Easy pie recipes (sweet and savoury)

Pastry recipes

Easy rough-puff pastry

25 minutes

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Hand pies

30 minutes

Pastry recipes

Shortcrust pastry

15 minutes

Pastry recipes

Hot-water pastry

30 minutes

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Chicken-and-mushrooms strudel

30 minutes

Fruity dessert

Honeyed pear pie

25 minutes

Duck recipes

Duck ragú pie

4 hours

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Venison pie

5 hours

Christmas dessert

Christmas mince pie crumble

40 minutes

Chicken recipes

Chicken, mushroom and dill pies

35 minutes

Berry recipes

Blueberry-and-cherry pie

45 minutes

Chicken recipes

Rachmah’s chicken pie

30 minutes

Rachmah’s chicken pie

Serves 4

Difficulty Easy

Prep Time 15 minutes, plus 12 hours' chilling time

Cooking Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the puff pastry:

1 kg cake flour
1 t salt
2 t baking powder
2 x 500 g unsalted butter bricks
2 cups boiling water
32 g cornflour
1 T cream of tartar
1 large free-range egg, beaten

For the filling:

30 g butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 kg free-range chicken fillets, cubed
2 T garlic crushed
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 t turmeric
2 T ground coriander
1 t ground cumin
½ t chilli powder
sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
¾ cup coconut cream
2 T fresh coriander chopped
1 free-range egg, beaten
black sesame seeds, for sprinkling

Method

To make the puff pastry, combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.
Cut 1 brick butter into small pieces and add to the boiling water and allow to cool. Once cooled, carefully add to the dry ingredients and mix using a knife until slightly crumbly.
Divide the pastry into 4 x 500 g balls, wrap each in clingwrap and chill for 1 hour. Roll out into equal sized rectangles about 1 cm thick. Keep the pastry in the fridge as you work.
Meanwhile, mix the corn flour and cream of tartar and set aside. Grate the remaining butter and sprinkle it equally between three pieces of pastry (leaving the fourth clean). Sprinkle each piece with equal amounts of the corn flour and cream of tartar mixture.
Layer the pastry sheets on top of each other, finishing with the fourth clean pastry sheet. Roll out and fold in half. Repeat this step twice. Fold each side into the middle to create an envelope shape, cut in half and wrap in clingwrap. Freeze for 12 hours. Thaw before using. You only need half the pastry for the chicken pies.
To make the filling, heat the butter in a pan and fry the onion until light brown, then add the chicken, garlic and chilli and sauté.
Add the spices, season and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the coconut cream and coriander. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Once the filling has cooled, spoon into 4 x 10 cm ovenproof dishes. Cut the thawed puff pastry into circles big enough to cover the filling. Push in the sides to secure, brush with egg and sprinkle with black sesame seeds. Bake for 15–20 minutes, or until golden brown and puffed up.

Cook's note: Use Woolworths readymade puff pastry instead if you prefer.

“The pastry recipe was passed down to my mom by her late stepmother. Make it from scratch if you can!” – Ashraf Booley

This recipe is part of TASTE's "Mother Knows Best" feature (May 2016), where the TASTE team convinced their mothers to share their secret recipes.

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Easy rough-puff pastry

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Rachmah’s chicken pie

Ingredients

Method