Me Cooking Chicken Tikka & Chickpea Balti at Shababs Balti Restaurant - Richard Sayce

Chicken Tikka & Chickpea Balti
at Shababs Balti Restaurant, Birmingham Balti Triangle.
May 2022

Once again I had the privilege of watching Zaf Hussain cook in the Shababs kitchen. He masterfully demonstrates how to make a Keema & Peas Balti, a classic. Thanks to Andy Lees for the camerawork.

The Birmingham Balti (BB) is a style of cooking that evolved in the 1970s and was massively popular in the 80's and 90's, and has since maintained a large fan base. There's something special in the way an authentic BB is cooked - on a high flame in a thin and squat pressed steel bowl in which it is also served. Scoop it up with a naan and you're in balti paradise.

It's interesting that the chef doesn't use a pre-assembled 'mix powder' but uses individual spices instead. Notice the charred edges around the bowl, which give an important part of the balti flavour.

Ingredients

I've estimated the ingredients based on watching the cooking and on further questions I asked Zaf. Please note that no salt is added when cooking the balti at Shababs because it's already in the base gravy. Season with salt to taste.

All spoon measurements are level.

2-3 TBSP Veg Oil
50g Chopped Onion (about 1/3 of a medium one)
¼ Green Pepper, chopped (of a medium sized one)
1 Green Chilli, whole but topped
Half a medium tomato, chopped
25g Chopped Garlic (about 3-4 cloves)
80g Chickpeas (about a third of a drained tin)
120g Chicken Tikka (pre-cooked)
275ml Base Sauce/Gravy (see below)
1 tsp Coriander Powder
¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
2 tsp Kasuri Methi
Handful Fresh coriander to finish

I do not have the exact recipe amounts for the base sauce/gravy or the pre-cooked keema, but plan on making a special balti base recipe soon suitable for cooking at home. The Shababs base is quite heavy on the oil and tomato content (puree, tinned plum and fresh tomatoes) and is cooked with whole spices (cassia bark, bay leaves, green & black cardamom, cloves) which are blended into the final sauce. Other ingredients include onions, ginger (75%)/garlic (25%), turmeric, paprika, salt. No other vegetables are used.

This video is part of series of videos I'm publishing about authentic Balti.
Please click here for the full list:    • Balti  

Authentic Birmingham Balti Bowls can be bought from the Birmingham Balti Bowl Company:
https://thebirminghambaltibowlco.com/

Thanks to Zaf Hussain, Andy Munro, Andy Lees, and all the staff at Shababs!

Shababs Balti Restaurant
163-165 Ladypool Rd., Sparkbrook, Birmingham B12 8LQ
Tel: 0121 440 2893
https://www.shababs.co.uk

For more info on BIR ingredients such as Mix Powder & Base Gravy, please use the following links:
Info about BIR Cooking: https://mistyricardo.com/introduction...
My Mix Powder Recipe: https://mistyricardo.com/mix-powder-r...
My Base Gravy Recipe: https://mistyricardo.com/base-gravy-r...
My 30 Minute Base Gravy: https://mistyricardo.com/30-minute-qu...

The latest cookbook by Richard Sayce, Curry Compendium is now available to order (more info at https://www.mistyricardo.com):
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