Russian festive chicken pie (Kurnik)

1. Mix the flour with the salt, rub in the cold, diced butter, add the sour cream and quickly knead into a dough; wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

2. Poach the chicken breasts in lightly salted water for 20 minutes, then cool and dice small; cook the rice in salted water until tender, hard-boil 3 eggs for 10 minutes and chop them.

3. Fry the finely chopped onion and sliced mushrooms in the oil until the mushroom liquid has evaporated; season with salt and pepper. Mix the rice with the chopped egg and dill.

4. Divide the dough in two; roll out the larger part and line a buttered 24 cm cake tin with it, bringing it up the sides, then pile in layers of rice, mushrooms and chicken so it forms a dome.

5. Lay the smaller sheet of dough on top, pinch the edges together, decorate the top with flowers or leaves made from the trimmings, brush with beaten egg and cut a steam hole in the middle; heat the oven to 190 °C.

6. Bake for 45-50 minutes until golden; rest for 15 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve warm, with sour cream if you like.

Tip: Kurnik is the "king of pies" at Russian weddings: the layers were traditionally separated by thin pancakes, and a little bird shaped from dough was placed on top of the dome.