Birmingham Balti Chicken Curry

Name: Birmingham Balti Chicken Curry
Total time: 5400 s
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 300 g Chicken breast, diced; 2 Onions; 6 Garlic cloves; 80 g Fresh ginger; 1 Red pepper; 1 Green pepper; 400 g Canned tomatoes; 1 Large tomato, fresh; 400 ml Water; 8 tbsp Vegetable oil; 2 Eggs, hard boiled; * [ spice bag ]; 3 Bay leaves; 1 stick Cinnamon; 1 Star anise; 2 small Cloves; 3 Pieces mace; 3 Green cardamom pods; ** [ spice mix ]; 1/2 tsp Chilli powder; 1 tsp Cumin; 3 tsp Turmeric; 2 1/2 tsp Coriander powder; 1 tsp Curry powder; 1 tsp Garam masala; 2 tsp Fenugreek leaves, dried and chopped

Miles @tapster

The first restaurant food I go for whenever I'm back in England is a classic Balti Chicken Curry. Originating from Bangladesh, Balti is a firm favourite in the UK, and particularly Birmingham. This recipe is big, and will likely take around an hour and a half to prepare, but it's oh so worth it. trust me. Heavily inspired from my bookshelf of Balti cookbooks, this is restaurant style food - at home!

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Ingredients

90 mins

2 servings

300 gChicken breast, diced
2Onions
6Garlic cloves
80 gFresh ginger
1Red pepper
1Green pepper
400 gCanned tomatoes
1Large tomato, fresh
400 mlWater
8 tbspVegetable oil
2Eggs, hard boiled
* [ spice bag ]
3Bay leaves
1 stickCinnamon
1Star anise
2small Cloves
3 Piecesmace
3Green cardamom pods
** [ spice mix ]
1/2 tspChilli powder
1 tspCumin
3 tspTurmeric
2 1/2 tspCoriander powder
1 tspCurry powder
1 tspGaram masala
2 tspFenugreek leaves, dried and chopped

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Steps

90 mins

1

There's a lot of ingredients to this recipe. The key is to prepare and measure before so you can cook more simply. Make sure to mix the spices marked ** [ spice mix ] in a bowl well
2

Place the * [ spice bag ] in some gauze netting or loose leaf tea back like I did here and tie/close firmly.
3

Roughly chop 1 onion and the 2 peppers and cook in 200ml water. Toss in your spice bag as well as HALF of your cilantro. Move on with the recipe and come back to this in 30 minutes.
4

Add 6 cloves garlic and a similar amount of ginger to your processor along with 1 tbsp of water and cut down to a paste. (you can use garlic and ginger paste instead)
5

Put 3 tbsp oil in a pan on a high heat and add HALF your garlic and ginger mix. Cook until browned
6

Remove the browned ginger and garlic from the heat and mix in HALF of your ** [spice mix] well.
7

Return to the heat and add HALF (200g) of your canned tomatoes, Simmer gently for 10 minutes.
8

Go back to your pot from step 3 having left it bubbling for 30 mins, remove the spice bag and then pour into your pan of tomatoes. Simmer for 5 more minutes
9

After allowing the mixture to cool a little, pour it into your food processor and pulse a few times and set aside. This is your Balti sauce!!
10

In a fresh pan, brown the rest of your garlic and ginger mix in some oil, add the remaining half of ** [spice mix] and after a minute, 200g of canned tomatoes.
11

After about 3 minutes, throw in your diced up chicken pieces
12

And cook on a medium heat until the chicken is just cooked through. About 3 minutes should do it.
13

Next, add about 2 ladles of your pureed sauce to the chicken pan and cook for a few more minutes
14

Lastly, add some chopped fresh tomato, cilantro (and optionally a boiled egg in each serving as I did here).
15

Serve over fresh rice and or naan bread and enjoy!