Recipe Spicy Sweet Potato, Potato, Tomato and Pea Pie

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

This is an adaption of the Indian Potato Pie which we found to be OK but lacked spiciness and to some extent flavour for our tastes, so yesterday I made a variation with the addition of many more spices and tomatoes. I also prefer to use whole potatoes and adapt, rather than say a specific weight of potatoes.

Ingredients
4 medium-large sized potato, sliced (3-4mm)
2 large sweet potato, sliced (3-4mm)
4 small-medium onions, sliced (2-3mm)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp asafoetida (optional)
2 tsp curry powder (get a good flavoured one)
2 tsp cumin seeds
1-2 tsp dried chilli flakes
4-8 garlic cloves, crushed
2 inches fresh ginger, grated
2 tsp each ground cumin, ground coriander and garam masala
1 (400g) tin crushed tomatoes (or liquidize plum tomatoes)
around 200g frozen peas
juice 1/2 lemon and 1/2 lime (or just whatever you have around)
small bunch coriander, chopped
1 large tomato, sliced
3 or 4 sheets (vegan) puff pastry

Method

1. Heat an oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Grease a 10 inch spring form tin with vegan margarine, and cut the puff pastry to fit the bottom and sides. Take into account that the sides will shrink, so be generous. Generously prick the sides and base with a fork and cook in the oven until lightly browning - roughly 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before battering the base back down and the sides into shape. Don't worry about 'squashing' it.
3. Put the potatoes in a large saucepan of cold, salted water, then bring to the boil. Turn down and simmer for 5 mins, add the sweet potatoes and continue to cook until almost tender but slightly raw. Drain and keep them warm. They key to this dish is the ingredients being warm to hot when the pie is assembled and the dish returned to the oven.
4. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pan, and add the following spices: turmeric, asafoetida (optional), curry powder, cumin seeds, and dried chilli flakes. Stir and when starting to get fragrant, add the onions, mix well and leave covered to cook until they are starting to soften and go translucent.
5. Now stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for a further 2-3 mins. Add the remaining spices (ground cumin, ground coriander and garam masala), stir well and add the tinned tomatoes and roughly 1 tin of water. Return to the boil and simmer for around 5 minutes. Add the lemon/lime juice, the coriander and the frozen peas and once they have returned to the boil you are ready to assemble the dish. The sauce, should be thick, not runny and coating the onions and peas, but not going to run down to the bottom of the dish.
6. Now it is time to assemble. Lay 2 layers of potatoes down onto the cooked puff pastry, before adding a layer of onion, tomato and peas. Repeat until either the tin is full or you have run out of vegetables. Try to top the dish off with the tomato layer if possible
7. Now lay the fresh sliced tomato over the top, before topping off with the final sheet of puff pastry. Cut several slits in the top of the pastry (I do this in serving sizes, so I made 8 in this one).
8. Bake for 30-45 mins until golden brown. Serve either hot or at room temperature. I like to serve this with a nice spicy tomato sauce.

Picture to follow later today! Hopefully

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Right, a couple of photos. Nowhere near as good as @morning glory would have managed, but a couple of mine from after we have started eating it!

 

[Morning Glory]

@SatNavSaysStraightOn, these photos are fine!