Vegetable Pie - Vegetarian Version Of Meat Pie

For this month's Baking Eggless Group Challenge, according to the wishes of the members, I selected a savoury recipe. I selected a recipe for meat pies from Saveur. These meat pies have a flaky crust made with flour and shortening and has a meat filling. Our challenge is to substitute the eggs in the pastry and the meat in the filling to make it 100% vegetarian. I used soya granules capsicum and paneer with Indian spices for a delicious filling. As for the pastry I just left out the eggs and the result was an amazing flaky and crispy pastry. It was a delicious treat and we all liked it very much.

Recipe Source: Saveur
Makes 9 Pies
Ingredients:
For The Pastry:
All Purpose Flour-1 cup
Shortening/ Vanaspathi-1/3 cup
Ice Cold Water- 3-4 tbs
Salt-1/3 tsp

For The Filling:
Soy Granules-1/4 cup
Carrot- 3 tbs (grated)
Capsicum-4 tbs (finely diced)
Crumbled Paneer-1/3 cup
Onion-1 small
Tomato-1 small
Garlic-1 pod
Red chilly Powder-1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder-1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder-1/4 tsp
Salt-to taste
Oil-1 tbs
Coriander Leaves-3 tbs

Procedure:
For The Filling:
1. Heat oil and add onions and grated garlic.
2. Saute until golden.
3. Add finely chopped tomatoes, carrot and capsicum.
4. Saute for 2 minutes.
5. Bring soy granules in a pot of water to boil. Allow it to cool.
6. Squeeze out the cooked granules and add it to the pan.
7. Add red chilly powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and salt.
8. Cover and cook until done.
9. Finally add crumbled paneer and coriander leaves, saute for a minute and remove from flame.
10. Allow it to cool down completely.

For The Pastry:
1. Mix salt and flour in a bowl.
2. Add the shortening and mic with the fingers to cut the shortening into the flour. Do not knead.
3. When the flour resembles large crumbs, add ice cold water little by little until the flour comes together to a crumbly dough.
4. Divide it into two portions one larger than the other.
5. Roll out the larger portion and cut 3" circles out of the disc.
6. Grease tiny pie tins and line them with the circles. Press against the edges to remove the extra dough.
7. Fill the pastry tins with 1 tbs of filling.
8. Roll out the other portion and cut out smaller circles to fit the top of the pastry tins.
9. Place the smaller circles on top of the filled pastry shells and press the edges with a fork to close the opening.
10. Preheat oven to 200C.
11. Arrange the tins on a tray and bake until golden. It may take nearly 30 minutes to bake.
12. Remove from the tins and serve while still hot.

There are some important points to be remembered to get a flaky pastry. While mixing the flour and shortening, it should be crumbly and the pieces of flour must be big. Do not mix to finer crumbs. And use ice cold water to bring the dough together. The dough should be crumbly and must be just holding together. We are not looking for a soft and elastic dough. Then roll the dough and cut out the size to line the pastry tins. This way you will get a nice flaky and crispy pastry.