Butter chicken pies

Make the butter chicken filling

1. Place the yoghurt, garlic, ginger, cumin, curry powder, ground coriander and turmeric in a bowl and stir together.
2. Add the chopped chicken and coat well with the yoghurt marinade. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for a minimum of two hours to marinade.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan. Add the onions and fry over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes until the onions are soft and light golden in colour.
4. Add the marinated chicken pieces along with the marinade to the skillet and continue frying for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
5. Pour in the canned chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
6. Lower the heat and gently simmer the mixture for 10 minutes until the chicken pieces are cooked through and tender.
7. Add the butter and cream to the chicken curry. Stir together until melted and heated through.
8. Transfer the filling to a container to cool in the fridge until it begins to firm up slightly, about 30 minutes.

Cut out the pastry

1. Roll out both puff pastry sheets into roughly 45x38cm rectangles.Top tip: Don't bother flouring the surface, just roll the pastry out on the paper it was wrapped in, saves cleaning up later
2. Using the 9cm round cookie cutter, cut out 6 circles from the first pastry sheet. Also cut out 6 circles with the 8cm round cookie cutter.
3. Repeat for the second sheet of pastry so you end up with 12 large circles and 12 slightly smaller circles. If you don't have cookie cutters, you can use glasses or bowls of similar size.
4. Lightly grease a standard 12-cup muffin baking tin with a neutral oil or cooking spray. You can simply dip a piece of kitchen paper in oil and wipe out each muffin hole with it.

Assembling the pies

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/374F/gas mark 5.
2. Gently press the larger sized puff pastry circles into the indentations in the muffin tin, letting the pastry extend slightly over the top rim of each muffin cup hole. This overhang will help with sealing the tops later.
3. Scoop roughly one generous tablespoon of the chilled butter chicken filling into each muffin cup, being careful not to fill it higher than the rim of the cup.
4. Top each filled muffin cup with one of the smaller sized puff pastry circles. Gently press and pinch together the edges of the bottom and top pastry circles together to seal them securely, closing any gaps.
5. Whisk the egg in a small bowl and brush the tops of the each pie with the egg wash.
6. Use the tip of a sharp knife to poke 2-3 small slits or holes into the top of each mini pie. This will allow steam to vent during baking.
7. Optional: Sprinkle the tops with sesame or poppy seeds if you wish.
8. Bake the assembled pies in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until the puff pastry is nicely puffed up and golden brown on top.
9. Allow the pies to cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before carefully removing them.