Fragrant chicken pot pies with Thai green curry

Thai cuisine has long been a favourite among many members of our community and we’ve found a way to blend the best of both worlds in a delicious recipe that’s great for a flavourful appetiser or main dish. This recipe explores a new take on the classic chicken pot pie that we all love, infusing it with the fragrant goodness of Thai green curry to add a bit of spice and uniqueness to it.

The recipe detailed below is enough for eight pies, making it a great family treat or an afternoon snack that you can keep for later.

Ingredients

• 2-3 tablespoons of Thai green curry paste
• 1 tin coconut milk
• Fresh herbs and chilli to taste (*chilli is really only for those who love a bit of extra spice)
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tin bamboo shoots
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra
• 1kg chicken thighs, cut into quarters
• 1 cup basil leaves, roughly chopped
• the zest of 2 lemons
• 4 (25x25cm) ready-rolled frozen sheets of short crust pastry
• 2 (25x25cm) ready-rolled frozen sheets of puff pastry
• 2 egg yolks, whisked
• 1 tbsp black sesame seeds (optional)

Method

1. Get started with the filling. Heat vegetable oil over low heat in a solid pan.
2. Add green curry paste and stir for approximately 1 minute or until fragrant. Then, stir in the coconut milk, along with 1 cup water, fresh herbs & chilli (optional) and fish sauce.
3. Add in chicken thighs, increase the heat to high and bring to a simmer to cook the chicken rapidly.
4. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour until the chicken is tender.
5. Preheat your oven to 180°C and thaw the pastry.
6. Remove the chicken from the curry mix and leave both chicken and curry sauce to cool separately.
7. When cooled, shred meat and mix with basil, lemon zest and 1 tsp sea salt. Chop and add the bamboo shoots to the chicken (drain the liquid off). Then add ½ cup of curry sauce to moisten mixture.
8. Lightly brush a standard sized, non-stick muffin pan with extra vegetable oil. Cut 10cm rounds from the short crust pastry and line the holes in the muffin tin. Place the lined tray in the fridge for 15 minutes.
9. Afterwards, fill each of the holes with chicken mixture. Cut 7cm rounds from puff pastry and top chicken mixture with rounds. Press the pastry edges together to seal. Brush tops with milk or egg, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
10. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden and pastry is cooked through.