Cheats recipe for Balti Curry

One jar of Pataks Balti Sauce

3 small peppers (red and green cos it looks pretty lol)

1 onion

A few green beans

Garlic adjusted for individual taste

Pepper

Chilli adjusted for taste ( I use home grown ones)

Fresh coriander

Teaspoon of Manisa Mesir Macunu (totally optional but it made it taste nice and a friend from Turkey gave it to me)  otherwise use a touch of honey.

Plus whatever meat, if any, you like to use

Lightly fry chopped up onion, garlic, chilli, green beans and peppers in olive oil ( I blitz the onions, chilli and garlic in a blender so they are really small) but leave the peppers chunkier. Add the Mesir paste or honey to make it quite sweet, and stir stir stir. If using chicken fry the chicken in small pieces in the same pan (thighs are best and dont use any more oil as there is oil in the chicken If using other meats it probably best to precook them so they are really melt in your mouth then finish cooking them in the sauce.

Add one jar of Pataks Balti sauce and then add the same amount of water.  Swirl around to boil and leave for about an hour on a very low heat, of course not forgetting to stir from time to time then somewhere near the end add plenty of fresh coriander and pepper.  Taste from time to time to make sure you are happy with it and adjust taste accordingly and add more water if necessary but dont go overboard.  Dont add any extra salt you really do not need it.  The sauce automatically thickens even though when you add water it looks too runny, I would definitely not recommend to just use a jar of the sauce on its own which is what you are supposed to do.

I know someone who has to go into Indian Restaurant Kitchens and they told me in good faith that there is always Pataks sauce jars in there so they obviously use them to add some flavour sometimes and I am happy to cheat too. The end result is quite yummy.  Serve with basmati rice and whatever other indian delights you like.

A tip for perfect basmati rice is to use one portion of rice to two portions of water.  Put in saucepan with a lid, boil and then turn off and let the rice steam itself, it works every time.  I use a Pakastani basmati rice which I buy in 5 kilo bags from my local Pakistani shop and it tastes delicious and I eat absolutely tons of it hehehehe, maybe this is why I always have trouble in losing weight!  I must admit I also buy my green beans, coriander (although I am trying to grown coriander myself) and lots of other bits and pieces from there because their food is just so fresh, much better than the big supermarkets, and I have to add its cheaper!