The last few weeks have been pretty hectic for me, what with a conference away, a few cookery courses and catching up with friends, hence the reason it has taken me so long to post! I am usually dead against processed food and using jarred sauces as it is so easy to make your own however, after a busy few days last week, I decided it was definitely the right time to try out my recent purchase from Olney Farmer’s Market, Meah’s Balti sauce.
Meah’s sauces are produced by a small company which are based fairly locally in Luton. After running a successful restaurant for 35 years, the owners of the company, due to popular demand, produced a range of curry sauces so that restaurant standard meals can easily be re-created at home. Their entire range is handmade from scratch and the sauces bubble away in massive pots; each one takes about six hours to make. Ingredients are locally sourced which is a massive plus in my book!
The company offer a range of sauces from a mild Korma to a hot and spicy Madras. We enjoyed sampling a couple of the products before settling on a balti which is described as a “medium rich sauce with tomatoes, lovely with prawns or meat”. The great thing about these sauces is that they keep in the fridge for ages and are also suitable for freezing! This means that you are able to produce something in a flash which still has the essence of being ‘homemade’.
The instructions on the lid of the pot were simple to follow however, we decided to deviate slightly and added additional vegetables to our balti along with some chicken; our choice of peppers, courgette and sugar snap peas was by no means traditional but it did add another flavour dimension and extra veg is never a bad thing! We griddled all added ingredients prior to marinating in the sauce.
The dish itself took no time at all to cook and really was the speedy meal I was after. Add some basmati rice and a garlic and coriander naan and I was good to go! The curry was really tasty and had a bit of a kick as promised but was not over-powering. More importantly, there wasn’t the layer of fat and grease which can often be found on the, also speedy, takeaway version. All in all this was the perfect Balti which appears to be healthier than a takeaway or massed produced version and retains a degree of authenticity.
I am far from the only person who has enjoyed this range of curry sauces as the company has several celebrity endorsements, from Rick Stein to Levi Roots!
Meah’s curry sauces are now available in several local delis and farmshops and are available to purchase on-line. Check out their website for further details.
