Do you drool when you see all those delectable pies and tarts that are displayed in a pastry shop? Then, drool no more!
Roll up your sleeves and get rid of the mental block you have about making pastry at home. It is NOT difficult! Besides, once you get the hang of making pastry it is a gratifying cooking moment, believe me! You will never want to eat store bought pastry again. You will also be in control of the ingredients that go into your tart.
I am giving you step by step instructions with pictures. Do try it out and get back to me.
This tart has been made with left over pieces of chicken blended into a rich coconut sauce and baked in a short crust pastry case.
For added flavour use desiccated coconut powder in your pastry base! Give it a go, its yuuuummmmm!
Chicken Tart
Short crust pastry
Flour 180 Gms
Chilled water 2-3 Tbs approx
Sift together the flour, salt and coconut powder into a wide shallow bowl.
Cut the butter into small pieces and rub it into the flour using your fingertips, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. In order to achieve a light pastry you need to handle the dough with care.
Mixture resembling breadcrumbs
To incorporate the butter into the flour, scoop up as much of the pastry mixture as you can with your fingertips. Lift your hands up above the bowl and flick your thumbs across the tips of your fingers allowing the mixture to fall back into the bowl, thus forming crumbs. Continue doing this until the butter has been absorbed, taking care not to overwork the mixture.
Add water a little at a time, stirring with a palette knife until the mixture begins to stick together. Collect into a ball and work it gently for a few seconds to get a firm, smooth dough. The pastry can be used straight away but is better, if allowed to rest covered, for at least 15 mins or overnight in the fridge.
When required, sprinkle a little flour on a board or table, and roll out the dough evenly, turning occasionally, and taking care to always roll in one direction, from centre outwards.
I roll my pastry in between two sheets of transparent plastic. This way I can minimise the use of flour during rolling.
Roll out to a thickness of about 1/8” without pulling or stretching, to a diameter of about 10”. To line the dish or tin, lift the dough by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Place the rolling pin with the dough on it over your dish or tin and unroll the dough onto it carefully.
Gently press the dough into the shape of the dish or tin with your fingers easing it up the sides and into the fluted edges, if any. Patch up any holes or cracks using pieces of leftover dough. Take off any surplus dough by running a rolling pin over the top. Leave the lined dish or tin in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
The filling.
Oil 2 Tbs
Onions (minced) ½ cup
Garlic (minced) 1 Tbs
Green chillies (opt) 2-3 minced
Cooked chicken (flaked) 1 ½ cupful
Celery salt a sprinkling
Paprika to taste
Coconut sauce 2 cupfuls
Grated cheese ½ cup
Method
Heat the oil gently in a heavy bottomed pan and sauté the onions, garlic and green chillies until limp and fragrant.
Add the cooked chicken celery salt and the paprika keeping in mind that the cheese and coconut sauce contains salt as well!
Stir until well incorporated into the mixture and dry. Remove from heat and set aside while you prepare the coconut sauce.
Coconut sauce
Butter 1 Tbs
Oil ½ Tbs
Flour ⅓ cup
Coconut milk 1 ½ cups
Chicken broth made up of 1 chicken cube and ⅓ cup of water
Salt to taste
Heat the butter and oil gently in a heavy bottomed pan. Using a whisk for best results add the flour all at once and whisk vigorously for a couple of minutes taking care that the mixture doesn’t burn. Take the pan off the heat and pour in the coconut milk and the chicken broth gradually, whisking all the time in order to prevent lumps from forming.
Put the pan back on the heat and continue whisking until the mixture thickens to a sauce like consistency. Take the pan off the heat.
Add the reserved chicken filling and the cheese into the sauce. Let it cool a bit before filling the pastry case.
Preheat your oven to 375°F / 190°C. Bake your pastry case ‘blind’ for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and fill it up with the prepared filling, levelling it out evenly. Bake for about 30 mins until brown and firm on top.
Serve warm with buttered vegetables and a salad.
* Baking blind: This means to bake your pastry case without any filling in it. What you need to do is to prick holes in the pastry case with a fork in order to prevent it from rising during baking.
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