For Pi Day this year, I decided I wanted to make a savory pie. But what to put inside of it?
I’ve been more and more plant-based over the past year, and really enjoying finding new recipes and ingredients that I haven’t cooked with before. Baingan bharta is one of my favorite Indian dishes to make. It’s combines roasted eggplant with fragrant spices, tomatoes, onion, garlic and ginger to make a very flavorful main or side dish.
I wondered what it would be like to put baingan bharta in a pie.
One challenge of pot pies is the dreaded soggy bottom. For many versions, this is mitigated by putting a layer of veggies between the stew and the pie dough, often potatoes. But for an Indian dish, I thought basmati rice would be great as a barrier between the stew and the crust.
I also modified the recipe to use less tomato to cut down on the liquid, and cooked down the final stew a bit longer than normal to get it a bit drier.
Lastly I added the step of blind baking the bottom crust before putting in the fillings. While not all pot pie recipes call for this, it seemed like a prudent measure.
All in all, this took two days to assemble, since I had to make the baingan bharta first, and then make the pie dough, and then rest the pie dough over night before baking.
I used this recipe to make the pie dough, which came together much more easily than the Martha Stewart recipe I typically use. The combination of grating the frozen butter into the flour and laminating the dough before chilling resulted in a delicious, buttery crust.
Overall I was super happy with the result. The baingan bharta and rice was so delicious, and pie crust went so well with it. The crust was nice and buttery and flaky, just the way I like it. And the “pie porg” on top make the whole thing so cute.
I brought it to the Pi Day party at work and it was devoured almost immediately. I think we have a winner!
Instructions for Making Baingan Bharta Pot Pie
- Make baingan bharta (I used one less tomato to make it a bit drier).
- Make 2 cups of basmati rice.
- Make pie dough. You will need enough for a bottom and top shell.
- Chill dough overnight.
- Preheat over to 425ยบ F.
- Blind bake bottom crust for about 15 minutes with pie weights. Remove weights and bake an additional 5 minutes to dry out a bit.
- Roll out the top pie crust.
- Layer a cup or so of basmati rice to the bottom pie crust and then layer the baingan bharta on top of that.
- Carefully place the top crust on the pie and crimp the sides to seal.
- Cut a few slits in the top crust and add a pie bird to vent the steam from the filling.
- Bake the pie for about 20 minutes. Place a foil shield around the edges of the pie to keep it from getting too dark. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or so till the top of the crust is golden brown.