Apparently there used to be around 400 balti houses (I think in Brum but not sure). Now there's about six. Make of that what you will.

Quote from: Peripatetic Phil on July 23, 2022, 10:41 AM

Quote from: livo on July 23, 2022, 02:59 AM
3) Has to be cooked in a Birmingham Balti Co. Balti pan and served in it as well.

The Birmingham Balti Bowl Co. Ltd. was incorporated on 28-Apr-2021 — how, then, were authentic Birmingham baltis cooked prior to the date ?
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** Phil.

Without looking it up to provide exact details the pans used to be made in a factory that closed down and so they found a new supplier.

Quote from: Bob-A-Job on July 22, 2022, 11:51 PMI have never been to Brum, so never had one of the fabled dishes but I have had "Baltis" from numerous places in West Yorkshire over the last 40 years (Not sure what you can make of that qualification!).

I make of it that, like me, you've never actually eaten a real balti. You've had the "add a teaspoon of Pataks balti paste and throw it in a karhai" BIR style balti ... which is not a true balti.

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I am not inclined to make this Base as it is only for this one dish and to be honest, I am not a great fan of Cassia/Cinnamon so when I saw the massive amount and the stress placed on using that quantity (with almost no other spices given the volume) I immediately decided to give it a miss.  So without that, does it make the Balti's I have eaten and subsequently cooked Bland? I would say not.

If you've read through then you know I am not enamoured with this balti curry either. But the base is a fine starting point for normal BIR curries so you wouldn't be wasting it if you made the balti and didn't like it. For me the cassia is only evident, and even then only slightly, in the base sauce. It's totally lost in the curry although does give a different flavour overall which probably defines this particular version of balti chicken. Really, you should try it.

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Rarely do I cook with Red meats anymore... for no other reason than the cost... and imho Chicken just cannot stand out in an actual Balti.

Well for me it's just the opposite. As long as the chicken is precooked and not added raw it easily stands out because the balti curry is so bland (in my opinion). We need more opinions of this base and curry, give it a go.

Quote from: livo on July 22, 2022, 12:28 PM
Read his comments in Chewys video Rob. He cooks it with the Pataks paste and enjoys it.

https://youtu.be/O6qPk8mSKc0

I've read all this stuff before. Several times in fact.

I really don't think Andy M is Andy Munro!

And this video just emphasises my point about BIRs serving a standard curry with a dollop of balti paste in a karahi and professing it to be a balti. Nope.

Quote from: livo on July 21, 2022, 09:38 PMHis comment appears to confirm chewy's claim that Pataks Balti Paste is the flavour of BIR balti for over 3 decades and that any claim that its not is misinformation.

Maybe up north where chewy is from and almost certainly in BIRs that also serve "balti" but I'm not so sure regarding true balti houses in Brum. Frankly I'd take anything chewy says with a large pinch of salt - his experience is very northern biased and not the better for it.

I don't know how much you can believe what he says but the Sababs' chef reckons he puts the whole garam masala in the main onion pot and blends it all in at the end. So no akhni stock used.

https://youtu.be/drX0bqXdc3c?t=51

Quote from: livo on July 20, 2022, 11:57 PM
Did this end up with anybody other than George and foureyes being able to view these videos?

Apparently this is from those videos!!!
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3298.msg29747#msg29747

Well if that's indicative of the video content then it clearly wouldn't be worth the purchase, even if it were available, which it doesn't appear to be. It looks like standard BIR fare, nothing new here.

Quote from: Bengali Bob on July 04, 2022, 07:03 PM
All I am getting is Balti perfection.  To spec, with 2 tsp regular chilli power in the base spice mix, it's nice and spiky too, close to madras strength.  Perfect, seriously.

Rob 

I was reading back to see if there was anything I might have missed  and I read the above.

So to you 2 tsp of chilli in the base sauce makes a madras level curry? Say what?! 

A proper madras has at least one teaspoon of chilli powder at the curry making stage. Two teaspoons distributed in a batch of base and none added at the curry stage wouldn't even register on my tastebuds, as proved to be the case in practice.

I do wonder if you're not one of these fabled supertasters BB. It might explain the extreme difference in opinion of this base and curry.

Quote from: Bengali Bob on July 19, 2022, 05:02 PMI think we have two different things in front of us Livo.  Polar opposites.

Stop flogging a dead horse BB. We are making the same thing (give or take a few ladles of base sauce) the problem is, as I've stated several times now, a difference of expectation. You are happy with bland whereas livo and I are used to standard tasty BIR and so bland balti just doesn't cut it.

I do wish others would try this so that we could form a better consensus though.

Have your mates tried it yet Mick?

And George, come on mate, get your pinny on and get in the kitchen. I'm pretty sure that as a korma lover this rather mild balti would be just up your street.

Quote from: Peripatetic Phil on July 17, 2022, 01:59 PM

Quote from: Bengali Bob on July 17, 2022, 01:52 PM
1 tsp is 5 ml.  Now written in stone.

Hallelujah, brothers and sisters — we has seen the light !

Sarcasm aside, admittedly I'm a bit anal about using accurate quantities but only in the interest of actually reproducing the base sauce or curry as the author intended.

But really Phil I can't help thinking that your input would be better informed if you would actually dive in and make the darn balti base and curry. At least we'd have another taste-test opinion to reflect upon.