Backstory:

It’s a pretty simple story, I saw this post on BBC Good Food on Instagram, got super excited, realised that I didn’t have 80% of the ingredients (ham tarragon etc hard to find in India) so decided to improvise on my own. Made my pie crust from scratch using this awesome recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Enjoy!

You need:

Veggies: (you can mix and match depending on what veggies u have)

• 1.5  onions, chopped
• 5-6 minced garlic pods 
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 green chilli
• 1 potato, chopped
• 1/2 cup peas

Gravy:

• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 4 tbsp butter 
• 3 tbsp flour 
• 3/4 cup milk 
• 2 cups water
• 1 chicken/veg stock cube
• 500 gms chicken boneless (optional)
• 2 tbsp mixed herbs
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 egg (optional)

How To:

1. Preheat oven to 220C
2. Peel and chop carrots & potato and boil with stock cube and water for 10 minutes (until soft)
3. While that’s cooking, chop chicken into bite-sized pieces (skip if veg)
4. Heat a pan with butter until melted and on high heat, sear chicken until golden brown (skip if veg)
5. Keep chicken aside (don’t throw away the butter!) and in the same pan cook chopped garlic, chillies & onions with brown sugar until golden brown
6. Add flour and fry it a bit until it becomes light brown 
7. Add the milk and stir until it comes to a gentle boil (it will also start thickening by now)
8. Now add vegetables with the stock water and simmer until it thickens again
9. Add mixed herbs, chilli flakes and salt and simmer until the gravy has a pourable mixture (it will continue to cook in the oven so don’t make it too thick as it will get super dry
10. Pour into a baking dish and cover with rolled-out cold pie crust, sealing the edges
11. Brush the top with the beaten egg/melted butter so it gets that glossy finish
12. Bake at 220C for 30-35 minutes until golden brown 

Tips: 

1. Make sure you don’t make the gravy too thick or too thin. It should have a consistency that’s slightly thinner than pasta sauce
2. Roll out your pie crust just before you baking it. The colder the dough, the flakier your crust will be 
3. You can also use cured meat like sausages, bacon instead of chicken