Creamy Chicken and Apple Pie with Cardamom

Name: Creamy Chicken and Apple Pie with Cardamom
Ingredients: finely grated rind and juice of 1 small lemon; 300 ml/½ pint cider; 1 rounded tablespoon plain flour; 3-4 pinches cayenne pepper; 25 g/1 oz butter; 4-5 cardamom pods; 550-675 g/1¼-1½ lb boneless skinless chicken thighs; 2 tablespoons very cold water; 50 g/2 oz vegetable fat; 100 g/4 oz butter; ½ teaspoon salt; 225 g/8 oz strong plain flour; salt; 2 dessert apples; 150 ml/¼ pint double cream; milk, to glaze

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Josceline Dimbleby’s Complete Cookbook

By Josceline Dimbleby

Published 1997

About

Chicken pies are an old-fashioned favourite. This one, with its luxuriously creamy sauce, crumbly pastry and aroma of cardamom, is a great favourite. Serve with broccoli, if possible, which goes well with the sauce.

Ingredients

550-675 g/1¼-1½ lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
4-5 cardamom pods

Main course

Method

Make the pastry first. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Cut the butter and fat into small pieces, add them to the flour and crumble with your fingertips until the mixture looks like rough breadcrumbs. Add the water and stir with a knife until the dough begins to stick together. Shape into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate.

Preheat the oven t