Topic: The ABC of Balti

[solarsplace]

Hi Everyone

Just posting a little feedback on the ABC - Masala Sauce & Balti Chicken Tikka Masala.

Apparently it has been decided that this recipe will not be included in the up coming Tikka Masala group tests. However, as I had decided to make it and already bought the ingredients...

Was it worth the effort? - You flipping bet it was - TBH, if you get cracking and have your self a nice cold can of beer or 2 whilst stirring the mixture for 45 minutes to an hour then it is no chore at all considdering the absolutely amazing and exotic smells wafting from the pan.

The other contestant recipes in the Tikka Masala test are getting off lightly!. If this recipe was included in the test, they had better watch out, because this is likely to be a 1 or 2 horse ( ChrisWG's masala ) race!

As usual here are some pictures of the preperation and final results. Please note the final dish on the left looks a little charred round the edges as it was keeping warm in the oven on perhaps a little too high temperature.

EDIT: Just in case you ask, all parts of the dish were made to recipe spec with ABC base, ABC spice mix, ABC tikka & ABC masala sauce. Although, I have made it with Blade tikka and that works excellently too.

[Ramirez]

Looks fantastic Solar!

I was put off from doing this recipe as the book warns you that patience is required. I think you've convinced me to give it a whirl. Having done a couple of the CTMs from the group test, I'd forgotten how much I enjoy a good CTM! 

[jb]

I too had a crack at the massala sauce at the weekend(not bothered about the chicken tikka element it was just the sauce I was interested in).I have to agree it was very very nice indeed.I have to admit I found it impossible to get a couple of the ingredients...pomegranate seeds and kewra water(although I seem to recall a post from a few years ago saying that kewra water was not very nice).Hopefully the lack of these two didn't affect the outcome too much.

Anyway like I said the sauce was lovely,very fragrant and more like your high end massala and not your usual loaded with coconut affair,a couple of beers whilst stirring and it should take your mind off it.

The only thing I don't get is the amount of sugar.Again after reading an earlier post I halved the amount of sugar but I found the result was still far too sweet....Did you find your dish sweet Solarspice or not? Also do you think you can make a smaller portion,say with just one tin of tomatoes and a smaller amount of spices??? It's an awful lot of sauce,I did freeze mine although the book didn't recommend it.

Anyway massla sauce....Could have done with a bit more red colour and a lot less sugar....

[Razor]

Hi JB,

I'm not that into sweet curries, and when I tried this a year or so ago, I just couldn't eat it.  With that said, my mates wife who loves CTM did say it was very nice but far to sweet, so I guess halving or even only using a third of the sugar quantity, would probably do the trick?

Ray

[solarsplace]

Hi Guys

Yes, the Masala on its own was very very sweet. I am sure you could at least half the sugar - when tipping out 1/2 kg sugar into a bowl on the scales - it was OMG  - that sure is a lot of sugar!

The Kewra water on its own really does smell rather sickly and of petals. My initial novice judgement would say that it does work well in the final product though and should be included.

With regard to sweetness again, when 5tbsp of masala was combined with the base gravy the sweetness was really toned down and it was much more palletable. However it was to be honest still rather sweet (the recipe calls for a further 1tsp of sugar, which one could choose to omit) but absolutely delicious - in a way that the average TA CTM is not.

Razor - I know what you mean about sweet dishes, myself - I never order a CTM or similar from the TA as they are always just too sickly-sweet-coconut-stodgy, but I must admit to being rather taken with these posh for want of better words varieties of CTM. There seems to be something very special & exotic about them.

Smaller portions? - don't know TBH, my guess is that it won't scale particularly well. This is just a guess however and I suppose the only way to find out is to try it. I just froze the left over masala divided up into 5tbsp portion sizes. Can't see any harm in that. Think the author was just covering himself against people freezing and thawing a large batch and then re-freezing perhaps?

Anyway, well pleased to have something new and impressive to add to the entertaining arsenal.

Cheers