Calum Franklin’s balti pie recipe

“A pie born out of the Midlands, this is one of my all-time favourites,” says king of pies Calum Franklin.

“Its roots are in Pakistani-Kashmiri cooking and the base of the curry always has to contain tomatoes, onions, peppers and chillies, although variations can be built on those foundations. It’s a wonderful celebration of multicultural Britain. Enjoyed on football terraces across the nation, the first balti pie is thought to have been served at Walsall Football Club in 1977. They are now sold at over 60 football grounds throughout the UK.”

Balti pie

Ingredients:
(Serves 4)

6 chicken thighs on the bone
1tsp medium curry powder
1tsp garam masala
½tsp ground turmeric
½tsp chilli powder
½tsp ground cumin
½tsp ground cinnamon
70g butter
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into small cubes
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
2cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1tsp tomato purée
200ml chicken stock
1 heaped tbsp cornflour
Zest and juice of 1 lime
10g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
16 frozen roti paratha
1 egg yolk, strained and beaten with 1tsp water, for egg washing
Pinch each of nigella seeds and fennel seeds, for topping
Fine table salt

To serve:
Spicy green chutney

Equipment:
Non-stick 12-hole muffin tray

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C fan/210°C/gas mark 6½. Place the chicken thighs in a roasting tray and season with a pinch of salt. Place the tray in the oven and roast the chicken for 25 minutes and cooked through, then set aside to cool. Lower the oven temperature to 185°C fan/205°C/gas mark 6. Scatter all the ground spices over a sheet of foil. Place the foil in the oven and toast the spices for 10 minutes. (Turn the oven off.)

2. Meanwhile, melt 50g of the butter in a wide-based pan. Add the red onion, green pepper, garlic and ginger and cook over a low heat until softened. Add the toasted spices to the pan with the vegetables and cook for a minute, then add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and chicken stock. Bring everything to a simmer over a medium heat and reduce the sauce by half. Turn off the heat.

3. When cool enough to handle, strip all the meat off the chicken bones and chop into small nuggets. In a small bowl, mix a tablespoon of cold water into the cornflour to make a slurry, then stir that into the sauce. Stirring continuously, bring the sauce gently back up to a simmer. Add the chopped chicken, mixing it well, then add the lime zest and juice. Taste to check the seasoning, adding a little salt if needed. Finally, fold through the chopped coriander. Set aside to cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge

4. Grease eight of the holes in the muffin tin with the remaining butter. Take the paratha out of the freezer. Working swiftly as the paratha defrost quickly, roll out eight of the paratha to about 11cm. Line each hole in the muffin tin with a rolled-out paratha and fill them about three-quarters of the way with the balti mixture. Lightly brush the exposed paratha with a little water. Use the remaining paratha to close off the pies, gently crimping the edges together but don’t worry about being too neat – I like to give them a rustic look. Chill the pies in the fridge for 15 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/gas mark 7. Using a sharp knife, make a small hole in the top of each pie. Lightly brush the top of each pie with a thin coating of egg wash and scatter the nigella and fennel seeds across the tops of the pies. Place the muffin tray in the oven and bake the pies for 30 minutes. Serve immediately while hot, with some green chutney for dipping.

The Modern Pie Maker: A Mouth-Watering Journey Around Britain in Eighty Recipes by Calum Franklin is published in hardback by Bloomsbury, priced £26. Photography by John Carey. Illustrations by Calum Franklin. Available now.