I was going through an old "Curry Notebook" of mine, and I came across a handwritten recipe I'd scribbled down. I have no recollection of where I found it, but it is for a "Simple Balti Chicken". I must have cooked it, but I don't recall how I felt about it, so I guess I'll need to do it again. While it isn't a proper BIR base gravy, it does have two parts, which is a gravy followed by making the curry.
For the Gravy:
Make a paste of 1/2 a large onion, 2-3 cloves of garlic, 1 TBSP ginger and 1 green chilli.
Heat 1TBSP of oil and add pinch of hing, 1/2 tsp onion seed, 1/2 tsp cumin seed and fry for 30 seconds to a minute.
Add the paste and cook for 3 - 5 minutes.
Add 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp ground fenugreek seed and chilli powder to taste. Cook for 1 minute.
Add 1 TBSP tomato paste, 1 cup of tomato puree (passata) and 1 tsp of honey (or jaggery / sugar) with 100 ml of water. Cook for 5 minutes.
Check and adjust spice level.
That's the gravy done. I'd made a note of Salt??? so, I think I may have added some, but I guess you can adjust at the end.
For the Balti.
Chop the other half of the onion and 1/4 of a green capsicum.
Wedge 2 small tomatoes.
Cut 2 chicken breasts into chunks.
Heat 1 - 2 TBSP oil in a pan.
Add another pinch of hing, the chopped onion and capsicum and cook for 3 minutes.
Add the chicken and 1/4 tsp of salt and cook till chicken is nearly done.
Add the gravy and cook to reduce and finish the chicken.
When nearly done, add the tomatoes, 2 tsp of garam masala and 50 ml of stirred yogurt.
Simple Chicken Balti, done.
Looking at this recipe now, there is one obvious thing missing, which I will definitely add when I do it again. Fresh coriander. I guess you could also put some green chilli in as well to add flavour and a bit of heat. There is opportunity to add other flavours to this by including different spices in the gravy. Ajwain, cinnamon / cassia, fennel, cardamom, etc. I might even experiment with a blob of homemade Balti paste.
