My wife came back from Morrisons with a Balti Pie for me to try and, as a bonus, it was a ‘Pukka Pie’ one of the iconic pie makers.  The good news is that it was only a quid and the filling was deliciously spicy and undoubtedly the best ‘balti’ pie I’ve ever tasted.  However, I looked at the ingredients of the balti sauce and delicious though it was the ingredients (water, onions, oil, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, ginger, coriander, salt, sugar, herbs and spices) were all ‘stock’ curry ingredients. In fairness, the pie was slightly caramelised like a balti but that’s only because the missus burned the pastry slightly in the oven! Great curry pie but hope to find out from Pukka what makes it a balti pie!

I’ve just finished a second hand copy  (£2-99p courtesy of E Bay!) of Pat Chapman’s ‘Balti Bible’. It was published in the late nineties and represents a comprehensive look at Balti with over 120 recipes.  Pat is undoubtedly curry ‘royalty’ and the book is a good read with some excellent recipes, albeit sometimes a bit overcomplicated as is Pat’s way and including some innovative suggestions on ingredients. The book includes name checks for some great balti houses, such as … the Royal Naim (sadly no longer with us), Adil, Balti Towers, Azims and the Royal Watan.  Amusingly Pat says that he was worried about upsetting people by using the word ‘Bible’. How times have changed although I’m willing to bet there is unlikely to be a ‘Kurry Koran’ anytime soon!