Quick Bakery Chicken Patties
چکن پیٹیز
The Dabba Exchange (School Lunches & Childhood Snacks)
In the bustling bakeries of Lahore and Karachi, savory puff pastries are strictly color-coded by shape. Triangles hide spiced potatoes, rectangles hold ground beef, but the beloved chicken patty is always, undeniably, round. Biting into that flaky, butter-rich crust to reach the creamy, fiercely peppery chicken inside is a rite of passage. The real secret to making this work in an American suburb on a Tuesday night isn't laminating your own ghee-based dough—it's utilizing high-quality store-bought puff pastry and focusing your love entirely on the filling. That distinctly Anglo-Indian, peppery roux keeps the chicken incredibly moist, delivering a perfect, nostalgic hit straight from the motherland.
Before you start
Preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Ingredients
- boneless skinless chicken breasts1/2 lb
- garlic1 small clove
- kosher salt1/2 tsp
- unsalted butter2 tbsp
- yellow onion1/2 med
- serrano pepper1 small
- all-purpose flour2 tbsp
- whole milk3/4 cup
- black pepper1 tsp
- soy sauce1 tsp
- white distilled vinegar1 tsp
- salt1/4 tsp
- fresh cilantro2 tbsp
- frozen puff pastry1 lb
- egg1 large
- nigella seeds1 tsp
Method
- 01
Poach the chicken.
Cover the chicken breast with water in a small saucepan, add the smashed garlic and kosher salt, and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes. Shred it finely with two forks, discarding the poaching liquid and the garlic clove.
- 02
Build the flavor base.
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Sweat the minced onions for 3 to 4 minutes until translucent—do not let them turn brown—then stir in the minced serrano pepper.
- 03
Create the roux.
Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir constantly for a minute or two to cook out the raw, pasty flour taste.
- 04
Make it creamy.
Gradually pour in the milk while whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Simmer for about 2 minutes until the sauce thickens into a velvety base.
- 05
Combine and cool.
Fold in the shredded chicken, fresh black pepper, soy sauce, vinegar, and remaining salt. Stir until thick and cohesive, fold in the cilantro, then let the mixture cool completely to room temperature.
- 06
Cut the pastry.
Unfold the thawed puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and stamp out circles using a 3-inch round cutter.
- 07
Assemble the patties.
Place a modest tablespoon of the cooled chicken filling in the center of half your circles. Brush the edges with egg wash, top with a second circle, and gently press the edges with your fingers to seal.
- 08
Bake to perfection.
Brush the tops generously with egg wash, sprinkle with nigella seeds, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until deeply golden brown and highly puffed.
Notes
Don't waste the scraps.
Brush leftover pastry scraps with egg wash, sprinkle with cumin seeds or a little sugar, and bake them into crispy, odd-shaped 'Khari Biscuits' for dunking in your evening chai.
The freezer hack.
These freeze beautifully. Assemble the patties completely, stop before the egg wash, and freeze them flat on a tray. Bag them up and bake straight from frozen with five extra minutes on the clock.
The rotisserie shortcut.
For a true weeknight hack, bypass the poaching step entirely by using finely shredded leftover rotisserie chicken breast. Skip straight to melting the butter.