Topic: Three baltis

[Gav Iscon]

Spent the last couple of days at the NEC and with a night in between, it would be rude not to give the Balti triangle a visit. Plan was to go to Shababs on Ladypool Road as it was on the to try list. Mate with me had never been before and on the way in and transport being a Transit, I envisaged parking being a pain. Driving past Adils, now back in its former location, lo and behold there was a perfect parking opportunity so I thought stuff it I'll give the Adils another go even after being disappointed the last time I went. So parked up outside, in we went into a rather smart refurbished restaurant.



Menu is here for those interested http://www.adilbalti.co.uk/menu1.pdf

A couple of poppadoms to start and Seekh Kebab for starter which was very nice.



For mains , I had Chicken Balti (madras hot) with a plain naan and my mate had Balti Sehat Angaiz (Bhuna style dish cooked with chicken mince, king prawns and peas) with pilau rice. The chicken dishes either come strip or cubes. I chose the strip.

Chicken Balti madras hot


Balti Sehat Angaiz

Mine was a definite improvement on the last lot i got from here but did'nt in my opinion have the light and fresh taste of the one I had at Imrans. Very nice though and it contained quite a few bits of fresh chili for heat. The Balti Sehat Angaiz  my mate had was really nice and if I go back that'll be my main choice. Mate thought his was a bit salty as he doesn't do salt at all but I found them not to bad.
Bill came to just over

[Onions]

Great story! looks ok don't it

[Naga]

Good report and photos, Gav. Just the job for anyone (like me!) who doesn't know the area. The grub looks pretty good too! Imagine bumping into someone with a not-so-distant connection to Chewy - it's a small world right enough!

[mickdabass]

I think I have had a bit of a Eurika Moment
Had some friends over at the week end and made a big pot of CTM using jb's recipe for the sauce, and my recipe for the marinade.Must say it myself but it was bloody nice even though I never usually eat the stuff. I wasn't sure what else to cook, and as I had plenty of Abdul Moheds Enhanced Gravy simmering away, I thought I would have a little play around.
The elusive Balti is my real Nemisis. Its such a shame that Bengali Bob and JerryM arent about much these days to help with the quest so now I must push forward and hope that my "discovery" will help move us all closer to achieving the true balti taste (subject to regional variation of course).
Now I am not saying that I have cracked the (Lets call it) "Original Birmingham Balti" but feel sure I have moved a significant step closer.

I decided to go back to the beginning as it were, and simply make a curry without adding any extra spice to the gravy whatsoever!

I fried about 2 tbsp finely chopped onions in about 2 chef spoons of ghee until soft, then added 1 tsp garlic paste & 1 tsp ginger paste and fried it for a couple of minutes until it had stopped spitting. I Then added 1 ladle gravy and reduced down until the oil seperated. Did this 2 more times and then added 1.5 tsp balti massala with the last ladle of gravy, and a generous measure of fresh chopped Coriander (or 2 measures if your name is Garp lol).

All the way through cooking, the colour was right - that was the big stand-out point to be honest. Sounds unimportant I know, but something just tells me this is moving in the right direction.

The taste?
The spicing level was right in quantity, but wrong in taste.
I had 4 attempts using different massalas but didnt come close to achieving the final "Birmingham Balti"taste

Regards
Mick

[Naga]

Nice to see this thread revisited, Mick. As someone who has never had the pleasure of a genuine Balti, I had high hopes that someone would crack the dish, and it seemed like BB and JerryM were on a very positive track.

I know Bob has posted a little recently, but JerryM just seems to have fallen off a cliff (not literally, I hope!) and his sudden disappearance from the forum was a surprise. He had a truly analytical approach to recipe development and his unexplained absence is a real loss. I do hope he is in good health.

Anyway, more power to your elbow, Mick, and good luck with your research.

[mickdabass]

Cheers Bud
When the going gets tough etc

[Secret Santa]

Mick why don't you try the balti garam masala which they were working on as the spice addition. I got the impression that that was the critical part from what bb and Jerry were saying. It's buried in this extraordinarily long thread somewhere!

[mickdabass]

SS Ive tried loads and nothing comes close to where I need it to be.

[fried]

I tried something from one of Jerry's spreadsheets and had really good results. As I mentioned on the thread before I've never tried a 'real' balti so never really knew if it was the taste people were looking for. I miss this thread and I miss Jerry's contributions .

[mickdabass]

Yes. I miss his input too