Balti Sauce - Basic Sauce for Anything Goes Curry
"I believe the word Balti actually means "bucket"....this famous style of curry is cooked in a balti pan, much like a wok. I think the reference to bucket means more that you can throw anything in! I fell in love with balti curries years ago living in Birmingham UK - a few blocks from balti central. What sushi bars are to Vancouver, balti houses are to Birmingham. I know this is a very anglo version of balti sauce, a very mild one at that, but it is quite healthy and light....and not lacking any flavour. It's also fairly quick to prepare compared to some recipes I've tried. You can boost up the heat factor as you wish. I included mainly ready ground spices, but of course you could use whole. If you use whole cardamom seeds or whole coriander I would suggest grinding the spices up after you roast them (otherwise you have a lot of woody bits to deal with). Use the sauce to make any kind of veggie curry and serve with naan or roti on the side. This makes 3 cups of sauce - enough for 4 servings. I like to save half the sauce for a different curry later on. (good for a fridge cleaner curry! :) It also improves overnight, as many sauces do. Hope you enjoy!"
photo by Jubes
- Ready In:
- 1hr
- Ingredients:
- 19
- Yields:
-
3 cups
- Serves:
- 4
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1⁄2 teaspoon chili powder (sub fresh chilis if you like)
- 2 teaspoons light oil (I use coconut, other light oils would work)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger, minced
- 14 ounces crushed tomatoes, tinned
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 bay leaves
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cardamom powder
- 1 lemon, zest of
- 1⁄2 lemon, juice of
directions
- Measure out the 8 spices into a bowl (first 8 ingredients). If using fresh chilis then leave those out for now. Warm up a large skillet or pot (ideally cast iron) and bring to med-high heat. Gently roast the spices in the dry skillet -- watching the mixture doesn't burn, keep stirring. After about a minute it will become fragrant and begin to get dark - take it off the heat and pour back into the bowl - set aside.
- Put the skillet back on the heat, add in the oil and bring back to medium high heat. Add in the chopped onion and cook thru until translucent. Once the onion is cooked, add in the ginger and garlic and mix well - watching the garlic doesn't burn. Next add the spice mixture back in, followed by the tinned tomatoes.
- Mix in about 1 cup of water - you want a thick sauce, but not too paste-like. Add in the salt, bay leaves and cardamom seeds.
- Grate the zest off of the lemon, add to the pot, along with the juice from 1/2 of the lemon. Save the other half for later, you may want to add more. Let it all simmer on medium-low.
- For a nice smooth sauce, remove the bay leaves and blend until smooth (an immersion blender works well).
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Reviews
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Mmm!!! we like curry in our house and this is one that I will be using a lot. It had a very nice mix of spices in it but I didn't have fenugreek leaves so I added a wee bit of ground instead. I also added a teaspoon of mango chutney to sweeten it a bit and it was very nice served with king prawns and quinoa rather than rice. Thank you for posting. Made for Honor thy mother May 2011. -
This will be made often! A great, versatile sauce. I used with medium shrimp, served over rice, but would be great with vegies, or chicken. My only regret is that I made just half a recipe, so no leftovers :( Next time I will make the whole batch! Thanks for this keeper. -
Very delicious curry sauce! This will go very well with some mixed veggies and chicken. Again, I must caution anyone with any kind of respiratory problem. USE A MASK WHEN ROASTING THE SPICES AND AVOID BREATHING THE SPICES' AROMA DEEPLY. This will be made frequently, magpie, as I am developing a taste for curry! Thnx for sharing your recipe. Made for a fellow Voracious Vagabond of ZWT 6. -
Really nice curry sauce. I used a whole cinnamon stick (which I didn't grind), whole coriander seeds, whole cumin seeds, whole mustard seeds and the seeds from whole cardamom pods - and I omitted the fenugreek leaves and added whole fennel seeds. I dry roasted the whole spices and ground them in a pestle and mortar. I also added a bit more coriander and cumin due to personal preference. I ended up with a great curry which we really enjoyed. Thanks for sharing. -
This is a really good curry sauce .....much better than using the bottled variety. I used the sauce to make a vege curry with potatoes, carrots, peas, onion, red capsicum and cauliflower. Delicious. I think maybe leftovers may need to be thinned a little. Served with some pan cooked chicken and steamed basmati rice. Photo to be posted
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Tweaks
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Very yummy curry base. I used it to make aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower). I used less salt and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne, and it was at the right spiciness level for us. I am thinking the bay leaves are probably a sub for curry leaves - which I love - so I used those instead. DH thought it was a tiny bit bitter (from the fenugreek?), but I loved it. -
Mmm!!! we like curry in our house and this is one that I will be using a lot. It had a very nice mix of spices in it but I didn't have fenugreek leaves so I added a wee bit of ground instead. I also added a teaspoon of mango chutney to sweeten it a bit and it was very nice served with king prawns and quinoa rather than rice. Thank you for posting. Made for Honor thy mother May 2011.
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