Anyone for a Balti?
On the 'And the alcohol for tonight is....' thread, Thunderchild mentioned that he was washing down his Balti with a nice glass of Malbec or two. This got me thinking back to an evening course that I attended a few years ago, learning Indian cookery. It was great fun and run by an (English) professional Chef - who admitted that he got his recipes from his neighbour who is an Indian lady.
There are two parts to the recipe. The first, being the 'curry base sauce' (which you can make in bulk and freezes very well) and the other being the Balti itself.
How To Make The Curry Base Sauce
For approximately eight main course dishes.
2 lb (900g) cooking onions
2oz (50g) ginger
2oz (50g) garlic
2 and 3/4 pints (1.5 litres) water approx.
pinch salt
1 tin tomatoes
1 teaspoon tomato puree
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons Garam Masala
Peel the onions, ginger, and garlic. Slice the onions and roughly chop the ginger and garlic.
Take a large saucepan and put into it the onions, garlic and ginger, and the water. Add the salt and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat to very low and simmer, with the lid on, for about 20 minutes. Then allow to cool slightly.
Add the tinned tomatoes and blend to a smooth puree.
Put the puree mixture into a saucepan or wok and heat add, tomato puree, turmeric, garam masala and paprika bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for ten minutes.
You may notice at this stage that froth rises to the surface of the sauce. This needs to be skimmed off.
Keep simmering for 20-25 minutes. Stirring now and again to prevent the sauce sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.
Use immediately or cool and refrigerate for up to four days or freeze.
Balti Chicken
Serves 2-3.
Preparation and cooking time: 20-25 minutes.
3 chicken breast fillets
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 pint (400ml) curry base sauce
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon chilli powder or chopped green chillis (to taste)
1 medium sized onion roughly chopped
1 green pepper roughly chopped
2½ teaspoon garam masala
2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 good tablespoon finely chopped green coriander
Cut each chicken fillet into four strips,
Heat the oil in a large deep pan and put the chicken pieces into it along with the onion and green pepper, Saute for 4-5 minutes on medium heat.
Pour the curry sauce into the pan with the chicken and bring to the boil on a high heat. Turn down the heat to medium.
Now add the salt, the ground cumin , ground coriander and chilli powder. Stir and leave to simmer for 12-15 minutes, stirring now and again. Continue cooking on a medium heat until the sauce becomes quite thick, about five minutes or so.
Stir in the garam masala and turn the heat to very low. The oil will start to rise to the surface and can be skimmed off if desired.
Serve in bowls or Balti dishes and sprinkle with the chopped green coriander and your favourite naan bread or paratha.
It's well worth giving it a go and once you've made a bulk batch of the curry sauce, you can make the balti quite quickly. You can of course change the green pepper for an alternative such as mushrooms and swap the chicken for lamb. Personally, I cut the chicken into smaller pieces.
Kevin
