This chicken balti recipe will get you restaurant quality results.
I first learned to make chicken Balti at a restaurant called Shababs in Birmingham's Balti Triangle.
This is the recipe I learned that day and it is the chicken Balti I make most often and also teach at my cookery classes.
It's the real deal unlike so many chicken Balti recipes out there.
One of the key ingredients in a true chicken Balti is the Balti bowl itself.
You can cook this chicken balti in any pan and it will still be delicious.
That said, part of going out for a balti is experiencing having your curry served to you sizzling hot in the same balti bowl it was cooked in.
I recommend picking up a couple of Balti bowls if you want that experience. They aren't expensive and can be purchased right here from the Birmingham Balti Bowl Company.
I am not affiliated with them but highly recommend their product.
Use a real Balti bowl to cook this chicken Balti and you will love being able to experience an authentic Balti at home.
Most chicken Baltis served at restaurants are not actually Baltis.
Unfortunately, these days most Baltis are not cooked the way they should be.
They are still delicious but the presentation is all wrong. Most chefs cook their Baltis in a regular frying pan and then serve the curry in an ornamental Balti pan.
As I said above, you could do this too. But just think about that sizzling hot chicken Balti you could be dining from if you use a real stainless steel Balti bowl.
How I got to know Balti...
Andy Munro is one of the leading experts on all things Balti. You can read more about him and the Birmingham balti scene right here.
I met up with Andy recently and he showed me his Birmingham, Balti Birmingham.
We visited all of his favourite Balti restaurants and Shababs was one of them. That opened my eyes to the real thing. A good chicken Balti is a work of art.
Make it as it should be and you will be in Balti heaven!
The base sauce
The slow cooked base curry sauce is another of the most important ingredients in a true chicken Balti. It's easy to make and one of my recipes is here.
My site features many recipes that call for the base curry house style sauce.
The smooth base is one of the things that makes a British curry, British. If you want that famous flavour and texture, you've got to make the base!
Can I make a Balti without making the base sauce?
Yes and no. In order to get a Balti right, the base sauce must be used. You can still make a delicious curry without it as I show in my chicken Balti from scratch recipe here.
Pre-cooked meat
Another important ingredient in an authentic chicken Balti is pre-cooked chicken.
In my chicken Balti from scratch recipe I cooked the chicken from raw. It works but adding pre-cooked chicken such as my tandoori chicken or stewed chicken will get you superior results.
Cooking the chicken first adds another layer of delicious flavour.
The tandoori method gives an amazing flavour of smoky, marinated and grilled chicken. The meat juices can also be added to the sauce.
The stewed chicken option offers succulently cooked chicken with lots of sauce you can add with your base sauce.
If you like this chicken Balti recipe, you might like to try some of these favourites too...
Chicken Balti from Scratch
Aubergine Balti
Balti Dhal Fry
CHICKEN BALTI
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil or ghee
- 1/4 medium onion - finely chopped
- 1 tomato - diced
- 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
- 2 fresh green bird's eye chilli peppers
- 1/2 large green or red pepper roughly chopped
- 2 - 4 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tbs tandoori masala
- 300ml (1 1/3 cups) Curry Base Sauce
- 2 tsp Mixed powder
- 225g (1/2 lb) - tandoori chicken
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat the ghee or oil in a large frying pan or balti pan over high heat.
- Toss in the chopped onion and allow to fry for about 3 minutes or until the onion is beginning to turn soft and translucent.
- Add the garlic and ginger and stir to combine. About 30 seconds should do the job. You just want to cook off the rawness.
- Spoon in the tandoori masala and curry powder.
- Now add the green chillies, bell peppers, chopped tomatoes and tomato puree. Give this all a good stir to combine.
- Add about half of the base curry sauce and bring to a simmer.
- Throw in the chicken pieces and top as needed with more base sauce. Remember, Baltis are quite dry curries so don't add too much. If you do, you could always cook it down.
- Simmer for about 8 minutes or until the chicken is heated through. Stir in more base sauce as needed.
- Add the cider vinegar and simmer for another minute.
- Just before serving, sprinkle the coriander into the curry and season with salt and pepper to taste and then add the lime juice.
mags devaney says
I have tried this recipe this evening - and it is amazing! I am an avid curry cook myself, but the final resulttoday was absolutely fab - I added some spinach near the end, and lots of my favourite coriander and nutmeg. I am going to have a try again with the recommended curry base sauce for a dinner party next week - with the extra love I am certain it will be a winner! Thanks ever so much for sharing! xx
Dan Toombs says
Thank you Mags. I love this recipe too. Trying to talk Shabab's into sending me a few more recipes. 🙂
Dan
wendy says
Went to "Shababs" last night it was amazing ,gonna try your recipe later to seen if i can get the same .
thanks for sharing.
Dan Toombs says
I sure hope so. It's their recipe. Would love to know what you think of it.
Thanks
Dan
CAROL PATRICK says
I shall be making this today - thnnks
Dan Toombs says
Good to hear Carol. Enjoy.
Dan
Ellis says
I think it's safe to ignore step 9. I've made this twice now and it's delicious!
Dan Toombs says
Hi Ellis. Thanks for catching that. I think you're right. LOL. Really glad you like the recipe.
Thanks
Dan
Andy C says
I must admit to being rather sceptical about this dish but I just cooked it and it's a total triumph - a delicious recipe! It appealed to me for being so straightforward but that also gave me doubts: it's ready in about 25 minutes with no need to marinade or make base sauces. There's no toasting of spices or long slow cooking. There isn't any yoghurt or cream.
To be honest, Dan, I doubted whether this was going to be worthy of inclusion on your website but after cooking it, I can definitely say it is! Two points I would make however are that I do think using chicken stock is important compared to water. And second, although very tasty, it isn't exactly like the balti you get in the Birmingham Balti Triangle. (For two years, I lived a couple ofstreets away from that area and made weekly visits to the restaurants in that area). I would say it's not quite as aromatic or - dare I say - as flavourful as the very best but it's still an excellent recipe and I'll be making it again and again. It's one of the best 'simple' dishes I've come across.
Dan Toombs says
Thanks Andy - Since posting this recipe, I've visited quite a few balti house kitchen in the Balti Triangle. What those guys do is nothing short of amazing. They cook on super hot gas hobs and the whole pan catches fire which burns off oil and gives the ingredients an amazing flavour as you know. This is a good recipe for the home cook and I'm really glad you like it.
cheers,
Dan
jon says
Hi Dan, Great site and great book (Which I recently bought 🙂 I quick question, f you leave out the onions and tomatoes and add the base sauce. Do you still add the stock/water or is that taken care of with the base sauce liquid? Thanks in advance
Dan Toombs says
Hi Jon
Thank you very much. The curry base sauce should be used instead of the water. You can always add a little water if you are running low on sauce.
Thanks,
Dan
Liz says
This tasted amazing, even despite the fact that I had to make some tweaks (dried ginger, dried garlic and powdered chilli instead of fresh). I can’t wait to make this again with fresh ingredients, it tastes so much better than using the awful spice pastes. Won’t ever go back!
Dan Toombs says
That's great to hear Liz. Thank you!
Dan
Sarah says
This recipe is amazing. I've moved away from Birmingham and been missing the quality of curries, cooking this made my house smell like walking into my favourite Indian restaurant! So easy and delicious!
I'm vegetarian so swapped the chicken for diced aubergine, sweet red pepper and broccoli. It worked breast! The aubergine makes a really smooth sauce and the broccoli flavour worked surprisingly well!
Dan Toombs says
Hi Sarah
That's great to hear. I'm eating a lot more veggies these days. I'll give your version a try.
Thanks,
Dan
Liz says
Has this recipe changed? I'm convinced this recipe never used to call for base sauce, tandoori chicken or cider vinegar!
Dan Toombs says
Hi Liz
I don't think the recipe has changed.
Thanks
Dan
Tony Kane says
Just been bought your book and thought I would try making a chicken balti first after making the base curry sauce. However I'm just a little confused about the amount of sauce to use. In the balti recipe it says to use 250 mls of base curry sauce but is this the amount to use after it has been diluted or before ?? You say under the base curry sauce recipe that it should be diluted with water or stock before using it in curries.
Dan Toombs says
The 250 ml of base sauce is the amount to add after you have diluted it.
Thanks
Dan
Sambo says
Looking forward to cooking this one tonight as I love a good chicken balti. Do people generally add the lime juice and cider vinegar? I have both but wondered if the acidity this adds may be a little too much
Dan Toombs says
I like it with the lime and vinegar but add it to taste if you're not sure.
Thanks
Dan
Andy Halsey says
Hi Dan,
Could I make up the Balti sauce and save it/freeze it before adding the main ingredient like your other sauces. I am trying to plan ahead for an event. Thanks very much.
Dan Toombs says
Hi Andy
I do that often. Go for it.
Claire says
Hi Dan is the tandoori masala a paste or powder?
How many people would this recipe be for?
I am going to make your curry base sauce and wanted to know how much to use in this recipe ? Thank you so much xx
Dan Toombs says
The tandoori masala is a powder, available in Asian shops. The recipe serves 1-2 people. Y
Thanks
Dan
Claire says
Hi Dan I really want to cook this dish this Saturday as we have friends coming over. I will be cooking for 7 adults would you be-able to give me the recipe for that amount of people please
Thank you so much xx
Dan Toombs says
Just upscale accordingly but be more careful with chilli powder, add that to taste. It will be more of a curry for 7 people than a balti but will stil be good!
Thanks
Dan
Mr Lee says
Oh Dan,
You have done it again😃
Just like your Dhansak recipe, this is superb.
Like others, i didnt think there would be enough ingredients to flavour the Balti Taste - but this is a fantastic recipe
Again, like Dhansak and Bombay Aloo - the ingrediebts seem short.
But flavour is there - how lol as i thought more ingredients would result un better?
I am learning also from the Red Book.
Great again Dan Thanks
Dan Toombs says
Thank you so much.
Dan
Lee says
To add to my comment:-
What i find is important is the timing of adding salt/cider vinegar/lime
Imo this must be fone very near the end and not cook out these key flavours.
When done right Balti is a fantastic dish and soo underrated.
Obviously Birmingham is the best place for a Balti.
But tbh the Best Balti i ever had was a restaaurant named:-
Monihar
Plumstead High St
London
SE18
Its no longer there - but incredible chef.
I would really like to locate that chef as imo he is one of the BEST BIR CHEFS i have come across.
Dan Thanks again for a great BIR recipe
Dan Toombs says
Agreed and yes Birmingham baltis are amazing.
Thanks very much.
Dan
Ginge says
Hi. Is it really 2 table spoons of tandoori masala?
Dan Toombs says
Yes, thanks for checking but that amount is correct in that recipe. Obviously reduce it a bit and add to taste if you feel it’s too much.
Thanks
Dan
Craig Currie says
How much base gravy did you use for 2 people??
Dan Toombs says
Use around 200 ml but more if you like a saucy consistency or less if you prefer it a bit drier. The exact amount to use isn’t an exact science so make it to your own taste.
Thanks
Dan
Mark B says
I just wanted to say 'Thank You' Dan. I make a lot of scratch curries and whilst they are quite nice, they always seem to be lacking something that I just can't put my finger on. This is how I found your site, by searching for that missing something.
I was reluctant to go to the lengths of making the base sauce, AND mixed powder, AND Madras curry powder AND the tandoori chicken, it all seemed a bit of a mission - however in the end I had to try it and I'm glad I did. I'm not sure which step made the most difference, but it was absolutely delicious - I'm converted - thank you so much.
Dan Toombs says
Thank you so much, I’m glad you enjoy the recipe.
Dan
Greg says
Hi,
Why is this recipe so different to your Youtube Balti?
Thanjs
Dan Toombs says
My recipes have changed or been updated over the years. Some of the YouTube recipes are quite old but still work. The ones on the blog have generally had some tweaks so may be slightly improved.
Thanks
Dan
Glen Allsopp says
How much of the base sauce goes into this recipe?
Dan Toombs says
Use about 300 ml but use according to taste so more if you like a thinner sauce or less if you prefer a thick sauce.
Thank you
Dan