Chicken Curry Balti

Name: Chicken Curry Balti
Ingredients: 1 kg. good quality chicken meat, cut into small portions. Ask your butcher to remove the skin and cut it for you, leaving the bones in.; 2 medium sized onions coarsely chopped; 5 cloves of garlic, whole; 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, coarsely chopped; 1 1/2 tsp. salt or to taste; 1/2 tsp. red chilli powder; 1 tsp. coarsely ground coriander seeds (this is better than the ready made coriander powder); 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder; 1 tsp. coarsely ground cumin seeds (jeera); 1/4 tsp. nigella seeds or kalonji/kalaunji; 3-4 whole cloves (laung or lavang); 3-4 whole black peppers (kali mirch); 3 tbsp. vegetable oil; 2 medium sized tomatoes, cut into quarters; 3 green chillies, thickly sliced; A handful of fresh green coriander leaves; 3-4 sprigs of fresh garden mint

Murga Curry Balti

Shagufta Shahin

CurryIndianMainMeat

Picture by Terry Hicky

Note by Shagufta Shahin:

I first tasted this dish on holiday in Pakistan, it was made with mutton. We had travelled to Murree and then taken a little coach ride to Ayubia, which is a remote town further up the mountains. These are the foothills of the Himalayas, also known as the Switzerland of Asia! We told the cook that we were going for a walk up the mountains and would be back in an hour. Could he make us something filling and tasty. He looked at us as if to say "shouldn't everything be ....."?

Anyway we had a delicious and memorable meal and it gives me great pleasure to be able to pass this on to others to savour! The list of ingredients looks long but it is an easy to cook dish, the actual cooking time is perhaps 15-20 minutes.

These amounts should be enough for 6-7 people.

Ingredients

1 kg. good quality chicken meat, cut into small portions. Ask your butcher to remove the skin and cut it for you, leaving the bones in.
2 medium sized onions coarsely chopped
5 cloves of garlic, whole
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tsp. salt or to taste
1/2 tsp. red chilli powder
1 tsp. coarsely ground coriander seeds (this is better than the ready made coriander powder)
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. coarsely ground cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 tsp. nigella seeds or kalonji/kalaunji
3-4 whole cloves (laung or lavang)
3-4 whole black peppers (kali mirch)
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 medium sized tomatoes, cut into quarters
3 green chillies, thickly sliced
A handful of fresh green coriander leaves
3-4 sprigs of fresh garden mint

Instructions

Put all of the above ingredients, except the last four, into any non stick container e.g. a wok or a heavy based saucepan that can be covered to seal all the moisture/steam.
Add only 1/2 cup water, as the onions and meat will release water.
Bring to boil.
Leave to cook gently for around 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Poorer the quality of meat, longer it takes to cook.
Remove lid and dry the sauce slowly, mashing the onions and garlic with a spatula.
Add the fresh tomatoes and the green chillies and stir until the tomatoes have been reduced and the whole mixture looks like a sauce. If the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pan, add a little water at a time as you go along. Once the mixture starts releasing the oil, it is ready.
Add fresh coriander and garden mint, cover and remove from heat.
Balti chicken is ready. It is best eaten with hot Chapatties or Tandoori Roti or Nan, and a few good friends!!
Remember to keep all ingredients as near to fresh and unprocessed as possible.
The amounts given are for a mildly hot curry but you can increase or decrease the amount of chillies according to your taste. All other ingredients remain the same.

Notes

Kalonji can be spelled as Kalowunji on some packets.