Curry chicken pie is the perfect meal to have with families and friends. You can serve it as a complete meal with a side of fresh salads and jacket potatoes, or you can prepare it as finger food at your house party.
You can even pack it up for you and your kids’ lunches. No matter what the occasion or timing is, you know you’ll please the crowd and yourself, especially if most of them are Malaysians (we love curry with almost everything)
The History of Curry Chicken Pie
The history of the pie itself can be traced back as far as the BC with the earliest fillings being honey and chicken.
The pie was created as a form of food preservations. Back in the days where human travel for survival, carrying meat became hard as it required a lot of space to store. Instead, the armies and sailor were forced to bake using flour instead of harbouring meat.
In the late 1300 BC when arts such as pottery were introduced, the Egyptians began making galettes – a flat and round crusty cake made of ground wheat or rye containing honey in the centre. As history would show, the galettes quickly became a preferred pastry.
The evidence of the first chicken pie recipe, on the other hand, can be traced as far as the 2000 BC when historians discover the recipe is written on a tablet in Sumer, Egypt.
Despite a lot of evidence showing the chicken pie has been existing for a long time, it is said that the pie we are more familiar with today actually originated from Greek. Unlike the Egyptians, the Romans used a mixture of flour, oil and water to cover their meat before baking to retain the juices.
Originally, the pastry was not meant to be eaten, it merely functioned as a means to save the juices from the meat to be evaporated, hence keeping the meat tender.
When the Roman Empire grew, the pie recipe spread throughout Europe. Up until the medieval era, the crust of the pie was still not made to be eaten. However, people focused on creating recipes and spices combination for the filling.
As time goes by, there are new additions of local spices such as nutmeg and cloves, fruits such as raisins and seasonal vegetables like carrots and celery. Over time, the making of the pie crust started to evolve, and the people began making a thinner layer of coating that is easy to digest as a way to save flour which was starting to become costly.
Instead of covering the dough mixture over the meat, the medieval people decided to bake the crust first into a deep, pot-shaped dough with a pastry “lid” before adding in the fillings in hence where the expression “pot pie” started from.
This invention led to more experiment with different kinds of meat. Some old recipes also find frogs and pigeon as one of the main ingredients. The chicken curry pie we have grown today is popularised in the United Kingdom, as a result of the Indian influence.
Until today, it is still claimes as favourite pub food throughout the country.
Where to get the Best Chicken Curry Pie in KL
If you are craving for a good hearty chicken curry pie, head over to any Ben’s store around KL for their Roasted Chicken Pie served with a side of Salad. Visit foodpanda and enjoy learning more about western dishes!