Topic: Three baltis

[Invisible Mike]

Hi Mike.

Yes Baltis do have their own bases. Generally they use a fair few whole spices and a special GM too. I originally used the Kushi Base from this website and have had reasonable success with it. The recipe from the subscription website is a completely different animal. It contains a lot of full fat milk and frozen cauliflower!!
I didnt have any frozen cauli so I used fresh. The finished gravy had a different smell about it, and to be honest, I doubted the potential of it. As far as the way I cooked the curry, I didnt do anything different to how I would usually cook one ie G&G, Tom puree, Spices in (martinvics balti GM), ladle of gravy, oil separation, 1/2 tsp pomegranate seeds, ladle 2 of gravy, reduction & oil separation, 3rd ladle gravy, final reduction & serve
Not sure about copyright infringements etc so dont think I could post the recipe in the public domain.

Cheers

Mick


Cheers, I would have thought with all that milk it would have looked a lot lighter than that to be honest. I'm gonna give this ago though I reckon.

People have also mentioned baltis having floral flavours present. I must admit it is debateable on whether or not the curries I have bought as baltis were what you would call authentic as far as Kushi and Adils etc go but I can't recall ever detecting anything that could be described as floral in one. Just a deep savoury taste. However I do posess a bottle each of rose water and kewra water. Are these worth adding a splash?

Also do you use standard mix powder in a balti as well as the balti masalas and what about normal garam masala?

Cheers

[mickdabass]

Mike:
This is the Massala that I use with thanks to Martinvic who posted the recipe on page 1 of this thread (reply #22). I Warmed up the whole spices in a frying pan and then ground them up and added the powdered spices

INGREDIENTS FOR BALTI MASALA

Makes about 200g ( Or enough for 20 single servings)

 3 Tablespoons coriander seeds
 3 Tablespoons white cumin seeds
 1 six inch piece of cinnamon broken into pieces
 1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
 1 Tablespoon fennel seeds
 1 Tablespoon black mustard seeds
 The seeds of six black cardamom pods (4 black 3 Green)
 1 Tablespoon fenugreek seeds
 1 teaspoon onion seeds
 10 cloves

 1 Tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves
 1 Tablespoon dried mint leaves
 30 dried curry leaves
 7 bay leaves


 2 Tablespoons turmeric
 2 Tablespoon ground garlic powder
 2 Tablespoons ground ginger powder
 1 Tablespoon ground red chilli powder
 1 Tablespoon Premium Curry Powder
 1/2 Tablespoon Tandoori Masala powder
 1/2 Tablespoon All Purpose Seasoning


Method

Place the seeds, cloves, cinnamon and peppercorns in a dry frying pan and dry fry over medium heat until the spices begin to smoke.

Place these spices along with all the leaves in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar and grind to a fine powder.

The Balti in the photo was made using 2 tsp of the above with 1/2 tsp pomegranate seeds. I didnt use any kerwa water that time, but previously I have used 1 - 2 tsp added a couple of minutes before serving. I have been experimenting with lemon juice but dont bother now. I think the pomegranate seeds add a little zest to the dish instead

[Invisible Mike]

Cheers Mick. I'm really going to have to invest in a grinder asap! I took a trip to "the dark side" for the RCR gravy.:-X  As soon as my current batch in the freezer is used up I'll make up this one. I'm going to attempt a recipe based on the info I have gleaned from the thread albeit an "educated stab in the dark"!.

I was thinking:

Balti Recipe

2 tbsp Ghee
1/2 Small Onion Sliced
1tsp G&G Paste
1tsp Tomato Puree
1tsp Methi
1tsp Chilli Powder
2tsp Martinvics Balti Masala
1/2 tsp Pomegranate Seeds (on order)
Pre-cooked Chicken
2-3 Ladles RCR Gravy
2 tsp Kewra Water
Pinch Garam Masala
Chopped Coriander to serve

I am intrigued by this kewra water even though it looks like it's a bit on the artificial side. (I bought East End brand) I also ordered some Tej Patta Indian Bay leaves so may use them in the Masala. I have never used them before so don't know how the flavour differs from European bay guess I'll have to wait and see.

Cheers for the inspiration.. I'll keep you posted.

[martinvic]

Hi Mike

Just to be clear to everyone, it isn't my Balti Masala mix, I found it on the internet somewhere, but can't remember where.

The Bay leaves should be the Indian Tej Patta ones, nothing like European Bay, more cinnamon/cassia like.
Also the (4 black 3 Green) cardamoms is my alternative to just using the black ones, as other recipes only called for the green.

As for a coffee/spice grinder, I use one that came with a cheap Jug blender, and it does the job great.
So if you have a need for a Jug blender too, might be an option.

Martin

[JerryM]

mickdabass,

many thanks on pomegranate seed info. will add in on next dish (0.5 tsp).

[JerryM]

i've made the combined base and cooked 3 off dish.

i'm sticking with the 0.5 unit of turmeric in the mix powder. it feels like a key difference between Balti and BIR ie much more turmeric in BIR.



dish 1 & 2 were not brill - i smoked them too much. the base ended up with more oil in it than normal and together with the 1 chef added at the start of frying made too much.

on dish 3 i'd remembered my point 6 on the thoughts going forward - NOT to over cook a Balti. on dish 3 i merged each ingredient addition instead of cooking them through and this made a significant difference. was well pleased with dish 3. that perception that Balti is very hot fried is just plain wrong.

dish 3 recipe. going to try 0.25 tsp ajwain with the cumin seed at the start and the pomegranate seed as per mickdabass.

Current recipe:
oil 1 chef
Light grind cumin seed 0.5 tsp
crushed chopped garlic 1 clove
Sliced onion 1/2 onion
Sliced Green pepper 5 pieces
mix powder 0.5 tsp
Chef garam 0.5 tsp
methi 0.5 tsp
Blended tin Tomato 1 chef
meat
Base 300ml
Fine chopped Green chilli 1 off
Fresh coriander 1 Htbsp
fresh tomato segment 1 off
Lemon dressing 3 sec squirt

base for info:
Veg oil 700 ml (500 rec)
Veg ghee 30g
Onion 1000g
Ginger 1 inch (5%) 20 ml paste
Salt 9 or 11g
Black salt 9 or 11g
Garlic 50g 1 off bulb (5%)
green chilli 5g 1 off
Tom puree 30g
Cumin 5 ml
Coriander 10 ml
Chilli 2.5 ml
Turmeric 2.5 ml
Methi 5 ml (0.5%)
Paprika 5 ml
Balti chef garam 5 ml (0.5%)
Tin toms 200 g (20%)
Green cardamom 5 off
Bay 2 off
Anis 1 off
water (start 300 ml, 600 stage 2, 300 ml thinning)

Makes 2.4L or 8 portion

Thoughts lightly spiced, no ajwain Taste, oil weak, reddish colour

going forward i don't really see where it could be improved without having better feel for the real Balti House offering. going on memory is just not enough.

the only area i'd progressively look to improve is the oil taste. it could be the chef garam needs tweeking or just more garam in the base.

ps going to use the last 3 portions to cook my norm BIR - would be good if the same base could suit both Balti and BIR with just the dish ingredients being changed ie mix and garam.

[mickdabass]

Cheers Mick. I'm really going to have to invest in a grinder asap! I took a trip to "the dark side" for the RCR gravy.:-X  As soon as my current batch in the freezer is used up I'll make up this one. I'm going to attempt a recipe based on the info I have gleaned from the thread albeit an "educated stab in the dark"!.

I was thinking:

Balti Recipe

2 tbsp Ghee
1/2 Small Onion Sliced
1tsp G&G Paste
1tsp Tomato Puree
1tsp Methi
1tsp Chilli Powder
2tsp Martinvics Balti Masala
1/2 tsp Pomegranate Seeds (on order)
Pre-cooked Chicken
2-3 Ladles RCR Gravy
2 tsp Kewra Water
Pinch Garam Masala
Chopped Coriander to serve

I am intrigued by this kewra water even though it looks like it's a bit on the artificial side. (I bought East End brand) I also ordered some Tej Patta Indian Bay leaves so may use them in the Masala. I have never used them before so don't know how the flavour differs from European bay guess I'll have to wait and see.

Cheers for the inspiration.. I'll keep you posted.

Looks good MM. Looking forward to reading your results

Thanks

Mick

[Kashmiri Bob]

Heading out later for another tester. The Shahi Nan Kebab, Sparkhill.  Five star rating by Andy Munroe.

Porn and blurb to follow.

Rob 

[Kashmiri Bob]

Balti chicken (

[Kashmiri Bob]

Whizzed this one up last night with my usual curry base to see what would happen. 


Balti chicken mushroom madras









Used Mangal Balti curry masala as suggested by Chewy.  Have to say it was pretty dammed good.  Quite a simple mix in terms of ingredients.  Coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, chillies, asophoetida, and mace.  Also included some leg meat as per the Adil, and a pinch of Ajwain early on.  A splosh of soy sauce and kewra water. A tiny pinch of All-Spice to finish. Lacked some of the real-deal balti magic, but looking forward to trying something along these lines again with a different base, and stuff.

Rob