How To Make Nigerian Chicken Pie

Nigerian chicken pie is the chicken alternative to the very famous meat pie. It is a special variety for chicken lovers and also for people who for health reasons do not consume beef.

This way they would not be left out of the fun in meat pie. Over recent days the chicken pie is getting increasingly more popular than the meat pie(beef) but this can very easily be explained by people’s preference of chicken over beef.

Meat pies original to the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Belize and are now very common in countries like Ghana, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, New Zealand etc., but with each country comes a unique twist to the flavour and texture of the filling all the way up to the shape of the pie.

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It is not to be mistaken for its Indian counterpart, ’the samosa’’. However, what all these meat pies have in common is a meaty filling in a flour base.

The recipe I am going to be describing in this article is for the traditional chicken pie. Unlike the meat pie where you can easily get minced beef, it is advisable rather to opt for regular chicken and cut or shred it into chunks to suit your taste and preferences.

Ingredients to make Nigerian chicken pie

1. 1kg [8 cups] plain all-purpose flour

2. 2 teaspoons baking powder

3. 500g[1.1lbs] margarine

4. 2 pinches of salt

5. Half a cup of water / 125ml / 4.2oz

6. INGREDIENTS for filling

7. 2 medium irish potatoes

8. 2 medium carrots

9. 500g [1.1lbs] chicken

10. 1 medium onion

11. 2 cookingspoons vegetable oil

12. 2 knorr cubes

13. 1 teaspoon thyme

14. 2 tablespoons plain flour

15. 1 cup/ 250ml/ 8.4oz of cold water

16. Salt to taste

Read Also: How To Make Nigerian Egusi Soup

Ornamental Ingredient

1.I medium raw egg.

Steps to make Nigerian chicken pie

For making dough

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl.

2. Add the baking powder and mix thoroughly till the all evenly blended.

3. Add a little salt even though the dough doesn’t need a lot of flavouring because the flavour usually comes from the filling.

4. Scrap margarine in as little lumps as possible and drop them into the flour mix. You are cutting them in little lumps to make mixing a bit easier.

5. Now, mix the margarine properly into the flour till you get a lumpy mix.

6. Begin to add cold water to the mix but add very little at a time. You might not finish using the entire half cup for the flour. All you need is enough water to get the flour to mix into a stiff dough and that doesn’t require a lot of water.

7. Mix the dough thoroughly till its smooth then allow it for about 5-7 minutes to make the dough more elastic.

Read Also: How To Make Nigerian Meat Pie

For making the filling

a. Peel and dice the irish potatoes.

b. Wash, scrap and then dice the carrots.

c. Chop the onions.

d. Wash and remove the bones from the chicken

e. Chop or shred the chicken into sizeable chunks.

f. Place the chicken in a pot and season mildly with salt, seasoning cubes and thyme.

g. Steam the chicken in its own stock for about 5-10 minutes till its tender.

h. Add vegetable oil and allow to boil.

i. Add a little more salt, pepper, thyme and knorr cubes.

j. Add some water and allow it to simmer a bit.

k. Add the irish potatoes and the carrots and allow to simmer for a few more minutes.

Dissolve some flour in cold water. Mix thoroughly and pour in the pot. [This flour is to enable the chicken pie and filling retain water while its baking.

It is what ensures you don’t end up with a hard stiff pie.] Allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes then remove from heat and set aside.

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For making chicken pie

1. Break the egg, beat it and set aside.

2. Set the oven 170 degrees Celsius and 335 degrees Fahrenheit and leave to preheat while you continue with the chicken pie.

3. Rub margarine in the oven tray to ensure that the chicken pies don’t stick to the tray or get burnt while baking.

4. Knead the dough some more and the roll it out to achieve a 5mm thickness

5. Carefully cut round shapes on the dough either using the cover of a small pot or using a meat pie cutter.

6. Make these round cuts till all the rolled out dough is finished.

7. Remove the excess dough and leave only the round cuts.

8. Scoop some of the filling onto the centre of the dough. Try not to put too much filling so that the chicken pies can close comfortably without bursting open while baking.

9. Apply egg to the edge of the dough and fold one edge over the other.

10. Use the butt of a fork to press it safely shut.

11. Apply some egg on the top of the meat pie for aesthetics.

12. Repeat this process till all the dough is finished.

13. Place the chicken pies in the pre heated oven and allow to bake for 30 – 50 minutes depending on the oven.

Most times it takes about 40 minutes for the chicken pie to be ready.

You will know when the chicken pie is almost ready when it begins to turn golden brown so feel free to open the oven and check every few minutes to ensure it doesn’t burn.

Read Also: How to Cook Nigerian Goat Meat Stew

Note: Avoid adding too much filling to the chicken pie to ensure it doesn’t burst open while baking. Also avoid laying your dough out too thin. Try to stick specifically to 5mm thickness. You can go a bit thicker till you are more sure of yourself.

Ensure you are using sufficient margarine so your chicken pie doesn’t come out dry. The quantities listed in the recipe should be perfect but when in doubt always use margarine that is about half the weight of the flour being used. For example, if you are using 500g of flour then use 250g of margarine just to be safe.

Now your very special chicken pie is ready to be eaten. You might want to leave it for a few minutes to cool even though chicken pie is best served warm but not hot. Serve alongside a cold beverage. Enjoy!!!

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