Samosa Pie

OK YES.  Just yes.  

This is yet another of Jay's brilliant ideas for winter - a vegetarian version of a pot pie, basically, but with Indian flavors that mimic a samosa, the street pastry that sometimes comes as an appetizer at Indian meals.  303

So basically it's pie crust wrapped around a super thick curry and the vegetables make it a health food.  

I LOVE this because 1. it's vegetarian but 2. it's super comforting and warming and hearty just like a meat dish would be, and I feel like this time of year a lot of the comfort foods we're presented with are meat-filled.  NOW, this is great for me because I love meat, but my other half doesn't like dead carcass so we need lots more cozy hearty dishes to fill our carb longings this time of year whether or not meat is involved.  

So that's exactly what we did.  

Now, I don't make my own pie crust because ain't nobody got time for that, but I also think that it's pretty easy to do in a food processor.  At any rate, you need some kind of a pie crust - two, a top and a bottom.  Then for the pie filling you'll need onion, carrot, celery, a potato, garlic, fresh ginger, frozen spinach, butter, flour, chick peas, garam masala, vegetable stock, and heavy cream.  Garam masala is a spice blend that tastes like...India? but if you don't have that feel free to use any curry powder you like in the same quantity - this works especially well with yellow curry.  

So first we preheat the oven to 375F and a big skillet to medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil.  Then, prep the veggies.  

Everything needs a small dice, about the size of kernels of corn or slightly larger.  

Add the carrot, celery, onion, and potato to the skillet.  

Stir everything for about 7 minutes to let it start cooking, then add the garlic and ginger.  They can be minced or just grated right into the skillet, which I like doing because it's one less thing to chop.  I keep fresh ginger in the freezer and grate it into whatever I'm using it for - no need for peeling or thawing, ever.  

Stir the garlic and ginger into the veggies, then add the garam masala, chick peas, and spinach.  

Stir THAT together, then make a little well in the center of the veggies and add the butter and the flour.  This will cook to make a paste and then thicken the gravy we'll make.  When the butter melts into the flour, stir everything together so the butter and flour coats all the veggies.  

Now, slowly pour in the stock and stir it into the veggies - it should bubble and thicken immediately because of the flour.  

Pour in the cream.  Stir everything together and taste the filling - add as much salt as you'd like to give it lots of flavor.  It needs to taste just slightly saltier than you think it should - potatoes absorb a lot of salt and the pie crust isn't very salty.  There should be gravy surrounding all the veggies, so add a splash or two of extra stock if you need to.  

Now, we build the pie, crimp the edges, cut slits, and bake!  

My top pie crust tore a little bit, and I moved on with my life and didn't bother pinching anything back together.  

This bakes for 30 minutes or so, just until the crust is browned and puffed.  The filling is cooked already, so we just wait for the pie crust to bake!

When the pie is done, let it rest for 15 minutes or so just like you would a lasagna to set up a little bit.  

Then cut it into pieces!  

You will absolutely love this.  It is on the heavy side from the pie crust and chick peas, but still healthy from all the veggies and only a leeeetle bit of cream for this whole big pie.  We devoured it in just two days, so maybe make 2 if you are making this for a big group!  

Curry in a pie.  Not a bad idea at all.  

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