Nestled on a shelf in Aldi was a jar of Aagra Balti Tarka Dhal with a description on the back announcing that the Balti originates from the north west frontier of Pakistan. Yet another legend or perhaps ‘fairy tale’ would be more appropriate !
There have been a couple of articles in the media recently about the ‘demise’ of Balti and the rise of ‘Desi’ pubs.
Now I like an Indian mixed grill as much as anybody and there has been a proliferation of Sikh run pubs providing this type of fare. However noticeably none of them do a proper Balti and the fact that there are far more ‘Desi’ pubs in the Birmingham and Black Country area is, to some extent, academic.
Their advantage of course is that they are taking over existing pubs and that can only be a good thing if it prevents pubs, once the pillars of community, dying off. However, they can never replicate (and can’t be bothered/want to replicate) a proper authentic Balti which can still be found in the Birmingham area including the Triangle area.
In my culinary view there is plenty of space for both even if Balti is the only genuine Brummie dish!
A recent article in a food magazine called Vittles criticises a move to go for protected status for London’s pie and mash. If boiled mash (no butter allowed), meat pie with eel liquor and chilli vinegar floats your boat then fine but give me a proper balti anytime.
Having said that, although the pie and mash shops are disappearing at an alarming rate, I would have no objection if it wasn’t for one fact.
The bid for Balti to get protected status was refused initially because the term was now in common usage so best of luck with ‘pie and mash’!!
It is still a mystery to me why Balti restaurants don’t do something more festive for Xmas anymore other than an occasional lonely cracker. Years ago during the Balti boom, the many genuine Baltihouses back then would be competing fiercely so as an inspiration here is a menu …
Poppadoms with spiced cranberry dip
Brussel sprout pakora
Balti Turkey and Portobello mushroom with Spiced cranberry naan
Following the demise of Imlees in Moseley, a new restaurant called Begum now flies the Balti standard. A quick visit to their spotlessly clean kitchens, confirmed their authenticity and the meal didn’t disappoint. Tandoori lamb chop starters were almost other worldly and my chicken and mushroom balti was served sizzling brimful of spices and good to see fresh instead of tinned mushrooms used! Btw, the chef unusually has the choice of three based sauces instead of the traditional one! Well worth a visit if you are in the area.
It is good to see the Balti Triangle being recognised by Birmingham’s bus operators as a destination with the launch of a poster designed by talented Birmingham artist Milan Topovic. Needless to say that the centrepiece of his design is the balti bowl.
Following the hosting of Steve Heap, chef and You Tuber, in the hallowed kitchens of Shababs I sat down afterwards to chew the fat with him (Balti style) to talk about both the history of Birmingham’s iconic dish and the attempts still ongoing to preserve it …
I hooked up with adopted Brummie Steve Heap who has a large following on You Tube for his culinary exploits and also provides a private cheffing service. Now whilst Steve has had more than a few Baltis, he had never been behind the scenes to see one cooked so what better person to show him than Zaf Hussain, the head chef and owner of the legendary Shababs in the Balti Triangle.
Not realising Steve was a pescatarian, I had brought in some loin of venison bought from the local farmer’s market. This meant that I ‘unfortunately’ had it all to myself but luckily Zaf saved the day by cooking a superb Balti Tarka Dal. Both Baltis mopped up with some quite superb doughy naans.
This well-known and, to some, notorious food critic has been scathing in some of their reviews of genuine Baltihouses. Although I may disagree with much of that criticism at last they have visited a Baltihouse that we both agree on … Shababs in the Balti Triangle.
Piping hot Baltis fast cooked and served in a proper Balti Bowl with that unique slightly sweet flavour that the caramelisation over a high flame brings to the table.
There has been quite a bit of newsprint recently about the tug of war between Germany and Turkey about who invented the Doner Kebab and who has the right of applying for protected food status under the EU. Maybe there could be a future argument on who invented the Sheekh kebab …. Afghanistan, Pakistan or India?
Either way it appears that the new UK (Labour) government regime have decided that the process in joining the UNESCO Cultural Heritage Initiative (including the food category) should continue which hopefully will be good news in the longer term for the unique dish that is the Birmingham Balti!
