Japanese chicken curry cornish pastie

This is a seamen's all-in-one lunch, similar to the Japanese farmer's onigiri.  Although I love all things wrapped, this heavy duty lunch-in-a-pastry  is a challenge because I have  fingers that are far from nimble. The other obstacle is that I am a greedy person who cannot  help stuffing  lots of filling into a pastry case that has limited real estate.

It is relief  then that all my pasties emerged nice and intact.  If there's any reason why the pasties are rather flattish, that's because of the copious amount of chicken within.

Some habits are simply hard to change.

Makes 4 medium pasties.

Pastry :

300g  plain flour

150g unsalted cold butter, cubed

1/4 tsp fine salt

3 - 4 tbsp cold water

Filling :

1 tbsp oil

1 chicken breast, cubed

1 large potato, cubed

1 large carrot, cubed

2 Japanese curry cubes

1 cup water

Sea flakes

4 tbsp wheat germ, optional

1 egg, lightly beaten, to be used as egg wash

Method :

To make the pastry :

Mix flour and salt, sieve.

Rub butter into flour, until it resembles biscuit crumbs

Add cold water , 1 tablespoon at a time, and gather the flour together.

Knead to form a ball.

Divide to 4 equal portions. Wrap and chill, 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil, fry chicken and vegetables, until surfaces are seared on medium heat.

Add water. Simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered.

When chicken and vegetables are tender to the bite, turn off heat.

Add curry cubes. Cover and rest for 5 minutes.

Turn on heat again, medium low, and simmer for 10 minutes uncovered. This helps get rid of excess moisture.

It should yield a thick, gravy-like chicken curry.

Final assembly :

Preheat oven to 220C.

Bring dough out from chiller.

On floured surface, use a roller pin and flatten dough to the size of a medium plate.

Using a plate as template, trim the edges of the dough.

Sprinkle a tablespoon of wheat germ in the center of the dough disk.

Spoon a generous amount of chicken curry.

Brush egg wash all round the dough. This helps seal the pastie.

Bring up the 2 halves of the dough and wrap the chicken. Pinch to seal edges.

Egg wash the surface of the pastie.

Repeat for the other 3 pasties.

Transfer pastie to a baking tray and bake at 220 C for 15-20 minutes , until the pastie is golden brown.

Enjoy !