I thought that I’d  seen everything in terms of the corruption of the word ‘Balti’ but Sharwoods have surpassed them with their ‘slow cooked,’ balti sauce.  Slow cooked … NOT a balti: cooked in a pot … NOT a balti: serves four … NOT a balti. No wonder it was a quid a sachet in chain store B and M’s!

Just finished helping my daughter at the craft market in Brum’s Cathedral Square and lots of takers for balti bowls for Santa’s sleigh.

However, it was interesting that the other products on sale included hand painted tiffins and amusingly(and worryingly) quite a few people thought they were baltibowls! 

This just illustrates how important it is to keep the Birmingham balti heritage alive although, on the flip side we also met a lot of people who were passionate about a proper balti.

For some years I’ve banged on about making Balti ingredients more diverse and thanks to top Balti chef Zaf, owner of Shababs, I’ve.started the experimental process A few weeks ago we used duck from fresh but I must have been quackers because it was not only a bit tough but its consistency meant that the duck never took up the taste of Zaf’s wonderful sauce.

However, moving on, I bought some diced goat from Moseley Farmers Market. Zaf part cooked it as he would mutton and the end result was a fabulously rich dish with the strong but tasty flavours of goat being complemented by Shababs balti sauce mix. Mind you , given the prices of the farmers market (8 pound for a small pack of diced goat meat) it would be a premium priced dish but, to my mind, it would be a price worth paying!

Thanks to Zaf at Shababs, I had the chance to see if duck cut the Balti ‘mustard’ instead of chicken or lamb. He cooked one duck breast marinated and then seared over charcoal and another with mango and pomegranate purees. Both were skinned and chopped into chunks before getting the Balti treatment. 

The problem with duck, of course, is that once skinned, it soon becomes unforgiving in texture when fast cooked. So predictably, the end result was a slightly rubbery texture but salvaged by it languishing in Shababs’ superb Balti sauce. I’m determined to experiment with  other types of meat or poultry but I think Zaf will be currently sticking to the tried and tested favourites of chicken and lamb!

There’s a website called the Food Review Club with apparently nigh on 300,000 followers so when they contacted me about doing a piece about balti I was happy to accept. The likeable couple behind the initiative are young and not from Brum so just the sort of foodies that need to know what the difference is between a proper Brum Balti and the Balti blagger. Thanks must go to Zaf at Shababs for also letting the guys into the kitchen …

I’m not a great one for balti sauce mixes but for a quick balti at home then there’s nothing wrong as long as all the ingredients are fast cooked and served up in the same balti pan. Mind you most of the sauces masquerading as ‘balti’ are one dimensional and very sugary sweet. So I was surprised to find a far more promising one under the brand name of ‘Indi Grand’ in Home Bargains store at the giveaway price of  69p! Compared with better known and far more expensive brands, it has a list of mouth watering spice ingredients … coriander, turmeric, star anise, cumin, clove, ginger, pepper, cassia, fennel, fenugreek, oregano, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, bay leaf, pimiento, paprika and mango powder.

Now that’s what I call a proper spice mix!’

After a COVID influenced absence of many months I finally returned to the Popular Balti, one of the best kept ‘secrets’ on the Ladypool Road. It’s had a minor makeover to complement its leatherette seating and booths but the one thing that they thankfully haven’t changed is the quality of food served. Crispy Poppadoms were accompanied by a deliciously creamy mint dip with the Popular’s traditional green dip at the other end of the chilli spectrum and not for the faint hearted. Starter was a fresh and lightly spiced Chicken Pakora with an equally light batter and one of the best Pakoras that I’ve ever tasted. Main course was a Balti Chicken and Paneer Bhuna, slightly dry as a good Bhuna should be but brimful of flavour. This was mopped up with a fresh and doughy Peshwari Naan. A couple of chocolate mints rounded off the meal nicely … a meal that must be in the top ten of the hundreds of Baltis that I’ve sampled over the years. I certainly won’t be waiting as long for my next visit!  

When I go up to see friends in Formby, we often have a takeaway but on principle I never order a ‘pretend’ pseudo balti. The upside is that it gives me a chance to try different sorts of curries.So this time, having perused the menu of the modestly named ‘Curry House‘ in Birkdale, I ordered the impressively named ‘Kenny Daglish Special’ … chicken tikka cooked with coconut, green chillies and the ubiquitous ‘special spices and herbs’.  It was surprisingly tasty and an ample portion.  and maybe as a Birmingham City fan, I can look forward one day to the ‘Bellingham Balti’!

Well known Brummie chef Aktar Islam has been bemoaning the stereotyping of ethnic chefs as only being good for cooking their own type of cuisine.  I can understand his view as a very talented and versatile chef although there is a flip side certainly in marketing terms. Most prospective diners visit a restaurant which they think does a specific cuisine well and assume that this stems from the owner or chef’s upbringing or background in that culture and style of cuisine. For example, seeing a white guy running an Afro Caribbean restaurant could make the diner feel, rightly or wrongly, that it lacks authenticity. Strangely enough balti is probably an exception because although most owners are from a Pakistani origin, this Brummie fusion dish could equally be cooked by somebody else … the long lamented Mr. Dave’s in Lye being a prime example!

After a shameful 30 year absence, I finally made a trip to the Khyber Pass in Alum Rock. The very geographical description might conjure up a bleak setting but the welcome at the restaurant allayed any of those fears. The warm wooden decor was how I remember this cosy restaurant and it’s just been given some polishing to know ill effect.

So to the food …. Poppadoms were warm and crispy and accompanied by three dips including mango, tamarind and mint and all were creamy without the watering down that has become common in some restaurants. The starters were an excellently spiced Chicken Tikka which was chunks of chicken breast, red but not in an artificial fluorescent sense. We also had a duo of Meat Samosas which were superb old skool style and not the pretentious cocktail variety that seems to proliferate these days.

The main event was a coconutty and creamy Balti Chicken Korma whilst I pushed the boat out  with a Balti Tropical with Mushroom. Brimful and served up in the traditional sizzling black balti pan, it was excellently spiced without being in the flame thrower category. The lamb was the highlight as the chunks just dissolved on the palate. All mopped up with a fresh and doughy naan.

Definitely worth the trip across Brum Incidentally it’s a BYO and after six there is decent parking on and off the street.