Calum Franklin, author of The Modern Pie Maker, has shared his recipe for a balti paratha pie served with a spicy green chutney. The pie is inspired by balti cooking, which emerged in 1970s Birmingham, and is a celebration of multicultural Britain.
A pie born in the Midlands
Franklin recalls his university days in Birmingham, where he and Lewis Walker, now head of department at the College of Food at University College Birmingham, would frequent late-night balti houses. The balti base always contains tomatoes, onions, peppers and chillies, with variations built on those foundations.
The first balti pie is thought to have been served at Walsall football club in 1997. They are now sold at more than 70 football grounds across the UK. Franklin also mentions the lesser-known balti pie barm, a whole balti pie inside a soft bread roll.
Ingredients and method
For the pie, you will need 6 chicken thighs on the bone, salt, medium curry powder, garam masala, ground turmeric, chilli powder, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, butter, a red onion, a green pepper, a garlic clove, ginger, a tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, chicken stock, cornflour, lime zest and juice, fresh coriander, frozen roti paratha, an egg yolk, and nigella and fennel seeds.
The chicken is roasted at 210C (190C fan)/415F/gas 6½ for 25 minutes, then left to cool. The ground spices are toasted in the oven at 205C (185C fan)/gas 6 for 10 minutes. The onion, pepper, garlic and ginger are softened in butter, then the spices, tomatoes, puree and stock are added and reduced by half.
Once cool, the chicken is stripped from the bone and chopped. A cornflour slurry is stirred into the sauce, followed by the chicken, lime zest and juice, and coriander. The mixture is chilled. Eight parathas are rolled out to line a greased 12-hole muffin tin, filled with the balti mix, and closed with the remaining parathas. After chilling for 15 minutes, the pies are baked at 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7 for 30 minutes.
Spicy green chutney
The chutney is made by blending garlic, ginger, green chilli, toasted cumin seeds, lemon juice, water, coriander leaves, mint leaves and salt until smooth. It will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
The recipes are edited extracts from The Modern Pie Maker: A Mouth-Watering Journey Around Britain in Eighty Recipes by Calum Franklin, published by Bloomsbury at £26.
