Topic: Three baltis

[goncalo]

Nice matar gosht there Bob! what's this punjab paradise thing?

[Peripatetic Phil]

Tomato powder arrived.  Looking forward to giving this a whirl.

Hmm.  Wouldn't recommend placing too much credence on the use-by dates (plural) ...

[Kashmiri Bob]

Nice matar gosht there Bob! what's this punjab paradise thing?

Balti matar gosht.  Like it!

Tomato powder mentioned in this vid at 04.40 Goncalo.  Looks like chopped fresh and powder is the way to go.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/video/2010/mar/30/birmingham-balti-triangle

Rob 

[Secret Santa]

In the early days of this forum Pete visited a takeaway where they used what they called "tomato powder" but it turned out to be paprika. Why do you think tomato powder is an ingredient?

[Kashmiri Bob]

Why do you think tomato powder is an ingredient?

Just a wild guess.

Rob  ;D

[JerryM]

Curryhell,

on the photo with and without flash - for BIR i certainly aim for the lighter version ie flash. the Khyber Pass must be quite dark inside as until Bob's pics i'd thought of Balti as darker (due to the garam). i take most of my photo without flash trying to take during good day light. the dish 4 photo was taken as light was fading - hence feeling the darker pic was not how it looked and deciding to take with flash but the flash version is is too light - in short neither are right but lighter version closest.

it's not good when you're quite dependent on getting the looks right - loved Chewytikka's pic looked very nice Balti.

back on Balti.

1) Lovage - the parcel from mickdabass (many thanks) has arrived - the stuff is ajwain which i already know from the original iffu base. i ended up not being keen on it and switched to fennel at the time but may well have had the balance wrong - time will tell. also picked up bag of onion seed in readiness for an oven roast.

2) 100 Best Balti extract by Ray Graham

the tomato paste or puree recipe looks very different:

butter 15g
basil 0.5 tsp
mint 2 tsp
black pepper 0.5 tsp
tin toms 450g
salt 0.5 tsp

the akash balti paste same comment: butter, ginger, garlic, onion, carrot, f.coriander green pepper, chopped toms, tom puree, split peas, methi, mix, curry powder, turmeric. it almost reads like a base to me but would like to think it's aimed at a bunjarra equivalent.

both parked for now


ps dish 4 recipe forgot to add fresh coriander to the list of ingredients - i use 4 finger and thumb pinch/handful ~ 2 tbsp - essential for BIR and Balti

[Kashmiri Bob]

Getting nowhere whatsoever with the Kushi "Authentic Balti Curry" basics.  For one thing the base gravy recipe is essentially bog-standard Bangla, and not what we're looking for, in my opinion.  Time for a re-think me thinks.

Rob 

[Kashmiri Bob]

I've just had another brain-wave.  We need a paste.  That's it, definitely. It's time for some serious balti bagar!

Rob 

[goncalo]

would you not be able to make your own tomato powder from sundried tomato Bob?

[chewytikka]

Hey Rob
I think the Tomato powder was probably a gaff made by the presenter of the video.
As it was his first time making one for camera and didn't know what he was looking at, just following the bewildered cook. ;D ;D

Anyhoo I new I'd seen my Balti dish before!
Here it is, been on youtube for 6 years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GH8UbfAQIM

cheers Chewy