Hi Livo

Thanks for persevering with my recipe. Just 2 things really:

the whole idea of the lid for the akhni stock is to stop reduction and keep the aromatics.
I would have thought that If youre losing steam then you'll also be losing aromatics

The second thing is that the simplified recipe adds the g&g pure straight to the onions at the beginning of cooking, and the toms & powdered spices are added almost at the end of cooking. I am hoping that by doing this there will be more consistency with the final gravy. (See Post #140)

My five "lab rats" have confirmed this lol

Regards

Mick

Hi  Robbo

Glad youre still persevering with the recipe. The large amount of cassia is absolutely critical in the recipe. I experimented with different amounts over time but found the 55g to be the optimum amount for the best flavour without overpowering the finished balti

I have remade this 5 or 6 times since I posted the recipe. The only difference I have made is to reduce the chilli to 1 tsp. This is because my whole family literally can't get enough of it – ageing from 3 – 85! They all tell me that it is consistently the best curry I have made for them
OK I can imagine what some of you are thinking...........
Also I have given the recipe to five complete novices to try. They have never made a curry from scratch before but I supplied them with all the spices. Four of them absolutely love it, the fifth person is still yet to try it.
I can confidently say that if you think its bland then you must be doing something wrong!!!


Anyway after reading all of the comments, I have changed the methodology of my recipe but not the ingredients.
Its now a much simpler 2 pan affair without a lot of the faff

Maybe this simplification will help some of you....

MDB's Birmingham Balti Gravy 100% Clone Al Frash Balti Restaurant and simple Balti Recipie

For the Gravy you will need:
•   Stick Blender
•   A fine sieve
•   Weighing Scales
•   1 Large Pan with lid for onions approx. 5 litres
•   1 Small/Medium pan with lid for Akhni Stock approx. 1 litre


Ingredients:

Vegetable oil – not olive oil
1 kg onion, roughly chopped
1 tsp salt
small pinch Ajwain seeds
1/2 green and 1/2 red pepper, chopped
125g fresh carrot, roughly chopped

Whole Spices:

Weigh 55g pieces of cassia bark broken up into 1 inch pieces
5 cloves
10 green cardamom pods pierced
3 star anise
5 tej patta (Indian bay leaves) dried DON'T use normal bay leaves – omit instead

Spice Mix: (rounded teaspoons)

2 tsp chilli powder (optional)
2.5 tsp coriander powder
1.5 tsp cumin powder
3 tsp turmeric powder
2.5 tsp curry powder
a good pinch kasoori methi (dried Fenugreek Leaves)
2 tsp garam masala powder
Large handful fresh coriander
30g peeled fresh garlic
30g peeled fresh ginger
250g of chopped tomatoes

Method:

Take the large pan and add:
1 chefs spoon vegetable oil
1 kg onion, roughly chopped
1 tsp salt
1pint cold water
1/2 green and 1/2 red pepper, chopped
125g fresh carrot, roughly chopped
30g peeled fresh garlic (bash with side of knife to make peeling easy)
30g peeled fresh ginger (I peel with teaspoon)
Using a blender, blitz 30g garlic and 30g ginger with a small amount of water into an emulsion and
add to the onions

Bring to the boil.  Cover and simmer for 1 hr stirring frequently

While the onions are cooking:
take:
whole spices,
Drop these into the second pan, along with 1 pint of water and simmer with lid on for an hour stirring occasionally to make an Akhni Stock
After an hour strain the Akhni Stock from the second pan through the fine sieve directly into the large pan of onions
discard the whole spices.
stir well
Add the chopped tomato, with the powdered spices into the large pan of onions and allow to simmer for five minutes

Add additional water to desired gravy consistency.
The Gravy is now ready to use.
Once cooled, it can be stored in the refrigerator for 4-5 days without any problem


To make simple balti:


No need for additional ground spices or extra salt!

Ingredients:

Cooking Oil - any will do except olive oil
¼ medium onion Finely chopped
¼ medium tomato Finely chopped
Garlic Paste
Roughly chopped fresh coriander (to taste) I use quite a lot
Method:

In a frying pan on medium heat add 1 chef spoon oil
add onion
When just starting to go brown around the edges
add 1/2 tsp minced garlic

Once the spitting has stopped

Add 1/2 large raw chicken breast diced into 1inch cubes (pre-cooked chicken can be used but add after 3rd reduction to avoid overcooking)

Turn up heat

Add 1st ladle gravy

Reduce well until oil starts to separate

Add 2nd ladle gravy

add the chopped tomato
Reduce well until oil starts to separate

Add 3rd ladle gravy, stir in chopped fresh coriander and reduce to desired consistency

finish on low heat until chicken is cooked

Leave to stand for a few minutes and serve with hot naan.

Regards

Mick

dont forget the powdered unicorn horn Rob  lol

That Looks great Livo

Hope you and the good lady enjoyed it this time around

Regards

Mick

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

I always thought 5ml was the norm.
As I have said, in my balti gravy I dont believe that the powdered spices are that important in regards weight, but their relative proportions will be. In other words as long as you use the same teaspoon for measuring out all the powdered spices then that should be close enough.

Regards

Mick

Dont worry about upsetting me Livo - Im pretty thick skinned. You have to be on this forum at times. If you try any of these recipes then I doubt they will even come close to the real deal. It was only by chance that I cracked it imo.
One thing I dont think I have mentioned before was that about 7 years ago when I used to pre pack potatoes, I met a guy from Burton on Trent who used to be a chef in one of the lesser known balti restaurants (but was regularly listed in the Andy Munroe balti guide top 10). This guy did admit that he wasnt the head chef either but had worked there for many years. Due to family circumstances he had to leave the restaurant and help out with the running of the family grocery business. He did carry on cooking from home and used to do outside catering events on the side. Anyhow, I served him with spuds for about 6 months and all through that time he used to drop in various curries, samosas etc when he came to our place to pick up his spuds. He promised me he would show me exactly how to make a balti, but for various reasons after a while I stopped serving him.  On one of his visits though, he gave me a good sized portion of his balti gravy. It was literally the consistency of mashed potato - Ive got some photos somewhere... Anyhow, he never really believed that I knew how to cook a curry (some say I still dont lol) but he said to me that the gravy does not require any additional spices to make a balti. That made me realise that Baltis can only be made from balti gravy and not a generic gravy. He also told me he used only whole spices as well, I could not find a trace of a whole spice in it anywhere. basically, I took his gravy, diluted it down big time (maybe 10:1) and knocked up a few baltis- absolutely out of this world etc. I showed him a few photos of me cooking the baltis and he was shocked how much I appeared to know. Anyway long story short, he disappeared a few weeks later owing me £300 end of story. He'd strung me along to get some credit and then done a Ussain (Bolt).
So thats what I learned from the horses mouth as it were.

Some time ago I was trying to crack the Balti gravy making all these weird and wonderful Balti GMs and subsequent baltis and failing miserably so I decided to take a generic gravy - JB's I think and make a curry without any additional spices basically as a starting point. I was then going to make new curries using Balti GMs  to try and figure out  this balti conundrum. Anyway, the unspiced straight gravy tasted closer to a balti than any of the others.

Enough of my ramblings

As they say: The proof of the pudding...

Quote from: livo on July 15, 2022, 11:16 PM
I think the lads may have slipped a little Afgan hashish into the mix. The euphoric, rapturous language sounds like it should be accompanied with a serious cases of "the munchies".

Hahahaha very good Livo I think its more to do with the rose petal tinted glasses to be honest although the afghan hash maybe the missing 5% in most peoples curries? 

This balti is missing nothing

With regard to the whole flame cooking: it's been discussed many times. Its complete b@ll@cks for want of a better word. Its show-boating for the cameras - thats all.
I cook in a stainless pan on an induction hob on a medium heat.

As I said earlier, during my research stage for this gravy, I inadvertently made a batch (or two) that produced a bland final dish. I eventually realised that if I made some more "cassia tea" and added that to the gravy I was knocking the ball out of the park again.

Of the four people who have tried this, I am getting a 50:50 split on the end result.

Its a shame a few more members wont give it a go although Ive got a couple of mates who are testing it for me anyway

Oh well

Regards

Mick

SS - The secret to the depth of flavour is the cassia - believe me. If its bland then you need to make some extra akhni stock to give the gravy a boost. No arguments. Simple as. Believe me ive fiddled about for weeks with this recipe after my first fluke batch. Luckily I kept some of the original batch and used it as a benchmark.  Its not the powdered spices. You wont taste the cassia in the final curry - I promise. You wont want to eat another curry again when you get it right. Its awesome - even through my rose petal tinted glasses hahahahaah

Regards

Mick

If its a bit bland then maybe theres a variation in the potency of the cassia? Perhaps increase the cassia by 25% to say 70g.

Just a thought

Regards

Mick

I tried to do a one pot special last night. The g&g paste worked ok but had to be added early on in the cooking process - say within the first half hour or so to cook out the rawness.
I put the whole spices in a muslin cloth about the size of a bed sheet lol and buried it in the stewing onions, stirring it regularly. I added the powdered spices and chopped tomato towards the end of the hour, then the  fresh coriander immediately prior to the blitzing.
The final results were so disappointing - bland ,tasteless and lacking any depth of flavour at all
I ended up having to boil up the contents of the muslin bedsheet in a dreaded third pot and make an akhni stock as per the original recipe.
Final result - 100% Brummie bir!!!
I was on bookface the other day on the balti club page and admin was cooking a Chicken Pathia Balti (Madras hot) in a £28 (probably including commission) birmingham balti bowl.

I asked him if he classes his curry as a balti because its cooked in a balti bowl and he said yes so I think that sorts out all these bastardised baltis then. Cook a crap curry in a pressed steel bowl and voila...you have created a balti