Butter Chicken Pie on Curried French Lentils

Butter Chicken Pie on Curry French Lentils

Serves 4-6

Chicken Marinade
* 5-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
* 1 tbsp garlic powder
* 1 tbsp ginger powder
* 1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
* Kosher salt
* Olive oil

* Salt the chicken first, then toss with the rest of the ingredients and olive oil. Refrigerate overnight.

Butter Chicken Sauce
* 500g tomatoes
* 1L chicken stock
* 1 onion, diced
* 5 cloves garlic
* 50g cashews
* 1.5 tbsp kasoori methi
* 2 tbsp garam masala
* 3 tbsp sugar
* 2 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
* 5 tbsp butter
* 5 tbsp cream
* 2 tbsp malt vinegar
* Salt

Curry French Lentils
* 1.5 cups French lentils
* 4.5 cups stock
* 1 onion, diced
* 2 carrots, diced
* 2 stalks celery, diced
* 2 tbsp curry powder
* 1 tbsp cumin
* 2 tbsp butter
* Salt

Pie Assembly
* Pie dough (for bottom crust)
* Puff pastry (for top)
* 1 egg, beaten (egg wash)

Method

* Sear the marinated chicken in a pan with olive oil until about 80% done with good colour. Remove and set aside.
* In the same pan, sauté the onions and garlic.
* Add the tomatoes and cashews, reduce.
* Add the spices, salt, vinegar, and sugar (not the kasoori methi yet).
* Add the stock, reduce.
* Remove from heat, blend with a hand blender.
* Strain the sauce. Don’t skip this. Use a regular sieve and a rubber spatula. It sucks but it changes everything.
* Return the sauce to the pan. Add the cream, butter, and kasoori methi. Stir.
* Chop the chicken into small pieces and fold into the sauce. Let simmer for about 20 minutes.
* For the lentils, sauté the mirepoix in butter. Add the curry powder and cumin, stir. Add the lentils and stock. Simmer until the lentils are tender and the liquid is absorbed.
* Line individual pie plates with pie dough. Fill with the butter chicken. Top with puff pastry, crimp with a fork, and brush with egg wash.
* Bake at 375F for 30 minutes until the pastry is golden.
* Spoon the curry lentils onto a plate and set the pie right on top.