Quote from: George on August 28, 2022, 07:38 PM

Quote from: Lahore Bob on August 28, 2022, 12:04 PM
If any aspect of Mick's recipes are coming out bland, or ordinary, something has most definitely gone pear-shaped.  Will be making it again this week, won't change a thing.  I'll report back with some thoughts.  Can't see me making any other BIR curry ever again.  It's that good. 

Given your and Mick's enthusiasm for this curry it is a must-try for me, notwithstanding the dissenting opinion of Secret Santa.

Give it a rest George. I've been cajoling you to make this since I tried it myself. Now, let's see if you actually do it this time and finally provide some positive input to the forum and this thread.

Yes this is written by an American and has not much bearing on BIR cooking here in the UK. In particular his assertion that food tastes better when it's served after a minute of being cooked and is not as good when home delivered because it's cooler by that time. BS. With curry, eating it straight away when it's too hot overloads the taste buds, so letting it cool actually makes it tastier. Not impressed.

Quote from: Lahore Bob on August 28, 2022, 12:04 PMRemember also, we've all made many other base gravies and curries to compare it with.

Exactly!

And on that basis the balti curry is the blandest of bland. Quite literally the least flavoursome of all curries I've ever made. That's just a statement of fact from my experience of it compared to all other curries I've ever had. As I say, I will eventually get around to making it again but I doubt we will ever concur on its merits or lack thereof so we'll have to agree to disagree.

I do find it fascinating though that we are so divergent in our opinion of it. The only other curry I can recall being so at odds with other people on was CT's madras which used a tablespoon of kashmiri chilli powder that I found very unpalatable. Turns out the brand I used was particularly bitter and I eventually retried it with MDH kashmiri chilli which made it a lot better but I could still detect an unpleasant undertone of bitterness. But I'm certain I haven't made that sort of error in this balti base.

Quote from: mickdabass on August 26, 2022, 04:25 PMI can confidently say that if you think its bland then you must be doing something wrong!!!

I've been doing curries for a looooooong time Mick and I can tell you, barring a couple of small errors, the effects of which I know and so can account for, I did nothing wrong in making this balti base. The obvious alternative explanation, and the one I suspect is the real reason, is that you and the others who love the balti just prefer mild, no, lets call it what it is, bland curries. To be clear, I didn't dislike this balti chicken curry, it's just that I found it too bland for my taste.

That said, when I've got around to making this other balti base and trying it out, I'll return to your version and stick to the letter of your recipe and try the balti chicken again. Even if I still don't rate it as used in a balti curry it'll be no loss as I rate the base highly for standard BIR curries. I'm glad you posted it because it's a good base and it made for a really interesting thread - well, several threads now.

Quote from: Lahore Bob on August 25, 2022, 08:05 PMInterested to hear how you get on with the Shababs base/curry recipe Santa.

Well it'll be a while yet because my freezer is packed to the rafters. I'm interested to see how different it is to MDB's base and I'll post what I think when I eventually get around to it.

Quote from: livo on August 23, 2022, 11:51 PMJust for interest, this is the Paprika I have that isn't paprika. It is chilli.

Having a read around it seems there's no standard when it comes to paprika. It can vary from very mild to quite spicy as in your sample. So it probably is paprika, just not what you're used to. Over here we get East End, Rajah, and TRS as the common brands and I think they're all much of a muchness being pretty mild chilli-heat wise. But they're what the BIRs use as well so you need to get one of those brands to be sure you're making real BIR curries I think.

And I hear what you're saying about the black cardamom but I'm used to the flavour and, at least for the first go anyway, I think I'll include and blend them. 

Well I was going to make up another batch of MDB's balti base as I do rate it highly ... just as long as I don't use it for making a balti which to me is bland. With just a teaspoon, maybe a teaspoon and a half, of bassar masala though, what a difference! Different to a standard BIR curry but in a very good way. With the bassar masala, to me, it has just a hint of what I'm missing in the taste from the curries I used to get in the early eighties. Still not fully there though. If you haven't tried this livo have a go I think you'll like it.

Anyway, so I'm now debating whether to try MDB's base again or have a go at this one instead. I suppose I'll have to give this one a go though or I'll feel like I'm missing out.

Livo, as you seem to be the one across this balti business the most at the moment could you collate the various methods into a simple list, I've lost track. Nothing complicated just name and maybe provenance of base sauce and a link to its recipe (e.g. MDB's  from Shababs, link to recipe). There should be about four (?) by my reckoning. I don't class that one with cream as a balti. Is there a balti korma, a balti pasanda?

Very nice work there on the balti comparisons livo. It is indeed intriguing that two different balti houses are showing essentially the same from scratch balti recipes.

However, the simple fact is that they all use base sauce in reality. The cook from scratch method they use in these demos is what they show to dupe the public into thinking that this is how they actually cook their baltis so as to maintain the myth of all fresh ingredients. The real baltis are the ones they serve in the balti houses and those are base sauce baltis. I even have my doubts they use raw chicken in anything other than the demo. I'm sure Misty Ricardo could enlighten us as he saw the whole kitchen.

Quote from: Peripatetic Phil on August 13, 2022, 05:17 PM
Probably "++++MDB's Birmingham Balti Gravy 100% Clone Al Frash Balti Restaurant ++++", George.
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** Phil.

No that's MDB's base sauce version (the one George should try however). The from scratch version is made without a base sauce.

Quote from: George on August 13, 2022, 02:33 PM

Quote from: livo on August 13, 2022, 12:08 AM
George, I would suggest that before you make either base gravy, you at least once try the Balti cooked from scratch using basic fresh ingredients. The recipes and method shown by Shababs and Rishton chefs are all but identical and I found it to be very quick, easy and affordable as well as producing a nice dish.  You might instantly recognise it as the Shababs Balti you've already tried.

Many thanks. Where can I find the recipe for 'Balti cooked from scratch'? Whose recipe is it?

I disagree with livo on this. Make a base sauce version, not one from scratch, as that is how the balti restaurants are doing it. If you do the from scratch version your feedback won't be worth anything in relation to MDB's version which is what the main threads are about and what we need the feedback for from someone who has actually tried the real thing like yourself.