Chicken Balti Recipe | Restaurant Style | Hint Of Helen (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between a curry and a Balti? ›

Curries are usually made in regular pots, while Balti curry is made in a special pan called a “balti.” Also, Balti curry has a mix of spices and ingredients, and it's often served right from the pan it was cooked in, which makes it different from other curries.

A tomato based sauce with peppers, cumin and coriander.

Balti curries are cooked quickly using vegetable oil rather than ghee, over high heat in the manner of a stir-fry, and any meat is used off the bone. This combination differs sharply from a traditional one-pot Indian curry which is simmered slowly all day.

The curry is characteristically a meat (or veg) dish with a thick, spicy tomato-based sauce. Usually, it's heavy on the chilli heat with a little tanginess from the yoghurt that's added. Brummie tradition has it that the sauce has to be mopped up with soft, fluffy naan bread!

The Karahi curry is a spicy dish and is a particular favourite in Northern India and Pakistan. It is related to the Balti and Jalfrezi as all of them are stir fried dishes. A Karahi is actually the name for a type of Indian iron round bottomed wok in the same way that a Balti is a flat bottomed metal dish too.

As the balti is named for the utensil used to cook it, there are no definitive ingredients list associated with it. Traditional curry flavours like tikka masala, tandoori, rogan josh and korma can all be cooked in a balti style. Nevertheless, there are some features which are common to all baltis.

The combination of both spices, allium vegetables and tomatoes used in a typical Balti, gives the dish some fantastic health giving properties! Balti's are particularly good for boosting your body's natural immunity and fighting off colds, thanks to the beneficial ingredients onions, turmeric, paprika and garlic.

Mix the turmeric, cumin, ground coriander and garam masala together. Tip into the pan, lower the heat to medium and cook for 2 mins (step 3). Pour in the passata and 150ml water, then drop in the chunks of pepper. When starting to bubble, lower the heat and simmer for 15-20 mins or until the chicken is tender.

Where did Balti come from in the first place? Good question. According to some sources, the style of cooking originated in the Baltistan region of Northern Pakistan. Others say the name actually comes from the Urdu word for bucket, referring to the wok-like pot in which Baltis are commonly served.

Balti curries can be mildly spiced. Some features are common to all the balti recipes. These are cooked stir-fried over high heat with vegetable oil and not clarified butter as in most meat and vegetable dishes.

What does Balti mean in Indian? ›

What does Balti mean? The word balti is derived from the Hindustani language; although it is found in Odia and Bengali, the translation means 'bucket'. It is an adaptation of the Portuguese word 'Balde'; it is said that this word arrived in India with Portuguese merchants in the 16th Century.

It's believed that Birmingham is the original home of the Balti due to its large number of Balti houses. Local legends suggest Balti cooking first appeared in 1977 in a restaurant called Adil's which was located in the inner city area of Birmingham, Balsall Heath.

First things first, a Balti is a type of lamb or goat curry, although you may find variants using chicken and many other meats. If done correctly, you should always have it served to you in a sizzling, thin, pressed-steel wok that's called a 'Balti bowl' and it's this metal dish that gives the curry its name.

It is a mild, tomato based curry made with a fresh blend of many aromatic spices, and it is a very 'wet' curry, with lots of tasty gravy. It is usually cooked with chicken or lamb, with the addition of fresh garlic, ginger, onion, chopped tomatoes, coriander leaves and 2-3 tsp of the Balti spice mixture.

Balti Curry Medium. A curry based on onions, turmeric and garam massalla- among other spices. This unique blend creates a rich and thick sauce.

Balti is the dish you see served in beautiful stainless steel bowls. It usually comes with naan bread, which in many cases doubles as your cutlery. The sauce is generally thicker than in a standard curry and the meat tends to cut more thickly. It's not as trendy as it once was, but is still a mightily fine dish.