Chicken Curry Roti Pies

I think it was Buddha that said "A cook with a packet of pre-made roti in the freezer is a cook with many options." Or was it Plato? Either way, they were bang on. Frozen roti are a gift to the resourceful home cook, and will help you recycle your leftovers in a dozen deliciously flakey ways.

Frozen Roti / Frozen Paratha

Although many mainstream supermarkets now stock frozen roti or paratha (or 'roti paratha'). I prefer a trip to an Asian or Indian supermarket to buy mine because there's the added delight of exploring shelves and shelves of culinary curiosities, and you can play snack-roulette on your way out; Select a bag of Indian snacks at random and see if it blows your head off.

Frozen roti are designed to be toasted in a dry pan and served with curries but my very clever wife suggested using them as pastry for curry pies, so I gave it a whirl and it worked beautifully. Roti makes for a light, flaky pastry with a soft pliable underside. I use them in my pie maker but prefer the free-form method described in this recipe, because there's less faff and the pies look rather pretty.

For this recipe, I knocked up a curried chicken filling because I had leftover roast chicken and gravy from our beloved local Chicken Treat store - but you can stuff these pan-pies with anything really. I also had a sad looking red onion withering at the bottom of the fridge, so I salvaged the still-good-bits and threw it into the mix.

Chicken Curry Roti Pies

~ makes two or three individual-size pies ~

Ingredients

200g cooked chicken, diced or shredded chunkily

1/2 cup chicken gravy - not essential if you don't have it

1/2 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp salt

1 tsp curry powder

2 cups fresh spinach leaves or 1/2 cup frozen spinach

1/2 lemon or lime

4 frozen roti, defrosted

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

Over a medium heat, fry the diced onion in the vegetable oil until it's picked up a little colour.

Add the garlic and keep stiring for another couple of minutes until fragrant.

Add the diced chicken, curry powder, lemon/lime juice and spinach. Stir until the spinach has wilted.

If you have leftover gravy, add it now.

If you don't have gravy, use a fine sieve to sprinkle a tablespoon of plain flour over the mixture and stir it through. Then slowly stir in half a cup of boiling water to create a sauce. If it's too gluggy, add a little more water.

Test the seasoning. Only add the salt if you think it needs it. Some curry powders are quite salty, so it's worth checking before you tip in too much.

Now it's time to assemble your pies.

Your rotis should be defrosted and sticky to the touch. Place one on your kitchen bench (leaving the cellophane separator under it) and pile four or five tablespoons of the curry mixture in the centre.

Cover your roti with another roti and push out any trapped air before you seal the edges with your fingers.

Use the plastic wrap beneath the roti to fold the excess roti onto itself, creating an octagonal pie. It's not essential that the pies are octagonal - as long as they're well sealed.

Grab a fork and crimp down the edges. Pretty, huh?

Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large pan on medium and gently fry your pies for about five minutes on each side. Transfer to an 180C oven for 15 minutes to finish cooking the doughy roti edges.

You can eat them straight from the oven, but perhaps allow them to cool for five minutes so you don't bite into molten lava and strip your mouth of skin like I did.