Topic: Three baltis

[Kashmiri Bob]

It's really great fun tinkering around now, with the knowledge that an authentic Birmingham balti will be the result, whatever happens, thanks to Jerry's light-grind spicing/method.  Going to get some Rajah tandoori masala this week.  The only one in my cupboard at the moment is Mangal.  Was musing last night back to when Goncalo and I visited the Adil. Was a good meal, but I do remember thinking something didn't seem quite right.  Got some strange "raw" (bitter) after-taste towards the end of my Balti chicken.  Passed it off then as due to eating curry a few hours earlier at the Kushi; lost appetite.  Now wondering if it could have been over-liberal tandoori masala.  That would do it for sure.  Have known for some time that ordering curry in Birmingham early week can be hit or miss.  Chances are it's (head) chef's night off.  Our visit then was on a Monday.  There were also other "strange happenings" on Ladypool Road the next night, with the rivet incident. But perhaps more concerning was the appearance of chicken tikka chunks with no skewer hole!    How does that work?  Very strange.  Actually, in the back of my mind I was a little apprehensive re-visiting the Adil, with Michael and Jerry, to learn their opinion of the Adil offerings, and of course in particular, the balti.  Michael had never tried one before, but Jerry knew exactly what was expected.  Sound's daft, but when he first sampled the balti I almost felt as if I'd cooked it myself and, "Masterchef" final style, waited patiently for the expert verdict.    Quite a relief when it got the big thumbs-up.    Phew!  But is was a Saturday night. The starters were a bit naff though. Michael was unlucky and got the smallest tandoori lamb chop I have every seen.  ;D

Hoping to get back there this weekend.  Want to try one of the on-the-bone karahi dishes.  A karahi is pretty much the only other curry you can get at the Adil apart from a balti.  There is a small separate menu for them under the glass-topped tables.  I learned previously from one of the lads there that this is essentially their staff curry. Be interesting to savour/compare the stock used for the karahi to that in the balti meat.  My money is on them being very similar, and the pre-cooks.  The stock I made was on the right lines, I think.  Will certainly include the Bassar spice mix next time.  Makes sense, just by comparison to Bangla chefs matching their mix powder (pre-cook to dish).  Must have a check through the various balti books again. Going to try shoulder mutton next time.  Can't see best leg mutton going into balti.  It costs more and actually tastes quite different I feel to the tougher cuts.  The mix cut I used previously will have been leg, shoulder and neck.  No more neck; it's not lean enough for the balti.  Next time I'll get the butcher to de-bone the meat and keep the bones.  Might get the pressure cooker out. Staying with the stock cube. Will try to find out what they contain. It's always nice to to know what you are eating.    Stock cubes do seem to appear in Pakistani curry/karahi recipes quite regularly.  I've seen a few where chicken stock cubes are part of lamb dishes. May be worth a go.

Do miss that amazing smokiness though.  I'll have to get that somehow.  Onwards!

Rob 

Keeping an open mind on the balti base gravy.  The "Istafa" base gravy recipe (100 Best Balti Curries) looks interesting.   

[JerryM]

cooked 2 off further balti (plain chicken) both with the squat chilli added and 1 with methi added.

i fine chopped the squat green chilli and added to the oil per the adil video. the fine chopped worked a treat but will try adding after the base next time (just a preference).

the methi was disappointing - made the dish darker - pic below. i also felt the clarity of the flavours was masked (used 0.5 tsp). added it after the base per the adil video. i feel it is used in the meat balti but not convinced it's used in the plain balti. i'm dropping it.



i'm pretty happy already with the result. for me it's an 8 with the adil a 10. i don't have a feel on what would bridge the gap except for making it more and gaining that understanding of what slight variation does as i get a better feel for the dish.

things on my mind though being:
1) balti sauce - from meat cooking. this could play a part in the plain or chicken balti dish
2) ginger - i'm not using any and this could be wrong
3) i'm was getting too much smokey taste and have reduced oil back down from 6 tbsp to 4 tbsp. i'd like to get balti dish to try out the pre heating with oil
4) like to add back in fresh garlic in place of bought paste
5) can the garlic powder be reduced to say 1 tbsp - feel it's causing sticking around pan rim
6) need to get Bengali Bob's stock cube
7) for myself to add in the crushed red chilli - just to get a madras hotness
8 ) would pre cooked par boiled service onion work
9) long term perhaps need to work on a balti base
10) need to exclude "white" cumin - the adil cumin looked grey and not like i've seen before

ps have now got 100 Balti book and feel it has learning to be gained which will help the journey and close the gap further.

well pleased and will make this dish regular from now on.

best dish this week after 7 makes:
oil 1 chef (60 ml)
fine chopped squat fat green chilli 15 ml (0.5 chilli seeds removed)
garlic paste 1 htsp
balti mix 0.5 tsp
balti gm 1.0 tsp
chilli pwdr 0.25 tsp
tandoori masala 0.5 tsp (many thanks Dalpuri)
tom puree 2 chef (watered 3:1 puree) Nb missed from previous recipe
lemon dressing 5 sec squirt
meat
fresh tomato segment 4 off (0.5 tomato)
fresh coriander large pinch (4 finger thumb)
base 300 ml
water 75 ml (extra for garlic pwdr)
garlic powder 1 htbsp


have 2 portions of base left. going to add in some green pepper and up the tandoori masala to 1 tsp and try the crushed red chilli (per adil video)

[fried]

I also made another Balti last night, traditional style. I used Madhur Jaffrey's kashmiri Lamb recipe as a starting point, but used the Balti spice mix and GM. This wasn't planned I just decided as I had them freshly made I might as well use them.

The curry tasted fine, exactly like you would expect a traditional lamb curry to taste, however there were none of the complex flavours of my first effort. I suspect the cooking time is far too long and destroys these more delicate tastes. I imagine this is why GM is added at the end of cooking in traditional style cooking and but not in BIR style. Even though I added the GM at the end the taste wasn't there. It may be that the lamb is too strong tasting when cooked in this way.

Just some random thoughts.

[chewytikka]

Hi Rob
Watching the interesting Adil vid, IMO a straight forward curry, with a good (colour) watery Garabi.
I cannot get away with Tandoor Masala Powder as it won't blend, I can see it adding something extra to Tandoori/Tikka curries like this vid one.
But not a primary ingredient for across the board curries, plus I never see it being used as norm in any Bengali kitchens around here.
I supose this could be one of the Pakistani BIR style things.
Jerry how can you possibly tell what goes into this restaurants Mix Powder/GM with any accuracy
Don't get this at all, especially on quantities of which/each spice.

Anyhoo, Inspired again, I cooked another Balti tonite.
Used fresh chicken Tenders, red pepper and a large tomato.
Good fresh flavours and colour.



cheers Chewy and Balti on

[JerryM]

having been thinking more about the things on my mind going to have a go at No 1 ie the balti sauce idea from the 100 Balti. given that i like the IFFU pre cook chicken going to sort of take the best from both info sources and See how it goes - essentially to produce a blended "sauce" as a by product of the pre cook chicken to add in to the plain balti.

i feel with the 100 Balti info the penny might just be starting to drop for me on this "stock" business.

[JerryM]

had run out of balti mix powder and felt i needed to try the 100 Balti mix.

have now realised the 100 Balti mix is very similar to LB which i know (more paprika). on wet finger taste some real clarity of spice which i feel key to balti.

my combined effort (r2) i felt muffled in comparison - much more BIR than balti. in short have made r3 taking out methi, turmeric, garlic pwdr and ginger. most of these being addable if needed at dish frying. was also taken aback by how much flavour had been lost in the few weeks since made.

going to use each mix tonight as side by side. the adil mix powder of course we know nothing about yet will have major impact on the dish taste when you get to the right ballpark which i feel i'm at.

Top original (LB_BBC_Bassar_r2), RHS 100Balti, LHS R3 Combined

[curryhell]

Will be watching for the results Jerry 

[JerryM]

curryhell,

many thanks for encouragement.

et al,

the last 2 balti were disaster and only really confirmed that the previously posted recipes are the best it's gets and this won't change for some time.

in short the pre cook and 100 Balti has opened a can of worms for me - well out of my expertise yet well pleased that i have a new area of curry to explore.

i made a combined pre cook chicken but with hindsight made a few mistakes.

what's important is that there is too much evidence to suggest that the "residue" from cooking meat is thrown away. for me the 100 balti sort of contradicts itself by giving recipe for balti sauce ie base and then the same made from the "residue".

i can only think that the "residue" is in fact balti paste. a bit like bunjarra.

IFFU pre cook chicken "residue" blended plus 100 balti additions


the 100 blati additions being: 4 off pimento, 2 off black pepper corn, 1 tbsp fresh coriander. i also used European bay per Bengali Bob.

i used 1 off heaped eating desert spoon which was far too much in a single curry portion ie 300 ml base. i also left all the whole spice in (not a good idea with hindsight) except the cinnamon for blending.

i also tried the 2 off mix powders side by side but could not decide and need to repeat. they were very different and 1 off curry was far better than the other - i don't which though as they got mixed up on their journey.

in short sticking to previously posted balti recipe and going to work on the balti paste over the coming months.

[JerryM]

i am pretty sure the iffu pre cook chicken disaster above was down to blending the European bay - i should have spice balled it and removed as it's needed for flavour but adds an unwelcome dry taste when blended in.

been working through my 100 balti book and trying a few variants - thing that's jumped out is the need for mix powder - i now feel it can be left out of the adil copy cat recipe above.

the balti gm and tandoori masala are enough and the importance of clarity in the balti taste works better without the mix. 

[Gav Iscon]

Well, as the missus is away for the week, I finally got a chance to have a go at this. Undecided, I did one to Jerry/Robs recipe and one to Ade's Adil one, both plain chicken. My current jar of minced garlic is the worst jar I've ever had although I have used the same brand a few times now and its been fine up to this one. As soon it hit the pan it just erupted everywhere and some caught on the sides of the pan and blackened. Jar's now in the bin.  Anyway cooked both and myself and my son enjoyed them both. I had to use some red pepper instead of green as the bit I thought I had wasn't there. Not sure how close they came to the Birmingham ones, I'll have to pay a visit down there to try them, but I'm going to have another go tomorrow. I did, of course, commit the cardinal sin of having them with rice and poppadoms  :

Jerry/Robs on left, Ade's on right