Indian Chicken Pies



INGREDIENTS:

2 tb butter 

2 oz Button mushrooms, chopped

1  onion, chopped

2 ts Garam Masala

3 1/4 c  All-purpose flour

2/3 c  Chicken stock

8 oz Cooked chicken, diced

1/3 c  Frozen corn, thawed

salt to taste

Fresh ground pepper to taste

1/4 ts salt 

1/3 c  Cold margarine, diced

1/3 c  Lard, diced

1/4 c  Cold water

1 Egg, beaten

tomato slices, halved (opt)

Fresh parsley sprigs (opt)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add mushrooms, onion
and Garam Masala and cook 2 minutes.
  
2. Stir in 1/4 cup of flour and cook 1 minute, then
stir in stock and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Reduce heat and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and stir in chicken, corn, salt and
pepper; cool.
  
3. Sift remaining flour into a bowl. Add 1/4 teaspoon
salt and cut in margarine and lard finely until mixture
resembles bread crumbs. Add cold water and mix to form
a fairly firm dough. Knead gently until smooth.
  
4. Preheat oven to 375'F. (175'C.). Preheat a baking
sheet. Cut off 2/3 of pastry and cut in 4 equal pieces.
Roll each piece to a 7" circle. Line 4 (5") fluted pie
pans with removable bottoms with pastry circles,
allowing pastry to overlap top edges slightly. Press
pastry well into flutes but do not trim top edge. Cut
remaining 1/3 of pastry in 4 equal pieces and roll
each piece to a 6" circle.
  
5. Spoon cold chicken mixture into pastry-lined flan
pans and smooth surfaces. Dampen edges of pastry in pans
and cover with pastry circles. Seal edges well and trim
by pressing pastry edges firmly flat blade of a knife.
Make a small hole in center of each pie. Reroll pastry
trimmings and cut out leaves to decorate pies. Brush
surfaces of pies with egg, then decorate with leaves and
brush leaves with egg.
  
6. Place flan pans on preheat baking sheet and bake in
preheated oven 40-45 minutes or until pastry is golden
brown and filling is heated through. Cool before
carefully removing from pans. Garnish with tomato slices
and parsley sprigs, if desired, and serve cold.
  
VARIATION: Substitute curry powder for Garam Masala or
try a mixture of each.



Indian Chicken Pies