Lemon Cream Pie

Mix together 6 tbsp cornflour with 1/2 cup cold water. Mix together 1 1/2 cups water with 1 cup sugar and bring to a boil. Add cornflour mixture to the boiling sugar water, stirring CONSTANTLY. Add 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice and finely grated peel of 1 lemon, 2 tbsp butter and a few drops of yellow food colouring.

Note: Prepare all ingredients before hand and have them ready to use because once you add the cornflour mixture to the boiling water it starts to thicken VERY quickly!

Either serve in dessert dishes topped with whipped cream or use with pie crust base for Lemon Cream Pie. When cool top with whipped cream and sprinkle with roasted coconut.

Dry roast (toast) shredded coconut, be careful not to burn! cool completely before sprinkling over Lemon Cream Pie.

Pie Crust:
1/2 cup melted butter
1 scant cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup coconut
1/3 heaping cup soft brown sugar

Melt butter in saucepan. Toast coconut a little in butter. Take off flame. Add sugar and flour. Press into pie plate and bake @ 350 F 'til golden brown. Fill with Lemon Pie filling. Cool. When cool top with whipped cream and sprinkle cooled toasted coconut over top of cream.

Apple Pie by Jayada Radhika

Method 1: Peel and slice up 8-10 apples. Cook down with some sugar and a good sprinkle of cinnamon and a tiny pinch nutmeg. When cooked down pour into pie shell (See Flaky Pastry) and bake in a hot oven (450 F) for the first 10 mins then reduce heat to 375 F and bake for a further 30-40 minutes.

Method 2:
Pastry
2 1/2 cups sliced tart apples
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg and/or cinnamon
1 tsp butter (approx.)

Line a pie plate with pastry (see Flaky Pastry) and fill evenly with sliced apples. Mix together sugar, lemon juice, salt and spices and sprinkle evenly over apples. Dot with butter, then cover with a top crust. Bake in a hot oven (450 F) for the first 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 375 F and bake for 30-40 minutes or until apples are tender.

Shoofly Pie

Pastry for 9" One-Crust-Pie

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp butter
3-4 tbsp cold water (or as much as required to make a nice dough)


Mix flour and salt. Cut in butter. Sprinkle in water a tbsp at a time, mixing to a nice dough.

Grease pie plate and line with rolled out dough. Trim and flute.


Filling

3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
3 tbsp butter

Heat oven to 400 F. Mix above ingredients with hand 'til crumbly.

3/4 cup hot water
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup dark molasses
1 tbsp egg replacer (do not use yoghurt, sour cream etc. for this)

Mix water, baking soda and egg replacer in a 1 quart-bowl. Stir in molasses.

Pour into pastry lined pie plate.

Sprinkle crumbly mixture over molasses mixture.

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 F. Bake until crust and crumbs are brown, about 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Nice served with cream or vanilla ice cream but just as nice on it's own...

Note: If using self-raising flour, omit salt.

Cornflour would probably work as a replacement for egg replacer.

Adapted from Betty Crocker's Cooking American Style, A Sampler of Heritage Recipes 1976

Custard Pie by Radha-Prema

Custard (made with neroli essence) pie.

Pastry:
(makes enough for pie every day for a week)

6 c flour
1 lb. cold butter
3 tbsp brown sugar
enough COLD water to form a dough (around 2-3 c if I remember correctly -- I always eyeball so I have a hard time sharing recipes)

Mix dry ingredients in cold bowl with cold pastry cutter. Cut in butter and mix well (keeping ingredients as cold as possible). Add cold water adn form loose dough. Knead only enough to stick it together. Pack in hand sized lumps in plastic wrap and put in fridge for minimum 30 mins before using. Will keep in fridge for up to a week. Can also be stored in freezer and taken out and thawed in fridge when needed.

To make pie shell, roll out and bake for approx 20 mins (or till golden brown -- another thing I don't do is time things out, I go by smell-- if I can smell it in another room, it is probably five minutes from being done) at 400 F.


Custard:
(makes enough for 4 pies -- these amounts are really out of hand because they are my grandmother and mother's recipes and I am from a family of 12 kids -- I also don't do math so didn't bother making them into more normal amounts. Who needs normal anyway?)

9 c milk
1 c corn starch
1 1/4 c sugar
2 tbsp butter
(1 c coconut)
2 tsp vanilla (or other essence you desire -- for this incarnation I used orange blossom essence which adds a really lovely, refreshing flavour -- other ideas include orange zest, lemon zest, almond essence, or anything else that strikes your fancy)

Mix 1 c of milk in bottom of pot with corn starch and whisk until smooth. Add rest of milk and stir well. Bring heat to medium and stir continuously until becomes thick and boils. Let boil for one minute before removing from heat. Once removed from the heat add butter, sugar, and (coconut) and essence.

Pour into cooled pie shells and let set in fridge. It can later be topped with whipped cream (and toasted coconut, fresh mint, fresh strawberries, whatever is pretty and you think Krsna would really love to eat with His milky pie).

Offer with love and devotion and honour with great relish. :D

Poppy Seed Pie by Keli Cancala

 

I know that poppy seed is not something everyone likes but I think its glory can't be truly appreciated until you try a very good creation of it! It is an incredibly tasty ingredient.. I made some Hungarian poppy seed pie for a friend of mine who is in hospital and also for my husband/Madhu...he is English so he grew up on other falvours yet when it comes to this particular pie, he actually dances around the room :))) 

 
If you want to try making this pie then you kind of need a poppy seed grinder, because that can squeeze the seeds in a special way, so your filling will be smooth and pasty.. if someone is interested I found a guy who sells it internationally (his site looks a bit dodgy but he is a nice guy and I bought something from him before) ;) http://www.hungariandeli.com/Cookware.htm

Poppy seed pie recipe.
Pastry: 
300g pastry flour
150g butter (unsalted)
80g soft light brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp sour cream
1 Tbsp yoghurt

Filling:
200g ground poppy seeds
130g honey
30g butter (unsalted)
120 ml milk
zest of 1 lemon
apricot jam ( I use sugar free)

For pastry mix everything with hand or food processor and put in fridge for 20 minutes.
For filling (without the jam) put everything in a pot and on very low heat mix them together for 5 minutes.
When all is ready then divide pastry into 2 and on floured surface roll out to rectangle (to the size of your baking dish which should be mid-small size, mine is 20cm x 25cm). When you roll, the edges of pastry might tear apart but you can just shape it back and keep rolling as it is a very workable dough! On baking paper and in 170 C preheated oven, bake the bottom half for 5 min. Cool for few minutes, then gently spread jam on pastry (not too thin or thick), then spread poppy seed filling and then cover it with the other half of the dough. bake for 20-25 minutes, when completely cooled hint with icing sugar and cut to squares.

Panir Pies by Tom

Obviously, I made this with shop-bought paneer and puff pastry. I'm sure the experience would be heightened with homemade - but not as convenient for working/busy parents!

Fry a pinch of hing and cayenne in a little olive oil. Add a small amount of passata or chopped tomatoes (1/4 can). of course, you could substitute the tomatoes for a teaspoon o...f tomato puree..

Prepare 1/2 pint of gravy like substance (!) for this i just use 1/2 teaspoon of marmite and 1/2 teaspoon vegetable bouillon. Add this to the tomatoes and little it reduce a little. I have added a little homemade mixed veg puree before, which was a good way of sneaking some extra veg into Tom! Obviously you can add whatever filling you like!

Chop roughly 100g of paneer into small cubes. After the sauce has reduced, add the paneer and let it cook on a medium/low heat so it can absorb some of the sauce.

Turn your oven on to 180c (roughly 375f). I use a shop-bought pre-rolled sheet of puff pastry (375g). Divide it evenly into six oblong shapes. I prepare the pies on a greased baking sheet, as generally the paneer is too warm and spoils if moved. I add the paneer onto one half of the oblong, folding the other half on top and crimping the edges with my fingers. Obviously you could decorate the pie, or make different shapes - but i just keep it simple (I score a few holes on the top and brush the pastry with a little oil).

Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.