Hi DD,
It's a good book DD, I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to broaden their curry cooking knowledge.
The introduction on the origins of "balti" makes for an interesting read.
The best section (in my opinion) is the "balti specials". They are well worth trying. The "special balti base sauce" used for these is quite different from your usual and is an interesting and refreshing change from the usual we see and refer to (maybe we are missing a trick or two because of their similarity?)
The "special balit base sauce" is based (excuse the pun) on milk, water, onions, garlic, ginger, carrot, celeriac, mooli and spices (no tomatoes). It does pick up an unusual astringent "twang" (from the cassia I think), but is well worth trying....as are the accompanying "balti special" curries (bhoona, dhansak, ceylon, dopiaza, jalfrezi, kashmiri, kofta, korma, madras, vindaloo, malay, patia, phal, rogan josh, etc). They make very tasty curries. I'd be surprised if you weren't pleased with them.
The other recipes in the book don't use a curry base.
I'm still not quite sure what makes these "baltis" though?
The breads work well.
The "tandoori dry mix masala" and the "red masala paste" work well for CTM, etc.
I didn't go much on the "green masala paste" (coriander and mint).
The "aromatic salt" is interesting.
There is nothing much wrong with the "balti masala mix", the "balti masala paste" or the "balti garam masala".
I think anyone can see, from the above list, that the book is worth trying. I think it is one of his best.
Topic: pat chapmans balti curry club booK, is it worth trying out? ( 12,827 )
