Balti Sauce

Prepare this flavourful homemade Balti Sauce for a delicious curry night. You can also make a batch in advance, store it and prepare a balti curry at your convenience. This dish is naturally vegan and gluten free.

This Balti Curry Sauce tastes just like the authentic curry found in Balti curry houses. It is made with onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers and Indian spice powders.

Use it as a base sauce for a vegetable balti or chicken balti recipe.

The name balti translates to “bucket” but in the case of this recipe, it refers to the oversized karahi or steel wok that it is served in (known as a balti bowl).

It’s thought that Birmingham is the original home of the Balti due to its large number of Balti houses. Many Balti houses can be found in the Balti triangle between Sparkhill and Moseley.

Balti cooking supposedly first appeared in a restaurant called Adil’s in 1977, which was located in Birmingham.

Balti Sauce Ingredients

Full ingredients with measurements are available in the recipe card below at the end of this post

Onion – red or brown both work.

Garlic and ginger – I use fresh but you can use ginger paste and garlic paste if that is all you have to hand.

Green pepper and red pepper

Tomatoes – I use tomato puree for a richer and deeper flavour however you can use fresh tomatoes too

Spices:

Cumin seeds, coriander seeds and fennel seeds (lightly crushed)

Red chilli powder (or use sweet paprika)

Ground cumin and ground coriander powder

Garam masala – a ready made spice blend of cumin, coriander, black pepper, cinnamon or cassia, green cardamom, mace and caraway

Dried fenugreek leaves known as Kasuri/Kasoori methi.

Oil – any flavourless oil such as vegetable oil or sunflower oil gives that authentic balti taste

Salt

Sugar – makes all the difference as it cuts through the tartness of the tomato, so don’t skip it.

Optional – turmeric powder

Equipment

Pan

Blender or immersion blender to blend the sauce

How to make Balti sauce

Prepare the vegetables by roughly chopping the onion, peeling the garlic, skin the ginger and chop the peppers.

In a saucepan or kadai, heat oil and add the onion on medium high heat. Sauté until becoming translucent then tip in the garlic, ginger and both peppers.

Cook until the peppers are soft. Add in the tomato, and all the spices, sugar and salt.

Further cook 2-3 minutes. Add dried fenugreek leaves. Turn off the heat and let it cool.

Place in the blender bowl or use an immersion blender and blend until you achieve a fairly smooth consistency sauce. Adjust the consistency to your liking.

How to use Balti sauce

Use vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower, potatoes, green beans, peas and even mushrooms. You can use meat such as chicken, lamb or beef.

Simply stir-fry your meat or vegetables in a large pan with a little oil. Remove into a bowl and add a little more oil into the pan, pour over the sauce and simmer.

Once the oil appears on the sides of the pan, tip the veggies or meat back in and cook until the vegetables are soft.

Top your balti with finely chopped coriander leaf and you may also like a squeeze of lemon juice.

Serve with naan bread or paratha and pilau rice. A side of poppadom dips and poppadoms complete the meal.

Storage

Store the balti sauce in a clean jar or airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

You can also freeze the sauce in batches for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature or in the microwave prior to use.

As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

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