Pastei — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A golden-crusted Surinamese pot pie filled with shredded chicken, vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, and pickles in a creamy seasoned sauce.

Ingredients

500g flour
200g cold butter, cubed
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk for wash
800g chicken breast
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
100g gherkin pickles, diced
2 onions, diced
200ml chicken stock
2 tbsp flour for roux
100ml cream
1 tsp nutmeg
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp butter for sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
Capers

Instructions

1 Make pastry by rubbing butter into flour until crumbly. Add egg and cold water until dough forms. Wrap and chill one hour.
2 Poach chicken in stock until cooked through. Shred finely. Make a roux with butter and flour, add stock and cream for a thick sauce.
3 Combine shredded chicken, chopped eggs, pickles, capers, and onions in the sauce. Season with nutmeg, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
4 Roll out two-thirds of pastry and line a greased pie dish. Fill with the chicken mixture. Roll remaining pastry for the lid.
5 Seal edges, brush with egg yolk wash, and cut steam vents. Bake at 190C for forty-five minutes until deep golden brown.

Did You Know?

Pastei is the Surinamese answer to the European pot pie, but with distinctly tropical additions like capers and pickles that give it a tangy character.