Quick Balti Curry Spice Mix Recipe

By
Elaine Lemm
Elaine Lemm
Elaine Lemm
Elaine Lemm is a renowned British food writer, classically trained chef, teacher, and author with over 25 years of experience writing about British food and cooking.
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Updated on 10/30/21
Vegetable balti with naan bread
Joff Lee / Getty Images
Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 5 mins
Total: 10 mins
Servings: 4 servings

A Balti curry is a curry, meat or vegetable, which is cooked over a high flame then cooked again with extra spices and is served in the traditional round-bottomed balti dish.

Balti Curry is famous in and around Birmingham in the Midlands, and more specifically an area known as the Balti Triangle. Birmingham became Britain's balti capital thanks to the city's Pakistani and Kashmiri communities arrival into the city in the 1970's.

This famous curry is now served across the whole of the UK, and such fun to make at home (and at a fraction of the cost) of eating out. This Balti spice blend really takes moments to make and brings a great freshness and depth of flavor to the meat, fish or vegetables not found in any bottles or ready-made paste which are available from supermarkets.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

  • 2 tablespoons cilantro

  • 4 dried curry leaves

  • 3 green chilies, deseeded and finely chopped

For the Dried Spice Mix:

  • 1 teaspoon garam masala

  • 1 teaspoon palm sugar (or soft brown sugar)

  • 1 teaspoon coriander

  • 1 teaspoon cumin

  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 1 teaspoon cloves

  • 1 teaspoon turmeric

  • 1 teaspoon nigella seeds

  • 4 cardamom pods, split

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Lightly crush mustard seeds in a pestle and mortar, if possible. If you don't have a pestle and mortar, then add seeds into a Ziploc or plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin.

  3. Roughly chop coriander/cilantro leaves.

  4. Place curry leaves in palm of hand and squeeze gently to crack leaves and release some of the scent.

  5. Place remaining spices into a bowl and mix thoroughly to make sure they are all incorporated.

  6. Add mustard seeds, coriander/cilantro leaves, curry leaves, and finely chopped chilies. Stir well again.

  7. Spice mix is now ready to use with either chicken, beef, fish, prawns or vegetables.

Tips

  • To ensure a fresh, vibrant, curry blend it is important to use spices as fresh as possible. If your spice jars have been lurking at the back of your cupboard for the past few years you may want to think about replacing them.
  • The spice blend is usually added to onion, garlic and ginger before adding in the meat, fish, seafood or vegetables once they are in a hot pan.
  • Beware the mustard seeds will start to pop when they are heated up, it will stop after a few minutes.
  • Always take care when cooking with a spice mix, they can burn very easily and will impart a bitter taste to your food.
  • Spice mix can be prepared in advance and kept in a screw top jar or airtight box. Keep in the refrigerator and use within the month. They also freeze well.