Topic: Three baltis

[Secret Santa]

At a guess it's going to be the 'balti' paste.

[chewytikka]

Just picked up the legendary Balti Towers balti jar sauces. As recommended by Jan O Pederson, the 1991 Speedway World Champion!




Was always going to be a bit of long-shot this one.  Had hoped there'd be some root veg gems in the ingredients list.  Never mind.  I shall have a taste later.

Rob 

LoL  ;D  Not sure if your losing the plot with these Rob, did you actually cook something with them?
Anyhoo, I've got some old Balti Cookbooks (90's) somewhere in the loft, I'll try and dig them out
and have a look see, might help, you never know.

I've also asked a few Chefs, who were around in the 80's, but nothing doing as yet! They just twist and say (moderated) Curry.
I'm sure they think I'm losing it with all the history questions,  ;D ;D
Started a full blown augument about which place in the road had the first Tandor Oven  ;D ;D

Balti on...
cheers Chewy

[Kashmiri Bob]

Ha ha, no, I've put them in the cupboard (at the back) for a rainy day.    Get those books dusted off Mike.  I'm waging a major campaign on the balti in the next week or so.  I've got some bostin ideas to try out.

Rob 

[Les]

any ideas on what the dish next to the onion is - it's got me beat and i feel it's probably a key ingredient:

12) Unknown paste ?

Could be a green chilli paste, or (clutching at straws ) A Dhal paste of some sort?

[Secret Santa]

I've got some bostin ideas to try out.

Hehe, proper Brummie!  ;D

[Kashmiri Bob]

I've heard people talk in hushed whispers about the Birmingham Baltis but unfortunatly missed the boat on that. I find it hard to understand the exact difference in taste between Balti and standard BIR.

It is very difficult to describe the difference between top end BIR and Balti.  Both amazing in their own right.  But the delicate balti flavours dance and sparkle so much. So a BIR Chicken madras could be a rumba, whereas a Balti chicken madras, would be a cha cha.  But accordingly a BIR phal would be a tango, and there is not really a balti equivalent.

Rob     

[JerryM]

Phil [Chaa006],

in short the turmeric unit is an error. the Birmingham Balti book quotes cumin at 30ml and turmeric at 15 ml ie 0.5 unit.

trouble is i'm not sorted 100% on turmeric in mix pwdr. i use iffu's mix and don't know the composition. before that i used mouchak which has 4 unit turmeric. in comparing the 2 the curry powder is a major factor but i feel the iffu has more turmeric - my gut feeling is 10 unit.

i've never got round to trying it out - hence the conflicting units. and the real problem with trying to guess "balti"  - how close to stick to the books v gut feeling. hence "ball park" being the aim as fine tuning is then quite easy.

best wishes,

[JerryM]

DalPuri, Les,Secret Santa,

very much appreciate you're ideas on the video. the "bowl" in question is at 03:01 and 05:24 in the video and has a yellow greenish color - i've never made anything like.

It's not the brown onion - i bought a pack some time ago and struggled to find a use. i know the taste and don't see it in balti. it's like plain onion bhaji.

I can't see it being chilli on it's own as fresh green chilli is added direct.

I don't like the idea of it being a paste - chewy's overview of both paste and Pakistani BIR don't sit well on my experiences. an Indian lady a good while ago told me you don't "should not" need to use paste - it's a quick fix. all the curries i've not like in both Bradford and Rusholme rightly or wrongly i put down to the Pakistani take on BIR. there's nothing wrong with it just not what my taste buds are tuned to.

Dhal past - that's a possibility. i've never made Dhal and consequently need to park it if it is ingredient 12

having racked my mind i think i'm going to try making the Akash Balti paste (posted earlier in the post). if for nothing else than to put my mind at rest that it has no part to play. the split peas and the dhal suggestion have given me that extra push to give it a try.

ps it could of been base but the pots right there and looks nothing like.

[Peripatetic Phil]

in short the turmeric unit is an error. the Birmingham Balti book quotes cumin at 30ml and turmeric at 15 ml ie 0.5 unit.

OK, understood Jerry -- many thanks for the clarification.
** Phil.

[DalPuri]

very much appreciate you're ideas on the video. the "bowl" in question is at 03:01 and 05:24 in the video and has a yellow greenish color - i've never made anything like.

greenish??  Are we looking at the same bowl?
Les said green too, but i've viewed this on 2 different computers and looks like a mustard colour to me. 
The first thing that sprung to mind was whizzed fried onions because of the colour.
Could it be mustard then?