Archive | Balti News

Years ago, in the halycon early days of Balti, a lunchtime visit to a Baltihouse was a customary break from the stresses of the working week. However, as the recession bit, the Balti Triangle was generally ‘closed’ on a weekday lunchtime. Things now seem to be changing back to the ‘good ole days’ with Shabab […]

In San Francisco, there’s a fabulous food purveyor called Trader Joe’s which rivals Waitrose in its eclectic selection of quality and seasonal foods. However this month, Trader Joe has let himself down by trying to bring the Balti to the West Coast of the USA in the shape of the ubiquitous ‘Balti Pie’. To paraphrase […]

I visited one of the Balti Triangle’s pioneer restaurants recently and they were depressingly downbeat due to the continued saturation of eateries in the area … particularly fast food joints. Last time I spoke to BCC Planning Dept, they said that they were clamping down on permissions on hot food outlets across the City … […]

One of the Balti Triangle’s most popular restaurants, co-incidentally called The Popular, has undergone a makeover. This cosy restaurant has made an excellent job of the décor but, on my last visit, I’m sure that I spied a 21st Century version of flock wallpaper. What next? Black Forest Barfi?

The bid to secure ‘Traditional Status Guaranteed’ EU status rumbles on with the documentary evidence of the minimum 30 year origin rule now satisfied courtesy of the ‘Balsall Heathan’ magazine. Next up is another visit from DEFRA … a genuinely helpful bunch but not helped by the pernickety Eurocrats. Apparently, a number of previous attempts […]

Yet again, it appears that the local authority and partners have gone cool on the National Capital of Curry competition, due to be held in the Autumn. Proposals sent to the local authority, local paper, and the College of Cakes have met with that ultimate weapon of public servants … ‘silence’!

I was at Shabab recently for a visit of the ‘Discovery Channel’ programme makers who were filming a programme about curries and wanted to cover Birmingham’s famous Balti. The presenter was well known Iranian comedian Omid Djalili. I’m pleased to say that he massively (and genuinely) enjoyed his Balti Chicken and Mushroom Vindaloo. We also […]

Shabab’s Quick And Easy Chicken Balti For One can be found on the Curry Guy (Dan Toombs) website at http://www.greatcurryrecipes.net/2014/02/17/quick-and-easy-chicken-balti-for-one/

Our bid to secure TSG protected EU status for the ‘Birmingham Balti’ partly depends on finding a ‘balti reference’ from over 30 years ago. We’ve got one for late 1984 but need a reference from before March of that year. We know it predates that but need the evidence. So, if anyone has any bright […]

On the basis that people visiting this site are curryholics, it’s also worth a visit to Dan Tombs’ excellent site at greatcurryrecipes.com.