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

[Secret Santa]

Was just looking at Shebabs website and right on their home page is a quote from a customer, "Wanted to order a meat madras but had to order a meat balti and pay extra to have it madras strength upon arrival and tasting there was no flavour and no madras heat tasted bland.
Was expecting alot more from the balti triangle establishment.?  "

Pretty brave of them to put a review like that on their front page!  Is this the place? -https://www.shababs.co.uk/

...Malwarebytes blocks it on my machine due to a risky connection. Perhaps it knows the difference between a curry and a balti too   

No this is it: http://www.shababsb12.co.uk/

That one you quoted seems sort of fake, it forwarded me to a dodgy £100 amazon voucher website! Probably why Malwarebytes if flagging it as dodgy.

[Secret Santa]

Is this a Birmingham Balti?  If it isn't I don't know what is!!!
No way I'm going to get that heat on my cooker.  I could on the 3 ring propane camp burner (maybe).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAd5dM0u7Ss&t=406s

Strangely there's an almost identical video but this time hosted by the Hairy Bikers. Watch it to see if I'm right:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7CBbWW-4U0

And chicken and spinach balti at the same place by the same guy:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H77IzOvx04

And Steven heap's take on Birmingham balti: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC9tn4ZwwA

I fell down the YouTube balti rabbit hole.

[Secret Santa]

I really think that all the flame and fluff is a bit of a show really though. How much of the heat from above (combusting oil splatter) is really doing anything to the food.

In general I agree with you however I've never seen that sort of flame sustained throughout the cooking process. I feel that must have an effect.

Just for show I feel.  Not needed.  I don't use the word perfection lightly and have achieved it with Mick's recipe on a domestic kitchen hob.  It was nice to see base gravy in the video link though.  It doesn't seem that long ago it was everything fresh, nothing pre-cooked, no base gravy, fresh, fresh, fresh.  As mentioned earlier, it's basically cafe food, quick and easy prep.  I have never seen a video of a Birmingham Balti house kitchen turning out, say, 50-100 covers.  It's always a demonstration.  Not a bad thing.  Good marketing.  How it's actually done wouldn't have the same ring to it.

Rob

The more I watch the Shababs videos the more I'm convinced the huge constant flame is not a gimmick but a necessity. They knock these baltis out in six minutes from raw ingredients (unlike standard BIR) and that's only possible using that huge heat throughout. Also, if you watch the videos he adds extra spices at the curry cooking stage and that makes a lot more sense to me.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I do have such a burner (in the garage) but I have never deployed it  — perhaps it's time I did so !

[Secret Santa]

I do have such a burner (in the garage) but I have never deployed it  — perhaps it's time I did so !

Are you going to go full-on native and invest in an "authentic" balti dish?

https://thebirminghambaltibowlco.com/pages/about-us

[Peripatetic Phil]

Of course, Santa — how on earth could I even hope to achieve a close emulation of the real thing if I stinted on a mere £28-99 for the key ingredient ?!

[Kashmiri Bob]

I have being doing this long enough to know what is bland, and what isn't.

Ditto.

There's clearly something amiss here. You say it's got immense depth of flavour, I say it's bland. What gives?

On a purely objective level, had I been served this balti and not told what it was or was supposed to be, and I had to comment on its overall flavour, my response would still have been, "bland". I mean, livo thought the same and the one comment on Shababs website says the same. We can't all be getting it wrong. And in all honesty I have no axe to grind here. If it was good I'd have said so.

I would have liked to get George's feedback on making it as he's another one of the very few here who has tried the real thing. But nada!

As far as the akhni stock, I forgot to cover it so there wasn't an awful lot of liquid left at the end. But, to make up the water content once I'd poured the stock into the main pot I boiled up the spices again so they were drained dry of their essence and I added that water to the main pot too. I tasted some of the spices at the end and they were totally devoid of flavour.

You forgot to put the lid on.  OK.  Easily done.  I think you need to start from scratch and make the gravy again.  Check everything over and it should be fine.  I have been trying to think of other base gravy recipes for comparison.  Honestly, not come across anything remotely like it.  Previously, I thought the Taz base held promise for the Birmingham Balti.  It's a good base, but in this context (depth of flavour) it is several orders of magnitude out.  Like chalk and cheese.  No exaggeration. That's my experience of Mick's recipe.  I must try a bowl of the base on it's own, warmed-up, with a few chips.  Small bottle of ice cold Cobra.  It'll still be Balti heaven!

Rob   

   

[Secret Santa]

You forgot to put the lid on.  OK.  Easily done.  I think you need to start from scratch and make the gravy again.

Now you're just being silly. The fact that I produced a more concentrated akhni stock is reason to start over? No! It's obviously quite the opposite.

You said you weren't trying to catch people out but it's obvious that that is exactly what you were trying to do and this ridiculous response confirms it. We're just going to have to accept that we assess curries differently and that to you a bland curry has "immense depth of flavour". Each to their own.

[livo]

Good base gravy. Good curry again, but with additional flavours.  This time a single serve, similar to last but additional hot paprika and salt. Delicious and as i was cooking for myself, i upped the chilli a little.  However, it didn't cut it with nothing.  I didn't skimp on spices in the gravy. If anything, I bumped it up.

[Peripatetic Phil]

However, it didn't cut it with nothing. 

Hmm, translation from Australian required here, I think ...  Anyone able to oblige ?
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** Phil.