I have long cooked my curries in cast iron cookware but  I bought a Ninja slow cooker for making bone broth as my previous slow cooker seemed to boil everything,  even when on low.
The ninja has a sear function and I thought I would give it a go to brown onions and meat then turn it onto slow cooker and compare how the curries turned out.
I tried an often cooked Madhur Jaffrey Rogan Josh made with shin of beef, and a traditional north Indian korma with mutton, no cream or nuts, which is one of our regular recipes.
There is no comparison. Neither of those cooked in the ninja came out with any great depth of flavour. They seemed a bit wishy washy in comparison to our usual dishes.
I cooked another mutton korma today and the depth of flavour between the two was very noticeable.
Whether it is because I am unfamiliar with cooking in the ninja may be the reason, but a long slow cook in a Le Creuset pan returned a much better result.

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.

I’ve been catching up on the Food Network’s Secret of the Curry Kitchen with Asma Khan.
Interesting how she cooks the Dishes in her Darjeeling Express restaurant in London.

The dishes are cooked in bulk in a home style way instead of using base sauces etc.

Some of the dishes are on the food network web site and I already have my eye on the duck leg bhuna as well as the Railway Curry.

I also fancied the Kosha Mangso. The recipe for this wasn’t on the website but Maunika Gowardhan has one on her site which I intend to try on Bank Holiday Monday. Only difference is I am using goat instead of lamb that is in the recipe. I’ve just pulled a kilo out of the freezer.

https://foodnetwork.co.uk/search?q=Secrets%20of%20the%20curry%20kitchen

Edit, I’ve also been dropping off at night to Radio Leicester’s Mission Curry podcast. Some interesting guests for a low budget offering.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0h5tqf2?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Quote from: Kashmiri Bob on May 06, 2025, 10:49 AM

Interesting video by Steven Heap:

https://youtu.be/8IbzWuZPDUw?si=TnLjlDRWATgRJOhu

Rob

As it is Indian cuisine I will be compelled to give it a try when it opens.
https://www.indigostreetfood.com/menu-westfield/

I went to give it a try last week, dropping in after 11.00 which is when the breakfast menu is replaced by the lunch menu. I tried to order some tandoori chicken and rice that was sitting under the heat-lights on the servery.
The serving lady kindly pointed out the dish was only available post 11.00 hrs, to which I responded it was 11.15. She queried it with another member of staff who advised me to return in 30 minutes.
I assumed that by then the chicken would have dried out and the rice would be overcooked.
So I won’t now be trying out. The early reviews are coming in that are generally not very complimentary and don’t inspire confidence.

If I need a curry fix for lunch I will continue to opt for Brick Lane.

I trawl through many many Indian food blogs, mostly those with recipes I can try out at home. I will also look at recipes on these blogs to see what subtle and not so subtle changes they each provide for one given dish, Rogan Josh, Achari chicken etc. I then like to play around with these subtleties to see what best suits my palate.
One blog I follow that has no recipes on the site is the Good Korma blog https://goodkorma.com/
It is part travelogue, part book review and a lot of good stories and interviews with some of the leading lights in the U.K. Indian food trade, including Will Bowlby, Vivek Singh and Asma Khan.
The author’s dedication/obsession with Indian food is unique. And as I write it is still being updated with contributions from March 2025. Unlike a lot of blogs that remain online for years after their last instalment.
Give it a look, there is plenty to read on the subject of Indian food, but beware…no recipes!