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Saturday, December 13, 2008

Ca Ri Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Curry) Pot Pie

I've been wanting to try a fusion pot pie for a while. It seemed a natural thing to do since using milk to create the creamy gravy in a regular American pot pie was the same as using coconut milk to create a creamy curry. Since I eat Vietnamese French bread with my Vietnamese chicken curry, the flaky pie crust seemed like the perfect foil for the creamy onions, potatoes, and carrots.

Ca Ri Ga (Vietnamese Curry Chicken) Pot Pie 1

Ca Ri Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Curry) Pot Pie
Adapted from my recipes for Ca Ri Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Curry) and Chicken Pot Pie.

For one deep-dish 10-inch pot pie, you'll need:
1 pie crust per my recipe for cherry pie or store-bought pie crust
2 boneless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 14-oz can Coconut Milk
1 medium onion, diced
About 2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tblsp Ca Ri Ni An Do (Vietnamese Indian Madras Curry Powder)
1 tblsp corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
Nuoc Mam (Vietnamese Fish Sauce) to taste

Clean and chop chicken. Put pieces in a colander to drain and sprinkle about 1/2 tsp salt over the chicken. Set aside.

Dice onion. In a large stock pot on high heat, drizzle a bit of oil and saute onion until just translucent. Add 1 tblsp of the Madras curry powder to release fragrance.

Move the onion to the side of the pot and add chicken pieces, sauteing until mostly cooked.

Add 1 can of coconut milk, the potatoes, and carrots. Then dissolve 1 tblsp corn starch into about 1/2 cup water so that the chicken and veggies are just covered. I used the leftover can to fill with water to scrape out any last bits of coconut milk. Taste and add fish sauce or salt if necessary.

Ca Ri Ga (Vietnamese Curry Chicken) Pot Pie 2

Turn heat down to medium-low and let simmer for about half an hour. At about the 20 minute mark, skim any scum off the top of the curry, do a taste test and adjust if necessary. Turn the heat off and let the mixture cool.

Ca Ri Ga (Vietnamese Curry Chicken) Pot Pie 3

Meanwhile, make 1 pie crust per my recipe for cherry pie or store-bought pie crust. I went store-bought today because I was already making so many other dishes.

Place one pie crust on the bottom of the pan, fill with chicken curry, place another crust on top, crimp the edges, and poke steam holes with a fork. Surprisingly, my pan was big enough to hold all the filling. If yours isn't, you can easily add another can of coconut milk to the leftovers and eat them as normal chicken curry.

Ca Ri Ga (Vietnamese Curry Chicken) Pot Pie 4

Bake at 350 degrees for half an hour to 45 minutes until crust turns golden.

Ca Ri Ga (Vietnamese Curry Chicken) Pot Pie 5

Slice and serve.

Ca Ri Ga (Vietnamese Curry Chicken) Pot Pie 6

Enjoy!

Who made my recipe for ca ri ga (Vietnamese chicken curry) pot pie?
Anamarie of UnFrogged said, "...boy was it delicious! This was my first pot pie, my second ever pie, and my first pie crust. It came out surprisingly well."

My "Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner with an Asian Fusion Twist" recipes:
Apple Crumble Pie
Ca Ri Ga (Vietnamese Curry Chicken) Pot Pie 
Chai Black Tea
Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry/Plum/Hoisin Sauce
Mashed Okinawan Purple Sweet Potatoes
Peking Duck-Style Roast Turkey with Flour Wrappers, Scallions, Cucumbers and Cranberry/Plum/Hoisin Sauce
Pumpkin Pie with Chai Spices
Sichuan Green Beans
Taro Dinner Rolls

And the leftover turkey recipes:
Shichimenchou (Japanese Turkey Bone) Ramen
Turkey and Cranberry Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Turkey Vegetable Soup

*****
1 year ago today, banh xeo-ish pajeon? Or pajeon-ish banh xeo? (Vietnamese Crepe-ish Korean pancake? Or Korean pancake-ish Vietnamese crepe?)

27 comments:

  1. o gawd... this looks absolutely delicious and perfect for the weather!
    My Dad used to make Cari Ga a lot, but with sweet potatoes. Maybe I'll try to mimic it some time soon...

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  2. This loks like something Andrew would like. I'll try to make it for him, but probably using regular curry, since I don't have the madras type at home. Actually, I can een try to make it vegetarian, what do you think? Humm

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  3. i am sooo crazy about pies and this one is brilliant and inspiring...maybe i could make a semur lidah (indonesian ox tongue sweet stew) potpie. aw aw aw!

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  4. this is one perfect pie... happy holidays!!! :)

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  5. oh that is a lovely twist to a normal pie!!!!! And I cant resist oozing gravy...

    Merry Christmas to you Wandering Chopsticks-and keep those chopsticks wandering for 2009!! =)

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  6. Makes complete sense to me!

    Merry Christmas WC!

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  7. It looks so professionally done, yummy. Seasons' greeting wc! =)

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  8. What a wonderful idea! It looks super tasty.

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  9. Hope you had a great Christmas and a wonderful new year to come, WC. This is an awesome and creative idea indeed.

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  10. That crust is the flakiest, most beautiful I've ever seen, so I had to go to the cherry pie post for the recipe.

    It says shortening OR butter. Which one do you use?

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  11. Hey WC, just the ca ri ga looks scrumptious enough! BTW, the roses you said you wanted to adopt will probably be ready to be picked up by the end of this week. One of them is Tiffany (classic pink rose) and the other is Fame (almost red rose whose blooms last in a vase two weeks easily). There may be another, but I'm not sure yet. I think you have my address, but if not, email me and I'll send it again. Happy 2009!

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  12. I am intrigued by this dish and out of curiosity I may have to try this. plus it is one way to use up my coconut milk before moving to Mexico

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  13. wow! great idea- Thanks for posting!

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  14. this.is.INGENIUS.

    what an awesome idea for a winter meal?! i love my ca ri with french bread but my braces hinder me. add pie crust instead, problem solved! i'm totally stealing this idea. soon.

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  15. Happy 2009 Wandering Chopsticks!
    The browning on the pie looks scrumptious. Not overly cooked but not under cooked either. Pie crust looks exceedingly flaky! A big contrast compared to the frozen pot pies available out on the market.
    I think it is a great idea to have the curry and the pie crust together. Makes great sense to me!
    Just had a minor question; is the "scum" the top layer of the curry which after time when cooled down gets into a layer?
    Again happy new year WC!
    By the way I am also WSL98787 but this is my blogging account which I am using today.

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  16. Ila,
    Sweet potatoes work great too. For some reason, my family always uses regular potatoes and carrots.

    Rita,
    You can easily make this vegetarian since the curry paste provides so much flavor already.

    MCR,
    Indonesian ox tongue pot pie! Do it! Awesome! And don't forget the kecap manis.

    Mikky,
    Happy Holidays to you too. :)

    Daphne,
    Thanks! Happy Holidays!

    Elmo,
    A Happy New Year to you!

    Wiffy,
    Thanks. Not that professional-looking, but thanks anyway. ;)

    Gaga,
    Thanks. I think it worked out pretty well.

    SIS,
    Thanks for the warm wishes. Happy New Year to you and the little ones!

    Susan,
    Haha. Did you miss the sentence where I said this was store-bought crust b/c I didn't have time? Although, I have made my own and the recipe was almost the same as yours. I've used both butter and shortening though and think butter is better for flavor and even flakiness. Shortening seems a bit more crumbly to me.

    Kevin,
    Thanks.

    Nikki,
    Yay! I'm quite excited to adopt some new roses. Looking forward to meeting you!

    MCR,
    Happy Holidays again!

    Shayne,
    Curiosity and cleaning out the pantry are two great reasons to try any recipe. :)

    Virginia,
    Glad you like it!

    Lan,
    When you post it, be sure to use the words "ingenious" again when you mention me. ;)

    ETE,
    Ah, finally plunged into blogging. Welcome! Hope you enjoy it.

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  17. I am enjoying it WC very much! When you are a blogger you truly do recognize all the work it takes- when you are a reader you don't really know what is behind the scenes on the writing process and how everything works. I am now truly experiencing what you have said about blogging, from the Flickr photos, to what should you do to start a food blog (The series was really helpful!), and the copyrighting and attribution.

    Again Happy New Year Wandering Chopsticks! Hope you are enjoying it today.

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  18. Oh. Wow.

    That is fusion I can get behind. NICE JOB.

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  19. Loving the combo! I love pot pie...

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  20. Thanks for this recipe. I made it last night to rave reviews. I actually made the curry on Sunday and pie'd it last night. I used chicken stock instead of water. Tasty stuff. The only problem was there there weren't enough leftovers. ;)

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  21. ETE,
    Welcome to blogging! I hope you keep at it.

    Melissa,
    Thanks!

    Jeannie,
    Even better? I love mini pot pies.

    Jan Frederick,
    Thanks for trying out my recipe. I'm so glad everyone liked it. You know I always appreciate your feedback. :)

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  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  23. Rin,
    Awesome! And I haven't forgotten I still need to blog my tom yum recipe for you!

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  24. Sorry to comment on all your old posts, but your blog is my primary source for Viet related things when my mom is at the casino :)

    I tried Good Girl Dinette's curry pot pie recently and...I dunno. I liked the idea, but the curry was way too salty and at the same time the flavor was muted. But it did inspire me to try to make it at home. And surely enough you've got a recipe for it!

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  25. Andi?,
    I like comments on old posts! Let's me know people are still reading them. :)

    I finally tried Good Girl Dinette's version recently and didn't like the crust at all. It was hard and rubbery. Also, I prefer my curries with coconut milk. So all in all, I still prefer my version. :)

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