When I came up with Indian As Apple Pie as the name of my company, I never really had apple pie on my mind. I was born in India and raised outside of Philly, so I was just focussed on a name that would convey that even though I am Indian in one way, I'm as American as Apple Pie in another. I get it. Some will argue that Apple Pie is not traditionally American. That was not the point, though! As I grew the company folks kept asking me how they could buy my apple pie. So, I thought I'd give you an Indian spiced pie using my own delicious Chai Masala. I promise, it will kick Pumpkin spice to the curb. Order a few jars today from my website and you'll have your own Chai Pie ready for the holidays. Click here to order. Thank you to Pastry Chef Jessica Ellington of Chicago-based Sweet Bee for her help and guidance with this recipe. And, to Katherine Rasmussen of Luna Light Media for her fabulous photography. I love surrounding myself with strong, talented women who love pie and Indian spices. I hope you will give this recipe a try and let me know what you think.
Indian As Apple Pie's Chai Pie
Prep: 60 minutes
Cook: 45-60 minutes, plus time for resting dough and cooling pie
Yield: 1 – standard 9” pie
Servings: 8
PIE DOUGH
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup butter, cold and cubed (1/2” cube)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup water, ice cold
STREUSEL
1/3 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
2/3 cup rolled oats
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons Indian as Apple Pie Chai Masala
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup butter, cold, cubed (1/2” cube)
APPLE FILLING
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons Indian as Apple Pie Chai Masala
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 lbs. (about 6 medium apples) Granny smith and/or Honey Crisp apples; peeled, cored and thinly sliced (1/8” thick)
MAKE THE PIE DOUGH
1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt.
2. Add the cold, cubed butter and toss together with your hands to coat the butter with flour.
3. Cut the butter into the flour by pressing the butter together between your fingers to break up and flatten each piece. Occasionally, re-toss the mixture to make sure all of the butter pieces are still coated with flour. The butter will not be uniform in size, but no pieces should be larger than ¼”. The mixture is ready when it holds together when squeezed tightly, but still break under the pressure of your thumb.
4. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Add most of the cold water reserving about 1 tablespoon (15 grams) and toss together with your hands creating big clumps of dough. If any dry bits of dough remain in the bottom of the bowl, slowly add in reserved water one teaspoon at a time until it comes together. Gather the dough into a disk, cut the disk into quarters and stack each quarter on top of each other. Firmly press the dough together to about 1” thick, reform into a disk, wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to two days.
MAKE THE STREUSEL
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large bowl using your hands, mix all ingredients together until large clumps form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
ROLL OUT THE DOUGH
1. Pre-heat the oven to 375F.
2. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Lightly flour your work surface, the top of the dough, and a rolling pin.
3. Working from the center, roll dough into a circle that is about 1/6” thick with a diameter of about 11”. Rotate the dough often to make sure it’s not sticking to the rolling surface and re-flour if necessary. Fold the dough in half vertically and then horizontally. Place the tip of the triangle in the center of the pie plate and unfold. Gently press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate, taking care not to stretch the dough. Allow a ½” overhang on all sides and cut off any excess dough with a pair of scissors. If there are areas that don’t have a ½” overhang, simply take excess from one area and press together in other areas. Fold overhanging dough under itself so that the edge of the crust is now flush with the pie plate. Refrigerate until ready to use.
PREPARE THE FILLING AND BAKE THE PIE
To make filling, mix the sugar, flour, chai masala and salt together. Add the apples and toss together. Pour into prepared pie plate and top with the streusel.
Bake at 375 degrees on a rimmed baking sheet for 45-60 minutes or until the apple filling is bubbling. If the top is browning too quickly, lightly tent with aluminum foil. Let pie cool before cutting.
Tips/Notes:
This recipe makes one standard 9” pie. For a deep-dish pie pan, multiple dough and filling by 1.5x and increase baking time to 75-90 minutes
To make a slab pie in a 9x13” rimmed baking sheet or baking dish, multiple filling and streusel by 1.5x and increase bake time to 60-75 minutes.
Streusel can be baked on its own on a rimmed baking sheet at 350F for 20 minutes, stirring once at the 10-minute mark. Use baked streusel to top yogurt or ice cream or enjoy as a snack.
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