I lived in the Birmingham region (the West Midlands of England) for around 2 years in my teens and there I was introduced to the iconic ‘Birmingham Balti’ - a delicious Indian dish that Google tells me ‘originated in the city during the late 70s, when curry chefs started to make their dishes lighter, healthier and served faster to suit Western tastes.’
At the time my boyfriend’s mother had gotten hold of a recipe from a popular restaurant, which was all a bit of a trade secret. We’re talking nearly 25 years ago (crikey!) and with no internet or food blogs and fewer cookbooks, celebrity chefs and cooking shows getting hold of recipes was much harder than today.
I’d been thinking of this dish for a while and eventually found the typed up, stained, torn piece of paper with the recipe. I hadn’t made it in around 20 years and decided to give it another try. I did take some creative licence and add fresh curry leaves from my garden, but essentially the rest is the same. It’s a real comfort dish, not too spicy and full of beautiful Indian flavours. I did refrain from looking up lots of balti recipes online, I wanted to re-live the one of my past, so I have no idea how this stacks up against others. I hope you give it a try.
BIRMINGHAM BALTI
(best cooked one day ahead for maximum flavour but still lovely served right away)
Ingredients
Chicken drumsticks - approx 16-18 (to easily feed 4-6)
85gm ghee
6 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
5cm pice of fresh ginger, grated
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp sweet paprika
Around 10 curry leaves
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbs tomato puree
5-6 large tomatoes, chopped into large pieces
Approx 1 cup water
Fresh coriander to serve
Method
Melt ghee, then add onions and sweat down. As it softens add the garlic, cooking for around 15 mins stirring well. Don’t let it burn or crisp.
Add curry leaves and let them temper for a minute or so before adding all the spices. Mix well.
Add cinnamon stick, ginger and tomato puree, stir and cook for a further minute or two before adding water. You will have a rich, oniony gravy at this stage.
In a separate pan brown the chicken drumsticks lightly before adding them to the gravy pot. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for around one and a half hours, stirring occasionally to ensure it doesn’t catch on the bottom, adding extra water if necessary. Alternatively, follow all the stages and put into a pressure cooker (I have a multi-cooker and it took around 15 minutes for ‘fall off the bone’ chicken.
Once cooked, let it cool and remove the bones and any skin.
Serve with rice, naan or roti, fresh coriander and yoghurt.
