
When I got a mail reminding me that there was a Pot Pie event on, I realized that I didn’t know what exactly a pot pie was. After due research (where else but on the internet), I understood a pot pie to be a pie, usually single serving size, with a savoury filling in a sauce made of flour, butter and milk (roux). The pie may or may not have a bottom crust but definitely would have a crust on top.
Now the idea of a pie with a semi-liquid filling didn’t sound very appealing to me as it seemed I could end up with a soggy crust. So I decided to make a pot pie without the sauce but with a spicy Indian style vegetable filling. I found a great recipe for a pie crust using oil instead of butter. The crust turned out crisp and flaky, really good.
The pie was tasty but a bit dry (because I made it without the sauce, of course) and this filling could be made with the roux, if preferred. I think I now understand the idea behind the sauce in a pot pie!

I also made a few mini pies with this recipe using my muffin cups. These turned out to be nice snack idea.

Vegetable Pot Pie - Indian Style (V)
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup water ice cold
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
For the filling:
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 1 tomato , finely chopped
- 2 potatoes , boiled and mashed
- 1/2 cup garbanzo beans cooked (chickpeas)
- 1/2 cup paneer (cottage cheese), crumbled
- 1 tsp ginger garlic - paste
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 1/2 tsps coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- to taste salt
Instructions
- For the Crust : Place the oil in the freezer for about 3 hours or till the oil becomes thick like honey. Place all the ingredients in the food processor and pulse till it comes together into a ball. Remove, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for about an hour.
- Roll out the refrigerated dough, lightly dusting with flour if necessary, and place in your pie pot. Here, as I was making 3 individual servings of pot pie, I divided the dough into three and then divided each portion into two, one larger portion for the bottom crust and a smaller portion for the top crust.
- Roll out the dough for the bottom crust and place in the pie dish. Bake blind at 190C for about 15 minutes till cooked and is beginning to brown. I did this as I didnu2019t want to end up with a soggy crust.
- The Filling : Heat the oil add the ginger-garlic paste, then onions and sautxe9 the onions till soft. Now add the tomatoes and cook till soft. Add the turmeric, chilli, coriander and cumin powders and stir till the raw smell disappears.
- Add the vegetables, garbanzo beans and salt and stir till everything is well coated with the spices. Add xbe cup of water and then the mashed potatoes and the garam masala. Stir and simmer for about 5 minutes. Lastly add the crumbled paneer. Stir well and shut off the flame. The filling should be wet but not have any liquid in it.
- Assembling the Pot Pie : Put the filling into the baked crust and cover with rolled out dough for the upper crust and seal well. Bake at 190C for 15 u2013 20 minutes till brown. The pot pie may be glazed with egg before putting it into the oven for a browner crust, if you would prefer.
Keeping the Indian flavors, you can make the gravy with coconut milk, instead of roux. I think it would be divine. But Indian pot pie is a good idea, Aparna 🙂
nice entry… love the idea of using indian flavours in pot pie…
NICE ONE:)
Wow, you are brave – you made it without even knowing what it is, and it looks just like it should! The roux usually thickens up on baking. I have had some excellent veggie pot pies with roux, but I think the Indianized version would be so much better!btw, hi, I have never been here before.
Desi version should taste great 🙂
Yummy, yummy and yummy!
Nice post…
I agreee with suganya’s idea of coconut milk! I recently saw a wonderful pot-pie recipe on FN and have been dying to try one since! now you’ve given me an even better options Aparna:)
Great recipe I want to try it soon!Greatings from Canada!
indian style pot pie sound awesome!! looks great too!! have you guys moved yet??
This sounds so yummy. Never tried Indian style vegie pot pie. I am getting hungry:) Thank you for sharing with us! Farida at http://www.azcookbook.com
I’d feel so good having this just because it has the veggie filling.
This looks really good and an interesting filling for a ‘pot pie’. it’s amazing how versatile pot pies can be! amy @ http://www.weareneverfull.com
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I love pies. As we move into Autumn here, my thoughts are more and more with winter food.
clever idea!!!! love the indian touch in pie…gud entry
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Very interesting twist to the traditional pot pie….for the sauce part, you could just make the veggie filling a bit more gravy like?Looks great
i love pies. yours looks so chubby and crispy!! droooooool
What a wonderful twist on a pot pie! Thanks so much for participating and don’t forget to email me with the details and photo!
Thanks everyone, I thought my pie looked kinda cute myself.:DSuganya and Mansi,Great suggestion. I think coconut milk would be interesting.Evolvingtastes,Maybe I should make this with the roux. And welcome to my kitchen.Blogueencore,Welcome to my Indian kitchen.Arundati,Moving on the 1st of April. And this is not an April fool’s joke.:)Farida, My first Indian style pot pie too.:)Miri,Good idea. That’s something I could try.
I made a savoury pie once or twice… but have never made pot pies… I should try this 🙂