This recipe is from my very first book, The Cardamom Trail. The crisp puff pastry is filled with paneer which soaks up the beautiful flavour of the blend of spices.
Ingredients
2 onions, chopped
2-3 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
2-3 garlic cloves, grated
1 tsp garam masala
chilli powder (to taste)
1 tsp salt
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp amchur (mango powder)
200g frozen peas
450g paneer
handful coriander leaves
600g ready made puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Method
– Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180°C with a fan.
– Add the oil to a hot pan. Add the black mustard seeds and cook until they sizzle.
– Add in the chopped onions and cook until they’re lightly golden then add the grated garlic and cook for another minute.
– Next add in the spices, mix well, then stir in the peas.
– Break the paneer into pieces, or grate it and add to the pan with the coriander leaves. Take the pan off the heat and leave to cool.
– In a deep round cake tin, line the bottom with puff pastry and keep one more layer for the lid. Line the sides of the tin with the pastry, and using a little beaten egg, make sure that any joins in the pastry are sealed so that the filling doesn’t leak.
– Next spoon the cooled pea and paneer mix into the tin, and press it down lightly with the back of the spoon. Put on the pastry lid and seal all the way around, using the beaten egg to create a bond.
– Make a couple of slits in the lid to ensure that steam can escape, and finally eggwash the pie lid.
– Cook for 1 hour or until the pie is golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the cake tin.
Serve with a leafy salad or some roast potatoes.
Great recipe, Chetna. I made it last night for a post COVID vaccinated dinner for six. (Four vegetarians). Served it with leafy salad. Everyone loved it. Quick question: would the baking benefit if the assembled pie was chilled before baking? Best, John
I’ve tried this recipe a couple times, and the problem is that to make it the way you do in the video requires more than 600g of puff pastry … more like 800g to 1kg. With just 600kg, there’s not the amount of overlap that you show … which is critical to making the tin easy to line.