Topic: The Elusive Adil's Balti

[Kashmiri Bob]

My bottle of Attar arrived eventually, Air India.  No mention of Royal on the label.  Does indeed smell of Kewra, and I think rose, and other things I can't place.  Volatile stuff.  The top's on tight and the bottle is in a cupboard.  Open cupboard door and the whole kitchen smells of the attar in seconds.  Look forward to trying it out in a curry.  My next move will be a trip to a little shop I know in Sparkhill, Birmingham.  Occurred to me that Attars are the kind of thing the owner may stock.  Will be able to top up on some fresh spices too.

Rob

[Secret Santa]

Does indeed smell of Kewra, and I think rose, and other things I can't place.

The thing is ... does it remind you of any BIR smells? Maybe like biryani of old perhaps, as that's where it would traditionally be used?

[Kashmiri Bob]

Does indeed smell of Kewra, and I think rose, and other things I can't place.

The thing is ... does it remind you of any BIR smells? Maybe like biryani of old perhaps, as that's where it would traditionally be used?

I have no experience of old biryani.  The only dish I have noticed to incorporate distinct perfumery (albeit delicate) is the Birmingham Balti, especially at the Adil.  Think this particular attar won't be what I am looking for, but as we know the cooking process can alter things radically, so will have to see.  I will be trying it out in combination with Rajah tandoori powder and rotisserie chicken strips/stock.  The attar will probably be going in during base gravy prep.  I will call it Balti Chicken Mughlai Royale.   Whilst there is no mention of royalty on the bottle, or mughlai, the cost of the stuff warrants some grandeur.

Rob



         

[George]

I bought a chilled food dish from Aldi yesterday - Chicken Tikka Masala - to try out my Meetha Attar for the first time. Well, I had to start somewhere! The Aldi dish is half decent and it wouldn't have been worth me making my own CTM, for this simple test. I added about 0.25 tsp.  The test failed in that it seemed to knock out the pleasant normal flavour of the sauce and not add anything better. Next, I will try adding it to plain boiled rice, without any other flavourings. I hope it doesn't poison me. I think the amazon listing mentioned 'food grade' but there's nothing on the bottle. The aroma of the Meetha Attar is very pleasant on it's own and seems vaguely familiar. Perhaps it was used as a room fragrance in a restaurant somewhere, rather than being tasted in food.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I'm sure it won't poison you, George, but a quarter of a teaspoonful seems a great deal to me.  That is the sort of quantity I would use when adding kewra water or rose-petal water, and an attar/"itr" is many time stronger than those.  I would have thought that, quite literally, "a few drops" would have been closer to the ideal amount.

** Phil.
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http://www.attarmist.co.uk/what-is-attar/
https://www.foodieshutrecipes.com/kolkata-style-chicken-biryani/

[Kashmiri Bob]

My starting point for the base gravy will be 1 drop per kilo of onions.

[Secret Santa]

Knowing it's your particular favourite, you should have tried it in a korma first George as meetha attar is, as far as I can tell, only used in Mughlai dishes. Also, of course, biryani. But I doubt any BIR, except perhaps for top-end restaurants, will ever have used it. Oh, and like others have said, this is a concentrated form of the essence so a drop or two only is needed per dish.

[Secret Santa]

My starting point for the base gravy will be 1 drop per kilo of onions.

I don't think it's meant for the base, only finished dishes (biryani, korma etc.).

[George]

SS - korma (BIR style) was of interest to me until ten years ago but no longer. I just had a hunch that Meetha Attar might give a lift to CTM but I was wrong. The reason I added 1.25ml was that an Indian chef on youtube added 20ml kewra water and 20ml rose water to a biriani. The flavour of Meetha Attar was hard to notice in the CTM so I'm not sure it was too much. I predict that Meetha Attar will be almost impossible to discern if only adding 1 drop per kilo of onions.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I think that your Indian chef would be in the minority, George, unless he was cooking a family-sized portion.  Most of the Indian authorities on Youtube seem to recommend just a few drops, as in (for example)

Pankaj Kumar Pandey
Answered December 25, 2018
Author has 62 answers and 165.2K answer views

Kewra jal used in final stage of briyani

Final stage of MIXING & SERVING:

This is the most important part of preparing the Chicken Biriyani. You have your rice ready, and you also have your chicken, for this, you need 4/5 threads of Saffron, 1/2 cup of warm milk, KEWRA ESSENCE or ROSE WATER. Kewra Water is an extract distilled from pandanus flowers and used to flavour meats, drinks, and desserts in India and South east Asia. Put the saffron threads in the warm milk and you will get flavoured milk. Now get a pan with deep and flat surface. You can also use pressure cooker as well. Put some ghee inside the pan and also apply the ghee on the inner surface as well. Next put the prepared rice and put two/three pieces of chicken on it. Now spread the saffron flavored milk and few drops of Kewra essence/rose water on it. Again repeat the same process and when you are finished with chicken pieces, cover the upper layer with rest of the prepared rice. Next Put the lid on or close the pressure cooker and heat the pan for another 5-8 minutes.

Next open the lid and you will get the aromatic, flavored Chicken Biriyani. We have used Saffron so that the rice will get nice orange texture.

TIPS: DO NOT USE TOO MUCH KEWRA WATER/ROSE WATER as TOO MUCH FLAVOUR OF IT WILL RUIN THE FLAVOUR and TASTE OF CHICKEN BIRIYANI.

Only 2-3 drops of the Kewra essence or rose water is enough in each layers.