As a Birmingham City fan I’m not used to Brummies winning things so it was nice to see Stu Deeley take the Master Chef title and at the same time acknowledge the influence of going for a balti with his parents over the years. In doing so he accompanied one of his winning dishes with a ‘balti sauce’.
Apparently, he’s opening a restaurant in the Jewellery Quarter soon so this will be another culinary scoop for the Quarter. Maybe he’ll be the first chef to do a gourmet balti!
A recent survey conducted by Subway of all people, suggests that around a quarter of the population now prefer a curry to the traditional Christmas turkey.
In fairness, this is reflected in Christmas Day now being a very busy time for Balti houses and curry restaurants alike although Balti Turkey with Brussel Sprouts accompanied by a Cranberry Naan has yet to catch on!
With the closure of the iconic Al Frash, I ventured a bit further out from the Balti Triangle to Akram’s in search of another authentic balti experience. The restaurant located on the Pershore Road was packed with regular diners and Xmas Parties galore … a good sign. Poppadoms were paid for but accompanied by a superb creamy mint dip served up in a gravy boat … now that’s what I call fusion food!
Starters were a generous portion of fresh and spicy mixed Veg Pakora whilst my wife had a Chicken Tikka. This initially raised alarm bells with it’s large chunks of brightly coloured meat but the taste was spot on. Main course was a superb Balti Exotica (aka old skool balti tropical) and this was a generous, spicy affair served up in a sizzling black bowl. The minced lamb was a particular highlight amongst the prawns, chicken and mushrooms.
My wife’s Balti Chicken Korma was creamy without being sickly sweet and we shared an excellent fresh Garlic and Coriander Naan. A couple of ‘After Eights’ (call me old fashioned but it’s always a welcome touch!) accompanied a very reasonable bill and I should add despite the sell out crowd, service was exemplary with frequent paper napkin changes and water replenishing.
Maybe, the Balti Triangle is turning into a Rectangle?
It’s been recently reported in the newspapers that a study by the Institute of Women’s Health suggests fenugreek is just the thing to restore a woman’s ailing sex drive.
Now before their partner starts ordering balti methi gosht I should point out that the same herb was apparently used back in the day as an embalming agent!