Chicken & Spinach Balti at Shababs Balti Restaurant - Richard Sayce (Misty Ricardo)

Chicken & Spinach Balti
at Shababs Balti Restaurant, Birmingham Balti Triangle.
May 2022

I was very excited to visit Shababs to film some cooking by owner and head chef Zaf Hussain. In this video Zaf shows how he cooks a Chicken & Spinach Balti, a very popular dish with customers.

The Birmingham Balti (BB) is a style of cooking that evolved in the 1970s and was massively popular in the 80's and 90's, and has since maintained a large fan base. There's something special in the way an authentic BB is cooked - on a high flame in a thin and squat pressed steel bowl in which it is also served. Scoop it up with a naan and you're in balti paradise.

It's interesting that the chef doesn't use a pre-assembled 'mix powder' but uses individual spices instead. Notice the charred edges around the bowl, which give an important part of the balti flavour.

Ingredients for Chicken & Spinach Balti

I've estimated the ingredients based on watching the cooking and on further questions I asked Zaf. Please note that no salt is added when cooking the balti because it's already in the base gravy and in the pre-cooked spinach. Similarly, in this particular balti no extra garlic is added because it's in the pre-cooked spinach.

All spoon measurements are level.

- 2-3 TBSP Veg Oil
- 50g Chopped Onion (about 1/3 of a medium one)
- ¼ Green Pepper, chopped (of a medium sized one)
- 1 Green Chilli, whole but topped
- Half a medium tomato, chopped
- 150-175g Fresh Chicken, small pieces
- 1 TBSP Paprika
- 2 tsp Turmeric
- Salt to taste
- 275ml Base Sauce/Gravy (see below)
- 2 tsp Kasuri Methi
- 1 tsp Cumin Powder
- ½ tsp Garam Masala
- Pre-cooked Spinach (1 rounded chef spoon) approx. 100ml. (cooked with oil, ginger/garlic turmeric, salt, spices).
- Handful Fresh coriander to finish

I do not have the exact recipe amounts for the base sauce/gravy, but plan on making a special balti base recipe soon suitable for cooking at home. The Shababs version is quite heavy on the oil and tomato content (puree, tinned plum and fresh tomatoes) and is cooked with whole spices (cassia bark, bay leaves, green & black cardamom, cloves) which are blended into the final sauce. Other ingredients include onions, ginger (75%)/garlic (25%), turmeric, paprika, salt. No other vegetables are used.

This video is part of series of videos I'm publishing about authentic Balti.
Please click here for the full list: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqoeAKonq-KcwPDzrT7iWkmtkHoAaaFGP

Authentic Birmingham Balti Bowls can be bought from the Birmingham Balti Bowl Company:
https://thebirminghambaltibowlco.com/

Thanks to Zaf Hussain, Andy Munro, Andy Lees, and all the staff at Shababs!

Shababs Balti Restaurant
163-165 Ladypool Rd., Sparkbrook, Birmingham B12 8LQ
Tel: 0121 440 2893
https://www.shababs.co.uk

For more info on BIR ingredients such as Mix Powder & Base Gravy, please use the following links:
Info about BIR Cooking: https://mistyricardo.com/introduction-to-cooking-bir-curry-part-1/
My Mix Powder Recipe: https://mistyricardo.com/mix-powder-recipe
My Base Gravy Recipe: https://mistyricardo.com/base-gravy-recipe
My 30 Minute Base Gravy: https://mistyricardo.com/30-minute-quick-base-gravy-recipe/

The latest cookbook by Richard Sayce, Curry Compendium is now available to order (more info at https://www.mistyricardo.com):
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3zkxgbl
Spicy Joes: https://bit.ly/3kUhOvZ
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Book Depository: https://bit.ly/38IvUe6 (free Worldwide delivery)