Coronation Chicken Tartlets With Mango Chutney

Method

1. If you are poaching, sit one large skinless chicken breast fillet in a small pan, cover with cold water, add a bay leaf and a few peppercorns and bring it to a bare simmer. Cook for 12 to 14 minutes, until the thickest part reaches 75°C, then leave it to cool in the liquid. Cooling it in the water is what stops it going dry and stringy.
2. Toast the flaked almonds in a dry frying pan over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, moving them the whole time, until they smell nutty and colour at the edges. Tip them straight onto a cold plate; a hot pan keeps cooking them.
3. Take the pan off the heat and warm the curry powder in it for about 30 seconds, just until it smells. Raw curry powder tastes dusty in a cold dressing, and this is the step most recipes skip.
4. Dice the cooked chicken into 5mm pieces and put it in a bowl.
5. Stir the mayonnaise, chutney, apricot jam, Dijon, warmed curry powder and lemon juice together in a second bowl until smooth. Taste it here, before the chicken goes in, because this is the only easy point to fix the balance.
6. Fold the dressing and the sultanas through the chicken. Season with salt flakes and pepper, going carefully if the chicken came off a barbecue bird. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes, or up to two days.
7. Stir the filling before you use it, and loosen it with a teaspoon of water if the fridge has firmed it up. Keep the pastry cases sealed in their pack until this moment.
8. Spoon a heaped teaspoon into each case, about three-quarters full, then finish with a few flaked almonds, one coriander leaf and a dot of the extra chutney. Serve within 30 minutes.

Leftover filling is lunch: on toast with a squeeze of lemon, or folded through cold rice. It does not freeze, and neither does a filled case. If you are building a tray of several things, the smoked salmon tartlets use the same shell and the same 30 minute rule, and our canape guide covers how many pieces to count on per head.

Questions we get asked

What is coronation chicken made of?

Cooked chicken in a mayonnaise dressing flavoured with curry powder, mango chutney and something fruity, usually apricot, with sultanas and toasted almonds through it. The 1953 original used a cooked-out curry and tomato base with apricot purée and whipped cream folded into the mayonnaise. Home versions have simplified that to mayonnaise plus chutney, which is quicker and sweeter. A teaspoon of apricot jam and a little Dijon puts the balance back.

Can you fill pastry cases the night before?

Not with this filling. Mayonnaise and diced chicken hold enough moisture to soften a pastry base overnight. Make the filling the night before, keep it covered in the fridge, and fill the cases within about 30 minutes of serving. If you have to fill earlier, leave out the lemon juice and go lighter on the chutney, which buys you an hour at most.

How long do filled pastry cases stay crisp?

About an hour with a wet filling like this one, and the first 30 minutes are the good ones. The base goes first, then the wall. A drier filling, a firm pâté or a whipped cheese, holds closer to two hours. Nothing holds overnight. At a summer party, put half on the table and keep the rest of the filling in the fridge for a second round.

What can I use instead of mango chutney?

Any chunky fruit chutney with vinegar in it. The Indian Light Infantry fruit chutney is darker and leans on dried fruit, which suits thigh meat. Apricot jam on its own works if you add a teaspoon of white wine vinegar with it, since jam brings the sweetness but none of the acid. Finely chopped lime pickle is the sharper end of the same idea. Avoid a smooth sweet conserve, which turns the dressing into dessert.

The cases are the part worth ordering ahead, since they keep in the cupboard for months. The Confiletas range runs to five shells at $9.95 a pack, all filed under tarts and pastry shells, and which shell suits which canape is two minutes well spent before you order. Shipping is free Australia-wide on orders over $100, and orders placed before 12pm on a weekday are dispatched the same day from our Corio, VIC warehouse.