New Balti Bowl

Seasoned Balti Bowl

There was a recent article in the Guardian lamenting the lack of availability of ‘real’ paella and the growth of pretenders purporting to be the real thing. It struck me that there is a striking similarity to the position on authentic balti not least because paella takes its name from the cooking pan which is a signature element in the dish itself. However, in the case of paella, it’s more about the ingredients but in the case of balti, it’s more about the method but the overall principle of the issue of the not so great pretenders is the same.

So if ‘Paella has been Punked’ then equally ‘Balti has been Blagged’!

If a proper Balti is a culinary invention that many enjoy, I suppose it doesn’t really matter if the burgeoning ‘street’ food scene is the genuine article or really nouveau Indian tapas in disguise and, to be honest, I enjoy my turmeric and masala chips as much as the next curry lover.

Mr Whippy

However, taking this to its fullest extent, if Indian street food has to be the real deal off the streets of Delhi then British ‘street’ food should surely be greasy hamburgers, watery hot dogs, sloppy onions with tomato sauce on an anaemic bap followed by a Mr Whippy ice cream (with flake). I’m not sure that’s a concept with international appeal!

Indian Spices used in Ashas

The ‘prestigous’ Asian Catering Federation have just launched their Asian Curry Awards 2018  and have urged people to vote for their favourite curry restaurant or takeaway citing a plethora of countries who produce variations of the UKs favourite meal. These are listed as Bangladeshi, Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Middle Eastern, Singaporean, Sri Lankan, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese restaurants and takeaways. Can anybody spot the missing country although elsewhere there is a slight reference to the Punjab which does have some Pakistani as well as Indian heritage.

Racism? Surely not! Perhaps just a surprising omission as anybody who has read the fabulous Pakistani recipe book ‘Summers Under the Tamarind Tree’ would acknowledge, never mind our famous Pakistani Brummie dish ‘the Balti’!

Read the full blog post here: http://riaambertesia.com/asian-catering-federation-calls-for-curry-chef-amnesty/

Abduls Café and Diner in Hall Green, on the edge of the Balti Triangle is in fact a rein(curry)carnation of the much loved Saleems until recently operating on the Ladypool Road. It’s certainly a throwback with its basic décor, cold display cabinet and even the old skool metal water jugs for those who haven’t taken advantage of the BYO facility.

Free dips were enough sliced onions to make a grown man cry in a chilli sauce … simple but effective. This was accompanied by paid for poppadoms and then microwaved pakora and chicken tikka … reasonable but not exceptional.

My main was a meat ‘balti’ served up in a silver bowl and whilst the meat was flavoursome and tender, the dark (fenugreek infused?) sauce was too oily which was a shame and, in fairness, it didn’t stop me finishing it. My wife’s Korma was served up in a cereal bowl and oversweet and, in her view, lacking in depth whilst containing leg and thigh rather than breast.

The naan bread was decent as would be expected for a restaurant whose culinary roots stretch to, in many people’s opinion, the best katlamas in Brum. Will I return? Certainly to check out the katlamas but not sure about the ‘balti’!

The Great British Food magazine featured a selection of top UK ‘curry’ restaurants and just managed to squeeze in one from Birmingham under a ‘home of balti’ tag. Strangely it was Lasan … now Lasan is a great restaurant deserving of many awards but balti isn’t one of them. If the magazine is to mention the balti connection then surely it should be Shababs or Al Frash in the Balti Triangle.

Yet another example of foodie ‘experts not having a clue about Balti!’

Davood Ghadami

The Strictly Stars waltzed into town and apparently Eastender’s star was desperate to get all the stars together to ‘try a curry in the home of balti’. It’s good to hear we’ve got a reputation with an ‘East End boy’ but let’s hope they went for a ‘proper’ one rather than some ‘posh nosh’.

Anyway, he’s been left a proper ‘Birmingham Balti Company‘ balti bowl as a souvenir even if he doesn’t actually make that balti get together.’