Crisp and flaky pastry filled with deliciously spiced chicken. These Chicken Balti Pies are a fantastic lunchtime treat that are simple to make.
Years ago when I was still at school, I wonderful thing came into my life. A balti pie. This fantastic creation came from Morrisons and was so tasty! My Mum was a fan too and it used to be a treat for a weekend lunch for us.
We happily ate these for years; until one day. Morrisons decided to stop making them and ruin all of my hopes and dreams! I still haven’t forgiven them for their terrible decision, but maybe it was just Mum and I buying them?!
All these years later, the little cravings in my head became too loud for me to ignore and I had to have a go at making them myself. Obviously I didn’t have their recipe, so I have made my own version.
This is a bit of a cheat’s pie as it used shop bought ready-rolled pastry and a curry paste mix. Neither of these I am ashamed of as they make these Chicken Balti Pies easy enough for anyone to make. And that is the main thing because everyone needs a Chicken Balti Pie in their life!
As I was making these Chicken Balti Pies, I wasn’t sure if they were going to turn out exactly as I wanted them. Let’s face it, sometimes new recipes do not work out quite right the first time! But as soon as these came out of the oven I thought these were going to be a winner!
I finished photographing them and then ate half of the pie I had cut open. It took all of my willpower to not eat the second half. But as the kind wife I am, I went and gave it to Mr Curly and then went back to the kitchen.
Not long after, in he came asking me if they were difficult to make. When I told him they were really quite simple (thanks to my little time saving tricks); he asked if I could make them every week from now on because they were incredible!
He is particularly fussy about a few things; bread, chocolate and pastry. So when he told me how much he loved these Chicken Balti Pies, I knew I had done something right.
I was chuffed with the rich mildly spiced chicken filling and the crisp flaky pastry (no soggy bottoms here!). Also the nigella seeds add a lovely extra flavour to the pastry so I really recommend not to skip this step!
Do not worry if they look a bit like a child has made them, mine did and they looked much better when they were cooked. Just don’t get too excited and put too much filling into each pie as it might try to escape when you seal the pies.
These Chicken Balti Pies would also be great for the festive period. Swap the chicken for leftover turkey for a great way to use up Christmas dinner leftovers and add a bit of much needed spice.
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Chicken Balti Pies
Crisp and flaky pastry filled with deliciously spiced chicken. These Chicken Balti Pies are a fantastic lunchtime treat that are simple to make.
Ingredients
- ½ tsp vegetable oil
- 1 small onion finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic finely diced
- ¼ tsp salt
- 6 tbsp Balti curry paste
- 450 g chicken breast (3 small breasts) cut into small chunks
- 400 g chopped tomatoes
- 50-100 ml water
- 2 x 375g packs ready rolled puff pastry
- 2 tbsp semi skimmed milk
- 2 tsp Nigella seeds
- spray oil
Instructions
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Heat the oil in pan over a medium heat. Add the onion to the pan along with the salt and stir for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and curry paste and cook for a further minute
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Add the diced chicken to the onions and cook for 2 minutes until the chicken has turned white
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Add the chopped tomatoes and water. I add the water to the empty tomatoes tin as it helps get the last of the tomato juice from the tin
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Leave the chicken to reduce on a medium-low heat for 15 - 20 minutes stirring occasionally. You want the sauce to become thick
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Leave the chicken to one side to cool slightly while you prepare the pastry. Preheat the oven to 170ºC (fan assisted 190ºC non fan)
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Unroll the pastry and cut each sheet into 8 rectangles
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Add one large spoon of the chicken filling to the centre of 8 out of the 16 rectangles. Make sure you leave a small border around the outside of each rectangle
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Brush around the edges of each of the pastry rectangles with filling with milk. Add a plain rectangle of pastry on top of each rectangle with filling. Gently press the who rectangles of pastry together. Using a fork, press the tines around the edges of the pastry to make a seal.
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Carefully transfer the pies to baking trays sprayed with oil. Brush the tops of the pastry with milk and sprinkle with a few Nigella seeds. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown
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Serve warm or chilled
Recipe Notes
These Chicken Balti Pies will keep in the fridge for a couple of days. They may loose their crispness slightly so if you want to reheat them, use the oven rather than a microwave as this would make the pastry soggy. Make sure the filling is piping hot before serving. You can eat them cold if you would prefer.
Nutritional information is given as a guide only.
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Ha ha, can’t say I’ve ever heard of a balti pie before but I love the idea and I love that you made your own. I think my son would love one of these in his lunchbox
To be honest I think it was just Mum and I! And it was a good few years ago that they stopped selling them.
I never heard of them, but they look so lovely and the flavors are delicious!
I would have been surprised if you had 🙂 Thanks.
I would love these! I think I had a chicken balti pasty once and it was amazing so this is definitely something I’d love to recreate at home.
Yes! I have found someone that tried the real deal!
I had never heard of anything like chicken balti pies, so I’m super excited to try these out! I’m all about time-saving, so curry pastes and ready-made pastry are just my speed!
Haha us British people like everything to do with curry! Oh good 🙂
What a brilliant recipe! Too bad they don’t sell them anymore but I bet yours taste a million times better!
mmmmmm I could seriously eat one of these right now, would save my having to cook my own tea then! They look so tasty Cat and I love how quickly they can be made too. Thank you for linking to #Bakeoftheweek x
Haha thanks Jenny. I loved how quick and easy they were to make too!x
These look and sound incredibly delicious Cat! Such a lovely lunch offering! I’m glad you went on recreating Morrisons pies and made them so quick and easy too! Store bought puff pastry is a perfect ingredient which I always have on stand by and now I’m going to have another recipe to use it for! 🙂 Thank you for sharing with #BakingCrumbs 🙂 x
Thanks Jo. I always have some, especially at this time of year. It’s such a time saver! x
I love making little puff pastry pies. Puff pastry is so handy to have in the fridge.
I’m glad I’m not the only one that uses it!
Mr Curly is fussy about pastry, chocolate and bread?! I wish I was! 😉 Seriously, what a fantastic recreation of your beloved Morrisons pie. I hate it when shops stop making/stocking things I like. But how awesome that you were able to develop your own tasty work round 🙂
Haha he is because he loves those things soo much! I say fussy, but he’ll still eat them if they don’t live up to his standards, he’ll just moan as he does! Thank you 🙂 I know we were devastated!
I love this idea and there’s nothing wrong with cheating!
Thanks Janice 🙂
I know a lad who would love these as and as they look nice and easy he might just get lucky, they look fabulous.
Haha thanks Jacqui. I know I am going to be harassed to make these again soon!
Curry in a pie? Total genius!! Now that’s proper comfort food for you. I love how quick and simple this recipe is. It would make a delicious easy peasy midweek dinner and a great lunch the next day too!! Eb x
Oh my days these look incredible. I am obsessed with portable food too. I think it’s the whole picnic thing. These babies are definitely on my to make list. They are just the thing to brighten up anyones picnic. I can taste them now. Thank you for sharing with #Baking Crumbs
Haha I love that you refer to them as portable food! Thanks Jenny 🙂