Sometimes I choose a recipe as it looks interesting and sometimes it is because of an ingredient. I was looking through the Penzeys Spices catalogue and came upon a spice called Balti Seasoning. It says it is deliciously spicy but not too hot.
They had a recipe for Balti Chicken Salad. I made it today for lunch. Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
2 C cooked, cubed chicken or turkey
½ C plain non-fat Greek yogurt
3 T mayonnaise
½ C chopped cashews
¼ chopped apricots
¼ C chopped golden raisins
½ C green peas
1 t Balti seasoning mixed with 2 t water
8-12 slices sandwich bread of your choice.
Leafy greens
Instructions:
1. I cooked 2 chicken breasts in the microwave as I did not have leftovers but plenty in the freezer. I cut it in cubes and mixed it with the yogurt, mayonnaise, and seasoning.
2. I did not have the apricots, but the creator of the recipe for Penzeys said he made it up with what he had in the cupboard so, I used ½ C craisins with orange fravor instead of the apricots and raisins. Craisins are dried Cranberries. Anyway just mix it all together and place on bread with green leafy lettuce. You could also just eat it on lettuce.
Our take was that it was good, but did not get a sense of what Balti seasoning really tastes like. I am making a chicken crock pot recipe for dinner and it seems to be a little dull in the spice department. I will wait until it cooks a little more, and may add it to the crock pot.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
If you still have some balti seasoning left, and would like to try again, here's another recipe from Penzeys using the balti seasoning. It might give you a better sense of what it is. Since I am accustomed to curries I will add that I usually increase the spice amounts by another Tbsp for the balti and tsp for the garam masala. That will ratchet the spice up a bit.
ReplyDeleteBalti Chicken
Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken breast or 1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless
3 TB Penzey's Balti Seasoning
1-2 tsp. Penzey's Garam Masala (optional)
3 TB water
2-4 TB vegetable oil
1-2 cups broccoli (can add carrots and beans if desired)
1-2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 large onion, minced
32 oz can diced tomatoes
1/3 cup ground almonds
2 TB lime juice
1 cup yogurt
1/2-1 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or 1 TB dry
Directions:
1) Mix Balti Seasoning and Garam Masala with water, set aside.
2) Rinse chicken pieces, pat dry.
3) Bone and skin chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces.
4) Peel and mince onion, set aside.
5) Preheat a large, deep pot, wok, or karahi over medium heat, add 1 TB oil, heat, add
fresh vegetables, stir fry 3-5 minutes until browned a bit, remove with a slotted spoon or
tongs and set aside.
6) Add 1 TB oil, heat, brown chicken in two batches, cooking about 3 minutes per batch. Add
1 TB oil between the batches of chicken if necessary.
7) Remove the chicken to the bowl holding the vegetables, then add minced onion and cook
until quite brown, about 5 min.
8) Push the onions to the side and add the Balti-Garam Masala mix, stirring in the pot
until it starts to stick and blacken, then add the can of tomatoes with its juice.
9) Stir to blend, reduce heat to medium low, add ground almonds, lime juice and the chicken
and vegetables, making sure to add any juice that accumulated in the bowl.
10) Stir well to blend, then add yogurt a spoonful at a time, mixing thoroughly.
11) Simmer over low heat about fifteen minutes (the Balti will be done at this point, but
it can simmer for longer if desired).
12) Add 1/2 tsp salt, taste, add the other 1/2 tsp salt if desired. Garnish with chopped
Cilantro. If using dry Cilantro, sprinkle on a few minutes before serving to give it a
chance to rehydrate.
Serve with Roti or naan.
Serves 6-8. Prep time 30 min. Cooking time 30 minutes