THAI CURRY PIE (vegan) - made with an enriched bread dough

(Calorie counted for a 5:2 diet)

Scrumptious, absolutely scrumptious!

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 large onion
2 leeks
4 sticks celery
1 large carrot
1 each red and green pepper
2 red chillies, finely chopped
1 knob ginger (about as big as a golf ball)
3 large field mushrooms, cut into strips

Chop the veggies and grate the ginger

Sauce:

2 tablespoons lemon juice 

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 can coconut milk

2 dessertspoons Thai red curry paste

1 dessertspoon garlic paste

Method:
I fried the cumin seeds in the olive oil, in a small saucepan, for about a minute, then added the vegetables, plus a little water, and allowed them to simmer for 10 or so minutes to soften.

Whilst this was cooking I prepared the sauce by mixing all the sauce ingredients together and cooking them in the microwave for 3 minutes on full power, then 3 minutes on half power.

Then I combined all the ingredients in the saucepan and simmered for 10-15 minutes.

This is enough for 4 portions with less than 250 calories each. (Served with 30g of basmati rice (105 calories), this brings the total to around 350 calories.)
However… we're looking for a pie!

This Thai curry filling contained some tempeh I found in the freezer

The leftover dough made a tasty, crisp breadstick

Bread dough (717 calories):
200g strong white bread flour (676 cals)
1 stock cube (crumbled) (14 cals)
1 teaspoon curry powder (5 cals) (optional)
10g fresh yeast or 5g dried yeast (22 cals)
125g lukewarm water

Method:

1. Measure the water and stir in the yeast until it is dissolved. Place the flour, stock cube and curry powder into a mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients and pour in the yeast liquid.

2. Have a little water to hand to add if necessary, remember, it is better for your dough to be wetter (slack) rather than drier (tight). Begin to mix by stirring the ingredients together with a knife, cutting through the dough as it forms. When it gets too stiff for the knife, use your hand to squeeze the mixture together. As it forms into a solid mass, keep turning it over and pressing it down to pick up the flour at the bottom of the bowl – but make sure it stays soft. Don’t be afraid to add more water to keep it soft! When all the flour has been mixed in, wipe the bowl around with the dough, turn it out onto the worktop and begin to knead.

3. Knead by flattening the dough out, folding it over and flattening it again. If the dough is too sticky, instead of putting extra flour on your worktop, place some in the bowl, put the dough back in and turn it round to coat it all over. That way you keep the flour under control and you won’t be tempted to add too much. Knead until the dough becomes smooth – and then stop before you get fed up!

4. Leave to prove for about an hour on your worktop, covered with a dry tea towel. Or place in an oiled plastic bag – all day if necessary - until you are ready for step 5. Or go straight to step 5.

5. When you are ready to proceed, don't knock the dough back, just divide into 2/3rds and 1/3rd.  Roll out the larger piece of dough about 4cm larger than your  pie dish and place it over the dish, carefully pushing into the sides all round. Roll out the smaller piece to the size of the dish, and place on a floured piece of baking parchment. 

6. Cover both with a tea towel and leave to prove on your worktop until the dough is risen and puffy, then fill the pie dish with the Thai curry filling (using a slotted spoon - you don't want too much liquid). Using the baking parchment, upturn the other piece of dough over the pie dish and filling and trim the edges.

7. Leave a few minutes for the dough to recover, then bake at 220C for about 20 minutes, turning the pie if necessary to ensure an even bake.


We didn't use all the dough - see the breadstick - so I'm measuring the calories in the bread dough as 700 - or, for four portions, 175 cals.

Added to the 250 calories for the curry, that gives a total of 425 calories per portion.