Tart London: How to make a spiced chicken pie

As a country, we do love a pie, and luckily London is full of amazing ones. Wherever you are in the capital you are never far from a home-made, freshly baked pie.

Our purveyor of choice has to be the Ginger Pig. We simply cannot walk past its Marylebone or Bermondsey shops without popping in for a hot little pie. Pork and fennel is our go-to, shared between us with a dollop of English mustard, although we also have a soft spot for their chicken and tarragon.

For a sweet pie, it has to be Newens in Richmond, which has been making them for more than 150 years. Its traditional apple pie with custard is the best we have had. But for a real showstopper, go for one of Calum Franklin’s amazing pastry creations at The Holborn Dining Room. They aren’t just pies, they’re masterpieces and almost too pretty to eat.

This recipe is a little lighter than the average chicken pie, as we have swapped shortcrust pastry for filo (please do buy this rather than faff about making it yourself). We have also chosen slightly Middle Eastern vibes with the seasoning, with sweetness from the apricots and crunch from the almonds.

We really do love this pie. It is so easy and you can either make one large enough to share for a weekend lunch or turn it into four small ones, each of which will feed two. These can be wrapped and frozen, so you can have a homemade pie for supper even on those manic weeks when cooking from scratch feels impossible.

Do make sure you defrost thoroughly before cooking.

To poach the chicken

8 chicken thighs

1 onion, halved

1 knob of ginger

Head of garlic, halved

1 cinnamon stick

For the filling

1 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

5cm piece of ginger, peeled

and chopped

1 tbsp turmeric

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 large glass of white wine

Juice of 1 orange

200g dried apricots, roughly chopped

150g toasted almonds, roughly chopped

1 bunch of coriander, chopped

1 bunch parsley, chopped

100ml crème fraîche

3 eggs, beaten

Zest of 1 orange

For the pastry

Knob of butter

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp sugar

1 pack filo pastry

Handful of pistachios, roughly chopped

Place the chicken thighs in a pan with the onion, ginger, garlic and cinnamon and cover with water. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes until just cooked. Let cool then drain, discard the vegetables and shred the chicken. Heat a little oil in a pan and add the onions, garlic and ginger. Sauté for 5 minutes then add the turmeric, ground coriander and cumin.