Pastel Tutup (Indonesian Potato Pie)

I remember that my mum used to take me to different cafes as our resting points during a long day of shopping. I often ordered an ice cream or a chocolate drink or "pastel tutup". Any of them was just perfect after we shopped around. I hardly can find "pastel tutup" in Sydney. Not many Indonesians know this food, it seems to be popular only in Surabaya.

I recently got an idea to make pastel tutup faster and easier to prepare. I separated the potato top layer and made them as mashed potato balls. It tasted the same as the original "pastel tutup" when you served the pie filling and mashed potato balls on a plate. You need quite a bit of patience to prepare this dish as there are a lot of chopping required. If you got some helpers, this won't take you long at all. 

Ingredients:

 

Pie filling

• 3 pieces chicken thigh fillet (cut into cubes)
• 3 thin frankfurts (cut into cubes)
• 2 carrots (cut into cubes)
• a handful of dried black fungi (soak in cold water for 2 hours, then slice thinly)
  
• 1 can of garden peas
• 2 small packs of green bean threads vermicelli (soak in hot water and then drain)
  
• a few cloves of garlic (minced)
• a few cloves of dried shallot (slice thinly)
• 3 tbs of margarine
• 1 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp white pepper
• 1.5 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup of soy milk
• 0.5 cup water

Mashed Potato Balls

• 6 medium sized potatos (peel, cut into big chunks, boil in hot water until cooked but not too soft, drain)
• 0.25 cup soy milk
• a pinch of salt 
• 1 tsp freshly ground blackpepper
• 1 egg 

 

Decoration

• 1 hard boiled egg
  
• parsley

Preparations:

1. After finished chopping the pie filling ingredients, prepare mashed potato balls. I used food processor to soften the boiled potato chunks. Alternatively, you can use a wooden spoon. Either way works fine. Add soy milk, salt and ground blackpepper. Shape into balls and brush with egg. Bake in the oven at 160 deg C for 30 mins or until they turn golden in colour. 
2. While you are baking the mashed potato balls, start cooking the pie filling. Heat the wok, then add margarine, garlic, dried shallot. Stir until they are aromatic, add the cubed chicken thigh. Keep stirring until the chicken is fully cooked. Add water, soy milk, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
3. Add carrots and frankfurts, keep stiring for 3 mins. Then add black fungi, garden peas and finally vermicelli. The pie filling shouldn't be too dry. If they look dry add a bit more of milk.
4. Serve the pie filling and mashed potato balls on a plate. Add a slice of boiled egg and parsley on the pie filling. Garnish the pie filling with chopped parsley.