Payal's Cafe: Paneer Pie

From the heart of England, I bring to you this very popular dish loved all across the Europe. A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savory ingredients. I have transformed the recipe of the stuffing to suit the Indian taste. Hope you all enjoy…

Ingredients (For the Pie Crust)

1 and half cup plain flour
150 gms frozen butter cut into cubes
2-3 tablespoon ice cold water
Salt to taste

Ingredients (For the stuffing)

200 grams Paneer (available in all Indian grocery stores and major food markets)
1 medium sized onion
1 finely chopped capsicum (I used the red bell pepper)
1 green chilli (optional)
Grated Cheddar/Mozzarella cheese for topping
2 tablespoon curd
½ tablespoon plain flour
Salt to taste
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon oil for cooking

Cooking Method

1. To prepare the crust – Take a mixing bowl and add the flour and mix some salt into it. Now take the frozen butter cubes and mix it to the flour. Using your hands to mix the butter with the flour. Do not press too hard as we need to make sure the butter doesn’t melt. The texture should become crumbly.

2. Now slowly add the ice cold water to prepare the dough. Add very little water so as the flour and butter come together, mixing gently with a fork. We don’t have to press it hard like we do it with the chapatti dough. You should be able to gently press the dough into a ball. Handle the dough as little as possible, overworking will make it tough.

3. Pat the dough and wrap it in a thin sheet and refrigerate for an hour. This allows the flour to absorb all of the liquid, lets the dough relax and become more elastic, and keeps the fat in discrete pieces which will give the crust a lighter texture when it's baked.

4. After an hour remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide into 2 equal portions.

5. Take one portion and sprinkle some flour on a flat surface. Now, roll the dough into a circle ¼-inch thick or smaller. As you roll it out, lift up an edge or move the dough to ensure it's not sticking to the counter. Add flour as needed. The dough round should be two to four inches wider in diameter than your pie pan/baking pan.

6. Gently fold the rolled portion in half, and then into quarters. Now, placing in the pan unfold the dough, letting the weight of the dough settle it in the bottom and edges of the pan. Without stretching the dough, press the pastry into the pan with your fingertips. Shape or trim the edges as you make like.

7. Using a fork prick the base of the pie crust. This is to make sure the base doesn’t rise and remains flat. For best results refrigerate the crust for 30 minutes before baking.

8. Now bake the crust for 15-20 minutes in a preheated oven at 150 degrees until the crust bakes into a light brown colour.

9. To prepare the stuffing – Take a saucepan and add the oil. Once the oil gets heated add the chopped onion and stir fry until light brown. Now add the remaining ingredients – paneer, capsicum, salt, black pepper and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Now add some curd to the mixture and stir well for another minute. Finally sprinkle some flour onto it and stir for another 2 minutes. This is done to bind the stuffing nicely. Your stuffing is now ready.

10. Remove the baked crust from the oven. Add the stuffing into the pie crust. Top it with some grated mozzarella/cheddar cheese.

11. Take the remaining half portion of the pie dough and roll, repeating step 4. Unfold the rolled sheet and place it on the top of stuffed pie crust, making a top cover.

12. Bake your pie in the preheated oven for another 30 minutes at 150 degrees until your pie looks light brown from the top.