Old school madras. Amazing what a difference cooking this way makes. Many years ago I tried with the pan flat (and less oil). Lid on. Some fair results, but it was very hit or miss. Basically turn the heat up and hope for the best. Here we have much more control.

No rush either. Takes the chefs 20 mins plus, commercial burner, no lid. Takes me 40 mins plus. Low gas (lid on). Add another 20 mins (minimum) resting in the TA container (wrapped in foil) to mimic "delivery". There we have it. A 1 h curry made with base gravy. Is it worth it? Yes! With a little experience/practice the taste is, well, old school. I think it was JerryM who first mentioned something about "almost piquant".

Coming along nicely



No stirring after all the ingredients have been combined. Occasionally, "move" some of the sauce/curry (higher up the pan), carefully. Done. No scraping, or as little as possible. Takes practice. No pyrotechnics/showboating either. When happy, tip off excess oil, if you want. One final thing.This is a high temperature curry. Plastic TA container lids may creak, foil/cardboard lids will get soaked in oil. Take appropriate precautions. There may be leakage. A plastic carrier bag will come in handy.

Rob

Slightly behind schedule.





Tandoori chicken. Fresh chicken thighs (Asda). 2 kg, so got 2 trays, plus.











Rob 

This is said to be an authentic Balti Chicken recipe obtained from a hotelier by the author Sabiha Khokhar, and included in her 1995 book A Taste of Baltistan.

The book includes a number of interesting recipes that I will try over the course of time, but I would suggest that this particular recipe won’t be one of them without certain amendments . I think that the late inclusion of coarsely ground cumin and coriander would result in a raw “uncooked” spice taste and an unpleasant texture.

I bring it to your attention as a conversation topic and to get your comments.


Balti Chicken

Ingredients
1kg chicken on the bone, cut into 5 cm (2 inch) pieces
3 tablespoons oil
60g grated onion
1 tablespoon grated fresh garlic
750g finely chopped fresh tomatoes
 or 500g chopped canned tomatoes
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons ghee
1 tablespoon coarsely ground cumin
1 tablespoon coarsely ground coriander
2 tablespoons grated fresh root ginger
4 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
2 finely sliced jalapeño peppers (optional)
1 teaspoon garam masala

Method
Wash the chicken pieces with cold water and put in a colander to drain.
Heat the oil in a karahi or deep frying pan.
 Add the onion and garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute on high heat.
Add the tomatoes and cook uncovered on medium heat for 10 minutes or until the liquid is reduced.
Add the chicken pieces, turmeric, red chilli powder and salt.
 Stir well and cook, covered, on low heat for 20–25 minutes, or until the chicken is tender.
 On medium heat, allow all excess liquid to evaporate until a thick gravy remains.
Add the ghee, ground cumin, ground coriander, ginger and chopped coriander.
 Simmer for 7–10 minutes or until the fat separates out.
 Add the sliced jalapeños if desired and garnish with the garam masala.

Serve with:
chapattis, tandoori roti, or naan.

There were a lot of Balti books published in the '90s T63. At this time we were led to believe everything was done pretty much from scratch and with fresh ingredients. I still have a copy of Pat Chapman's Balti Curry Cookbook (The exciting new curry technique). He also went down the Baltistan route, and there are some interesting references to the Birmingham balti. All the recipes look like pure guesswork to me; inclusion of Balti lobster and Balti oyster recipes sends any semblance of credibility well and truly out of the window. The real balti is cheap BIR cafe food, always was and always will/should be, no matter how it's dressed up. It's also wonderful, but not so cheap anymore.

Rob

Balti chana masala. With freshly made naan, left over french fries and egg fried rice. Just needed 1L of diet coke to complete the order.

Rob

Homemade Balti chicken (madras). With rice and mango chutney.





Too much pulp in this one. Lost the taste/flavour.

Rob