Spicy Chicken Pasties

Hot and sweet chicken pasties made with bright turmeric pastry. These lovely items are simple to make, a little different from the usual baking, and an all-round crowd pleasing snack. The recipe is taken directly from the second Great British Bake Off book... we think they came out delicious looking and tasting!


Making these pasties involves 4 main steps - Preparing the pastry, mixing and marinating the filling, assembly, and the final bake.  You'll be making shortcrust pastry one minute, grilling chicken the next, and brushing egg wash the next.  It takes a long time to do all these steps, not many of them can be done side-by-side, so don't launch into this one lightly!

Pastry Ingredients (for around 8 pasties)

• 225g plain flour
• A pinch of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground tumeric
• 125g unsalted butter, diced/cold
• 4 tablespoons of ice cold water

Filling Ingredients (for around 8 pasties)

• 175g skinless boneless chicken (diced into small cubes)
• 3 tablespoons of natural yoghurt
• 2 crushed cloves of garlic
• 2cm piece of root giner, peeled and grated
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons of mango chutney
• 1 beaten egg

Filling Steps 1

1. Mix together the chicken, yoghurt, garlic, ginger, cayenne, cumin, coriander and salt in a bowl
2. Leave to marinate in the fridge while we make the pastry
   

Pastry Steps

1. Sift the flour and tumeric into a mixing bowl
2. Add the diced butter rubbing the mixture between your fingers until fine crumbs are formed
3. Adding one spoon at a time, mix in the ice cold water until the crumbs come together into a soft but not sticky dough
4. Wrap the pastry in cling film and refrigerate until later

Filling Steps 2

1. Preheat your grill to the top settting
2. Line a grill pan with tin foil (ensuring it won't leak) and lightly oil the foil
3. Pour the chicken evenly into the grill pan
4. Grill the chicken, stirring halfway through, for aroun 6 minutes
5. The chicken should be starting to "white" and lose it's pink colouring

Final Steps

1. Roll out the pastry into 2ml thick (just less than 1/8th inch)
2. Cut the pastry into 12cm (~5 inch) circles using a cutter or small saucer as a guide
3. Spoon chicken on to half the circle, making sure not to overfill, and leaving 1cm around the edge at all times
4. Top off with a small spoon of the chutney
5. Dampen the edge of the pastry with the beaten egg and fold the pastry over
6. Seal the pasty by crimping with a fork along the seal

Baking Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC or gas mark 4
2. Place your pasties on baking paper
3. Brush them with egg to glaze
4. Prick a small steam hole in the top of each one (this helps them to not explode!)
5. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden and crisp looking just like in our photo

Serve these up warm, with more mango chutney for dipping... they are sure to go down a treat!

Tips:  Make sure you don't overfill them as they leak easily, making sure you have enough egg wash seal will also help. If they do burst trim off any leaked fluid as it will have burnt and gives a bitter taste if not removed. Dicing your chicken small will help a little when it comes to fitting things in!