Topic: ++++MDB’s Birmingham Balti Gravy 100% Clone Al Frash Balti Restaurant ++++

[Kashmiri Bob]

Checking the cupboards today to see what I need to get in.  Found I only had 33 g cassia bark, so popped it in the pressure cooker for 10 mins at 90 kpa, to see what would happen. Promising.  The cassia seemed pretty well stripped.  There could be more got out of it, but there is anyway (for me) with regular boiling.  The liquid smells strongly of cassia, as does my kitchen.  So it may be possible to make the entire Akhni stock in a pressure cooker.  A backup at least, if needed.



Rob

[livo]

Mk1 Balti gravy made to spec (exactly), using brand new fresh spices, straight out of the packet and fresh garlic and ginger.  This is not botched in any way.
First dish on the cooker was Balti Shawarma Chicken w/ mushrooms.  I'm afraid I simply still do not get it.  Even with the additional spicing from the pre-marinated chicken breast, the predominant flavour of the dish is Coriander leaves.  Was it nice?  It was ok and I enjoyed it, but once again, had this been made with plain chicken breast, it would be dead boring.  It may be better tomorrow after a bit of aging.

The Shawarma chicken was 95% chicken breast fillet, Shawarma style rub (5%) Spices (Cumin, Turmeric, Paprika, Coriander seed, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Chilli, Black Pepper) Garlic, Salt, Onion, Corn Starch, Rice Flour, Herbs (Coriander, Parsley).

I'll try another chicken dish tomorrow using my Balti paste and I have some boned and Indian style marinated lamb leg.  Again, I rate this gravy as a "Base Gravy".  It just does nothing for me when used alone.

[Kashmiri Bob]

The Shawarma chicken was 95% chicken breast fillet, Shawarma style rub (5%) Spices (Cumin, Turmeric, Paprika, Coriander seed, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Chilli, Black Pepper) Garlic, Salt, Onion, Corn Starch, Rice Flour, Herbs (Coriander, Parsley).

Yellow sticker Bernard Matthews?  Soz, couldn't help it 

I think I get it livo.  So Mick's recipe. MKI. Hypothetically, let's forget the Akhni stock, it doesn't exist, not there, never heard of it.  All we have is the spice mix for this base.  Now let's just consider the powdered spices (mix power).  It's a good (robust) mix powder.  Herein lies the curved ball.  This hypothetical base (with additions at the pan stage) will produce a fine and dandy curry. But, not a Birmingham Balti, which requires no further addition, to give sublime quality.  As I think Mick said, you won't want to make anything else.  I truly believe this.  It hits nail directly on head, which is why I don't want to see it going under the radar, passed off as just a good easy-to-make gravy, but nothing to rave about.

As I said earlier, will be making another batch this week.  Let's see how it goes.  There will be no changes to the ingredients.  Reckon I'll try making the Akhni stock in the pressure cooker.  I'll do this first and go from there.  I have a nice new bag of cassia bark.  A while back I spoke with Jerry on the phone.  We haven't arranged anything, but one day I hope to make Mick's recipe for him.  Balti chicken, no additions.  I would use chicken strip as I know he likes this.  Can't wait to see his reaction.  When we spoke sure I mentioned that I thought Mick's balti may actually be better than what we had at Adil's, all those years ago.  He may not have heard me.

Rob

 

[Kashmiri Bob]

Batch 10 (fail) photos.  Looks fine, but wasn't. Expect error(s) made during Akhni stock (not shown) prep.

Veg, 4 L pressure cooker



Spice mix



Pre-blend



Rob

[Robbo141]

I’m with Livo on this.  A great, really great base, but the dish on its own is not for me. This is my little spice mix I add and cook in the usual way for an excellent result.  I’ve made 4 batches of this base and it’s my go-to right now.



Robbo

[livo]

Yellow sticker Bernard Matthews?  Soz, couldn't help it 

This hypothetical base (with additions at the pan stage) will produce a fine and dandy curry. But, not a Birmingham Balti, which requires no further addition, to give sublime quality.  As I think Mick said, you won't want to make anything else.  I truly believe this.  It hits nail directly on head, which is why I don't want to see it going under the radar, passed off as just a good easy-to-make gravy, but nothing to rave about.
 

Markdown at Woolworths actually.

All I can say is that if this base, made to recipe, used as the be all and end all creates a Birmingham Balti, I wouldn't bother driving down the road to collect one.  I'm sorry if I upset anybody but it just doesn't do anything for me. It's a really good base gravy that can be used to create excellent curry, but it falls flat if used as intended.  I also think that in future I will be omitting the coriander and adding it at dish preparation.

This is now my 4th batch and my opinion has not changed from first impressions.
 

[livo]

Yesterday, I made a basic lamb curry using the boned and spiced lamb shoulder, which I had pre-cooked on slow simmer for about an hour. I fried off a bit of onion and garlic in oil which had tej patta, cassia, clove and a black cardamom spicing, added the diced lamb in its own spices, briefly fried then followed with a bit of water and 1 ladle of the base gravy on simmer (lid on).  The curry itself was standard preparation with the addition of 1 TBSP of Mild Curry Paste and ended up being, once again, a delicious lamb curry.  I mixed some of the pre-cook liquid through and reduced it down as well.

Served alongside the Balti Chicken Shawarma from the previous night was telling. Although the chicken dish had improved from a day in the fridge, the lamb dish, with additional ingredients was far more enjoyable, as agreed by Mrs L.  This version of Birmingham Balti Chicken will not be investigated any further in my kitchen.  The gravy is a beauty.

[livo]

I just made a dish using this Base Gravy that is way outside MD's original thoughts I would imagine.  Hybrid Sri Lankan / Thai / Indian, inspired by a Sri Lankan Seafood Curry I ate while dining out last week, this was made up and adapted as I went using a Youtube video as a starting point.  I'll find a more appropriate spot to post what I did while it's fresh in my mind, (so I don't forget).

[Kashmiri Bob]

Made another batch of MKI over the weekend and it went wrong again.  This time I've spotted my mistake.  It won't be relevent, per se, to other's results, but the base has come out on the bland side again, so I will report it later.  Will need to make another batch of MKI to question if there may be any association.  Will do this later this week.

So last night's "Balti Chicken" was OK, but it wasn't Mick's 100% Al Frash clone.  Far from on it.  I knew it would drop short from taste-testing the gravy, so I pre-cooked the chicken with additions beforehand.  A decent enough curry, but once again nothing to get excited about.  I tried out the blow torch finish for this one though.  Oh yes, sorts the aesthetic out a treat.  What I didn't expect was that it also adds smokey flavour to the dish.  Apparently a blue butane flame reaches insanely high degrees celsius. Also fun to do.

Will actually soon get through this batch of gravy.  The curry I made with the last of batch10 was a Kashmiri Bassar Gosht.  Will be making more.  I think Santa will approve.  The pre-cook is loaded up with bassar masala (the very hot type).  A tsp of clear honey to finish.  The fresh methi I bought seems to be holding up quite well in the fridge.  Will check.  Kashmiri Methi Gosht may be doable too.

Rob
 

[Kashmiri Bob]

Regrouping.



Fortunately, I backed-up all my posts on the transient site, photos too.

Rob