Surinamese Chicken Pot Pie (Pastei)
Difficulty 3/5 Ingredients 20 Steps 18
Pastei is a very old dish and was brought to Suriname by the Jewish settlers. It is a simple dish made from chicken, carrots and peas, and closely resembles chicken pot pie. It is served best with plain white rice.
Ingredients
Dough
- 200 g butter or margarine
- 250 g flour
- 2 dl (200 ml) cold water
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
Filling
- 3 large pieces of chicken (drumstick, thigh, breast, etc.)
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 150 g butter or margarine
- Salt or bouillon cubes to taste
- 1 fresh chile pepper or bell pepper (optional)
- 1 bay leaf
- Whole allspice
- 1–2 cans of peas and carrots
- 2 large tomatoes
- 1 piece of young celery, chopped
- 3 pickles, chopped
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
- 1 tbsp piccalilli (mustard can be substituted)
- 3 hard boiled eggs
Steps
Dough
- Cream the butter with an electric mixer or wooden spoon. Add the water in small amounts until the butter absorbs it all.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add gradually to the butter.
- Test the dough: press a finger on it. If it sticks, add about 25 g more flour.
- Divide the dough in half. Roll out each piece.
- Line a buttered baking pan or aluminum foil pan with one sheet of dough. Press into the corners.
Filling
- Wash the chicken if necessary.
- Simmer the chicken, 100 g butter, some of the chopped onion, 2–3 bouillon cubes, fresh pepper, bay leaf and some allspice in about 1–1½ cups water, 30 minutes.
- Remove the chicken. Strip into little pieces, discarding the bones.
- Add the rest of the butter to the broth.
- Heat a little oil in a frying pan. Add the remaining chopped onion.
- Add the chicken. After a minute add the chopped tomatoes, peas and carrots, and celery. Add a little chicken broth now and then to prevent burning.
- Add the chopped pickles.
- After all the broth is added, taste and add salt if needed. Cool slightly, then mix in the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce.
- Transfer the chicken mixture to the dough-lined pan until full.
- Slice the boiled eggs. Place on top of the filling.
- Top with the second sheet of dough. Seal the edges.
- Bake in preheated oven, about ¾ hour.
- A few minutes before removing, brush the top with whisked egg for a shiny, crisp top.
Notes from the original
- If you're on a tight schedule, store-bough puff pastry works just as well, so you can use that instead of making your own dough.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Surinamese Chicken Pot Pie (Pastei)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-20, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.