Paneer Pot Pie
When sitting at home all the time, it is possible to be exhausted with cooking, especially when you have to break your day to make lunch. Personally, “What should we have for lunch?” is the most dreaded question I could be asked, which is why I love making big meals for dinner. Big meals like eggplant Parmesan, quiche, or pies, where there is enough left over to serve as lunch the next day. Plus with the visits to the market being limited because of the pandemic lockdown, it’s always fun to look for recipes that help you ration out your ingredients. One of my recent experiments has been a paneer pot pie. Well, technically it was supposed to be chicken pot pie, but we didn’t have any meat in the house, so paneer pot pie. I do, however, think that pot pie can be anything you can imagine, much like quiches.
My husband loves pies of any kind. He’d been talking about pot pies for weeks (I think we tried a sample a long time ago in a supermarket and have been thinking about it since) and I just kept filing it in the back of my head thinking later, later. Last week, we had been arguing all day about something stupid, just both having bad days and I decided to stop working and enter the kitchen. I use food as a peace offering often and it seemed as good a time as any to make a pot pie and wave that white flag. Besides, if there is one thing that can calm me down when I’m upset, it’s cooking. Just the process of prepping the ingredients sends me to a zone where my mind is blank and all I know is to cut those vegetables correctly. I told Ni to stay out of the kitchen because I wanted to surprise him with it, and I put on some music and started cooking.
A good pot pie has a golden crunchy, yet flaky crust and a flavoured creamy filling with abundance of vegetables for each bite. So let’s begin at the base, the pie crust. This is a recipe I learnt from Sally’s Baking Addiction and it is one to swear by. I use it for just about everything. Infact, after making this pie, I used the scraps from the pie to make us both small individual pecan pies.
The concept of a good pie crust is simple. There are two factors to be considered, the crunch and the flake. Crunchy comes from not over mixing the dough. It’s the exact opposite of when you are trying to make bread. You are not trying to activate the gluten, but simply bring it together so that it can hold shape. The flaky comes from cold fat, i.e butter and shortening. It has to be cold because you want to give the flour a chance (in the oven) to form a base before the fat starts to melt, that way creating air gaps between the layers, giving you flakiness. Else, you’ll end up with an oily crust. Why butter and shortening? Shortening has a higher melting point, giving flour the head start, but not much on the flavour, which is where the butter comes in. A pie crust feels incomplete without the buttery smell and taste.
Start with the pie crust a couple of hours before dinner. It’ll take only about 5 minutes to put together, but it needs to rest in the fridge for two hours. See what I mean about it having to be cold. I also keep my butter and shortening in the freezer for 20 minutes before starting out because you want it to be as cold as possible. Break the cold fats into smaller pieces with a fork or with your fingers into the flour and salt mix until it starts resembling coarse crumbles. Start adding water by dribbling just a bit at a time. When they are all sorta combined, just tip the bowl onto a clean kitchen counter and bring the dough together with your hands, just enough so that you can make it into a ball. Cut it into two and make each of them into balls. Flatten them a little with your palm, cling wrap and allow them to rest in the fridge for two hours.
For the filling, I used a little of everything. Half an onion, half a block of paneer, a handful of baby spinach, one potato, a few mushrooms, baby carrots that my husband loves to crunch on, chopped garlic (from the bottle,) and frozen peas and corn.
I cooked down the potatoes, mushrooms, and carrots on the side before starting on the creamy sauce. It’s very similar to making a white sauce for pasta, but instead of using milk, you use stock to give it some depth. Start with caramelising the onions and garlic in butter before adding the flour and stock. Season with salt, pepper and some dried herbs. I added a touch of paprika for a kick. Cook the sauce down until it becomes thick and creamy.
Roll out one of the dough balls and line it carefully with your pan. If you see my picture, I ended up trimming the crust at the top, but in hindsight, if I had let it be, I could have used it to better seal the pie. Place the veggies in the pie. If you are using frozen veggies, you can just dump them in. Roll out the other and carefully cover the pan with the crust. Crimp the edges together and use a sharp knife to cut some slits on top to let the steam escape You don’t want to add more water to the filling. Give it a generous wash with an egg and in the oven it goes for 30 minutes or until that crust gets nice and golden.
Let the pie rest for about 10 minutes before cutting into it, else it will fall apart (like mine did.)
This pot pie was one hell of a peace offering, if I say so myself. Every bite made me feel like I was wrapped in a cozy blanket with my favourite book. But, the next day! God, the next day, the pot pie was even better. Needless to say, the pie got over a little too quickly. I gotta make it again.
Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl.
Add in the butter and shortening into the bowl and using a pastry cutter, a fork or even your thumb and forefinger, rub the cold fats into the flour, until it resembles a coarse meal.
Adding just a touch of icy water at a time, bring the flour together until it starts forming big clumps. Remember, you don't want to add too much water or overwork the dough.
Once it is in the form of big clumps, transfer onto a clean work bench or counter and bring the flour together gently with your hands. Once it can hold it's shape, stop. You don't have to wait until it's so smooth that you can't see the cold fats anymore. In fact, speckles of fat is actually good. Form it into a ball, divide it into two, and flatten each ball with the palm of your hand.
Warp them up in cling wrap and let them rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Whenever you want to make a pie, remove one of the flattened balls and roll it out to the shape and size of your pie pan. If you are making a double crusted pie, roll out the other ball as well.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl.
Add in the butter and shortening into the bowl and using a pastry cutter, a fork or even your thumb and forefinger, rub the cold fats into the flour, until it resembles a coarse meal.
Adding just a touch of icy water at a time, bring the flour together until it starts forming big clumps. Remember, you don't want to add too much water or overwork the dough.
Once it is in the form of big clumps, transfer onto a clean work bench or counter and bring the flour together gently with your hands. Once it can hold it's shape, stop. You don't have to wait until it's so smooth that you can't see the cold fats anymore. In fact, speckles of fat is actually good. Form it into a ball, divide it into two, and flatten each ball with the palm of your hand.
Warp them up in cling wrap and let them rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Whenever you want to make a pie, remove one of the flattened balls and roll it out to the shape and size of your pie pan. If you are making a double crusted pie, roll out the other ball as well.
Notes
AuthorPriyanka SivaramakrishnanDifficultyIntermediateCrispy, flaky, homey paneer pot pie to comfort your soul.
Prepare the pie crust as per the instructions given above.
For the filling, heat up some oil in a saucepan and saute the carrots, mushrooms and potatoes for about 10 minutes. You just want to pre-cook them a little so that they are not raw in the pie. Remove from heat and set aside.
In the same saucepan, melt the butter and cook the onions and garlic over medium heat. Once the onions turn translucent and the raw aroma of the garlic goes away, add the flour, salt, pepper, broth, and fresh cream. Whisk until there are no lumps remaining. Let it simmer on lower heat until the gravy has thickened nicely. Once satisfied, take it off heat.
Pre-heat the oven to 425 F.
Take the rolled out pie crust and carefully let it sit in your pie pan. Gently use your fingers to make sure that the dough is neatly tucked in, making sure that it is smooth along the pan. Don't trim off the edges yet.
Add all the vegetable, topping it with the frozen ones (of using) and pour the sauce over it. Cover the pie with the other piece of pie crust. Press down the edges to make sure that the pie is completely sealed. Trim the edges and using your knuckle, crimp the edges. Slice a few slits on the top with a sharp knife.
Brush the pastry with an egg wash (beaten egg) and into the oven it foes for 30-35 minutes or until the crust is golden. Let the pie rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pie crust as per the instructions given above.
For the filling, heat up some oil in a saucepan and saute the carrots, mushrooms and potatoes for about 10 minutes. You just want to pre-cook them a little so that they are not raw in the pie. Remove from heat and set aside.
In the same saucepan, melt the butter and cook the onions and garlic over medium heat. Once the onions turn translucent and the raw aroma of the garlic goes away, add the flour, salt, pepper, broth, and fresh cream. Whisk until there are no lumps remaining. Let it simmer on lower heat until the gravy has thickened nicely. Once satisfied, take it off heat.
Pre-heat the oven to 425 F.
Take the rolled out pie crust and carefully let it sit in your pie pan. Gently use your fingers to make sure that the dough is neatly tucked in, making sure that it is smooth along the pan. Don't trim off the edges yet.
Add all the vegetable, topping it with the frozen ones (of using) and pour the sauce over it. Cover the pie with the other piece of pie crust. Press down the edges to make sure that the pie is completely sealed. Trim the edges and using your knuckle, crimp the edges. Slice a few slits on the top with a sharp knife.
Brush the pastry with an egg wash (beaten egg) and into the oven it foes for 30-35 minutes or until the crust is golden. Let the pie rest for 10 minutes before serving.