Chicken Balti

Chicken Balti is the modern British Indian Restaurant (BIR) style for a classic Pakistani-inspired restaurant-style dish of chicken cooked in a curry sauce base with bell peppers, chillies and spices. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Chicken Balti.

prep time

15 minutes

cook time

50 minutes

Total Time:

65 minutes

Serves:

4–6

Rating:

Tags : Curry BIR Curries Chilli Recipes Chicken Recipes British Recipes

This is a classic British recipe (modern Baltis were invented in Birmingham, based on a Pakistani original) for a classic sizzling curry of chicken and bell peppers in a spicy tomato-based gravy that's traditionally served in the cast iron balti dish in which it is cooked. In fact, this is a further adaptation of the balti into a more British Indian Restaurant (BIR) style dish. True baltis are actually cooked more like a stir-fry and are actually an Indo-Chinese dish in origin.

Ingredients:

1 red bell pepper, de-seeded and cut into 1cm squares
1 green bell pepper, de-seeded and cut into 1cm squares
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
3 red chillies, coarsely chopped (Jalapeno types are good, but you can use milder or hotter)
3 green chillies, coarsely chopped (Jalapeno types are good, but you can use milder or hotter)
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 chicken breasts, skinned and cut into bite-sized pieces
3 chicken thighs, skinned, boned and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
200ml Restaurant curry sauce
1 tsp tomato purée
Salt to taste
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp ghee or groundnut oil
fresh coriander leaves, chopped, to garnish

Method:

Place a wok (or balti dish or karahi) over high heat, add 1 tsp of the oil and use to fry the bell pepper pieces for a few minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add 2 tsp of the remaining oil to the wok then fry the chicken pieces, in batches, until nicely browned on all sides. When the chicken pieces are well coloured, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside as you cook the next batch.

Add the remaining 1 tbsp and when hot use to fry the onion, chillies and cumin seeds for about 2 minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent, but not coloured. Reduce the heat and scatter over the paprika, turmeric and cinnamon. Stir to combine then return the chicken pieces to the wok and pour over the curry sauce. Stir in the tomato purée and salt then bring to a simmer. Cover the wok and cook gently for about 25 minutes, or until the chicken is tender and cooked through (add boiling water as needed to prevent the sauce from becoming too thick).

After 15 minutes of cooking stir in the bell peppers and the garam masala. Traditionally this is served in individual cast iron or steel balti dishes, which should be heated in the oven to warm them. The balti should be sizzling when it is brought to table. Serve accompanied by naan breads, which are used to scoop out the balti to eat.

For the full collection of curry restaurant dishes on this site, see the: Restaurant-style Curries page