t enjoy chicken pot pie bc of the cooked carrots and peas. I wanna like them, I do, but I just cannot with the textures involved. It gives me the heebs. No shade to anyone who does like them, I just don’t, and y’know, while I was at it, why not make it more flavorful?

Especially considering how Michigan winters get.
The first iteration of this pie, came out beautifully except.

I left the burner on. When I took the pie *out* of the oven, I put it on the still…on…hot…burner. Long story short, the pie dish collapsed on itself which was alarming, no pie was had, many tears were shed, and I had to buy my roommate at the time a replacement pie dish. I also got myself one because it’s a really good pie dish.

Second time I made this took forever, but made it for a passle of folks and this time, well. I figured I should probably actually write it down this time, and come back to this lil space. So tell me, y’all, what’s your favorite comfort food when November gets raw with the cold? I wanna know.