Gentle spices and dried fruits give this traditional game pie a taste of the Middle East.
To make the spice mix, mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
Fill a small pan with boiling water and place on a medium heat. Add the potatoes and cook for 5-7 minutes. They should be softened but still hold their shape.
In a large frying pan, heat the oil and then add the spice mix. Fry for 1 minute on a medium heat then add the chopped meats and brown them on a high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the minced lamb and cook on medium for a further 1 minute. Add the potatoes, dried fruit and toasted almonds. Finally, add the Greek yoghurt, pomegranate and date molasses and cook until incorporated and slightly reduced. Season with the salt. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly while you make the pastry.
For the hot water crust pastry, add the butter, lard, salt and 240ml/8½fl oz water to a medium saucepan and heat until the lard is melted.
Mix the flours together in a bowl and add the melted lard mixture. Mix using a wooden spoon until formed into a smooth dough.
When cool enough to handle, knead briefly and set aside a third of the dough. Dust the worktop and rolling pin with plain flour and roll the pastry out to 4mm thick.
Line a 20cm/8in springform cake tin with the pastry, then add the filling and brush the edge of the pastry with egg wash. Roll out two-thirds of the remaining pastry to make the pie lid. Cover the pie and crimp the edges to seal. Make a hole in the middle to allow steam to escape while the pie cooks.
Thinly roll out the remaining pastry and cut out leaf shapes of varying sizes and stick these on the top of the pie using egg wash.
Brush the top of the pie with more egg wash and bake for 1½ hours. After 1 hour, check the pie is cooking evenly and move it around in the oven if necessary.
While the pie is baking, shape any remaining pastry into roses to decorate the top and small diamonds to decorate the sides of the pie. Place on a baking tray lined with non-stick paper and bake the diamonds for 10 minutes and the roses for 25 minutes.
Once the pie is cooked, carefully remove the sides of the tin. Attach the diamonds to the side of the pie using egg wash. Brush egg onto the base of each of the roses and attach to the top of the pie. Bake the pie for 5 minutes to cook the egg wash.
Serve the pie warm or cold.
Dried cranberries are a pretty good substitute if you can’t get hold of barberries.
