Indian Spinach & Garbanzo Curry (Chana Saag) Pot Pie Cupcakes in Homemade Herbed Tart Crust

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2012

I don’t have a lot to say about this except for the fact that it takes a few steps, each step is very simple & these are wonderfully delicious. I am going to post a more traditional pot pie recipe next – but these are really a winner! I also hope you will make the tart dough yourself rather than buying some. It takes 5 minutes, makes a huge difference & will make you very proud.

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Indian Spinach & Garbanzo Curry (Chana Saag) Pot Pie Cupcakes in Homemade Herbed Tart Crust

Homemade Herbed Tart Crust Pastry

enough for 12 cupcakes AND extra to top a full-sized pot pie

INGREDIENTS

3 cups flour

12 TBS butter (salted, if possible) – CHILLED and cubed

2 eggs

1+ TBS fresh thyme (or diced fresh sage or fresh parsley or fresh oregano) OPTIONAL

water

1/4 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

Mix the salt & flour together in your food processor (or in a bowl – as this dough could be made by hand – just not by me).

Pulse in the butter until it is incorporated into the dough. Pulse in the fresh herbs. Pulse in the two eggs. Add water 1 TBS at a time until small lumps of dough form.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface. I used a small bowl to cut out 24 circular disks. I made them all the larger size required to line the bottoms of my cupcake pan.

Spray your cupcake tin with cooking spray and line each cup with pastry.

Refrigerate your pastry-lined tart pan for at least 30 minutes.

Indian Spinach & Garbanzo Curry Pot Pie Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

13.4 oz Garbanzo Beans

4 packed cups (or more) chopped fresh spinach

3 TBS olive oil

1 medium onion – pureed in a food processor (or chopped VERY fine)

2 inch cube fresh ginger – pureed in a food processor (or chopped VERY fine)

3 cloves garlic – pureed in a food processor (or chopped VERY fine)

1 tsp cumin

1 TBS curry powder

1 TBS tomato paste or puree

1/2 cup of half & half (or whipping cream)

2 tsp ground coriander

S&P to taste

DIRECTIONS

PREHEAT OVEN TO 400 DEGREES.

Puree the onions, garlic & ginger in a food processor or chop them VERY fine.

Heat the oil in a large saute pan & heat the cumin & curry powder. Add the onion-garlic-ginger & fry.

Add spinach, garbanzo beans, tomato sauce/paste, coriander and S&P. Mix well. Add the half & half (or whipping cream). Stir & heat over medium heat for about ten minutes until the spinach is very wilted. You shouldn’t need it – but add a small quantity of water if it gets too dry. Remove from heat.

Take your chilled cupcake tin lined with the chilled tart dough out of the fridge. Fill each tin with the curried spinach mix being sure to spoon extra curry sauce gravy into each cupcake. Top with the remaining tart dough disks & pinch to seal the edges. Pierce with a fork or the tip of a sharp knife.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until pastry is a lovely golden brown. These should life out of the pan very easily & can be served immediately. They reheat at the same temperature in about 5-10 minutes.