Description
I spent a number of years growing up in England. Besides fish and chips, I LOVED sausage rolls. I try my hand at recreating them every March, and although they’re good, I just can’t get my sausage anywhere close to the perfection of English butchers. Well, last year, my son and I traveled to Southeast Asia, and one of the countries we went to was Singapore. We took a food tour of Chinatown, and the last place we stopped at for dessert sold all different sorts of hand pies. I bought a couple of curry hand pies. Unfortunately, they were terrible! They lacked flavor 🙁. They were dull, dull, dull.
I love curry. I love its versatility. I’ll eat any type of curry, from any culture, with any type of main staple: seafood, chicken, beef, or pork (do they have pork curry?? 🤷🏻♀️) ~ sign me up! Vegetarian? Yes please. Green curry from Thailand to Madras curry from India, I am on board. And so, when I have this pitiful curry pie that lacks all the vibrancy curry should have, I knew I would have to resurrect the poor thing.
These curry pies are cupcake small, so you can eat with your hands or a fork and knife. They are vibrant with a mix between yellow curry and Madras curry, for a little extra kick. Because they’re hand pies, I cut down on the amount of coconut milk I would normally use. Oh, and chicken thighs! I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. People don’t cook with boneless, skinless chicken thighs enough! They have so much flavor and retain their moisture sooo much better than chicken breast. And particularly with a dish like this, where the meat is cut up very small, you want to know that it’s not going to dry out.
This all comes together in about 45 minutes, with only about 20 minutes of “hands-on” time. So, once you pop it in the oven, you can tidy up, grab a cocktail, put your feet up, whatever! This was deliciously served with a side salad, because, heck, it doesn’t need rice with the puff pastry! This leaves you feeling warm, full, but not heavy and bloated. It is such a nice spin on eating curry, I’m tempted to make my curry this way more often!
Enjoy!
Ingredients
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into small bite size pieces
1 TB curry powder
1 TB madras curry powder
2 tsp turmeric
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
3 bell peppers, finely diced
1 medium shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1 box puff pastry, thawed
salt and pepper
1 TB olive oil
1 egg, whisked
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°.
In a medium bowl, mix together the curry powders, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the chicken and toss to combine.
In a medium skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove the chicken.
Add the peppers, shallots, and garlic. Season with salt. Cook until peppers start to soften, about 5 minutes.
Add in the coconut milk, stirring to combine. Return the chicken to the pan. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook an additional 5 minutes. Stir in the basil and remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, prepare a muffin pan by coating the bottoms and sides with olive oil. Slightly roll out the pastry dough on a lightly floured surface or nonstick surface. Cut along the seams and then through the middle to make 12 squares. Roll out each square to be about 5” by 5”.
One at a time, place the dough into the muffin cup. Spoon in the chicken curry to come about even with the rim of the muffin cup. Fold two corners over the curry, then fold the remaining to corners, pinch and twist. Repeat with the remaining dough. Generously brush on the egg wash over the tops of each pie.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the tops are puffed and golden.
Eat! Pairs great with a salad.
Keywords: Curry, Chicken Curry, Coconut Curry, Coconut Chicken Curry, Indian Curry, Curry Pies