Just been to the Shahi Nan for one of their stellar Baltis. Packed out on a Sunday afternoon I opted for a balti chicken and mushroom with a garlicky nan bread.
As usual superbly well balanced spices but not often talked about was the quality of chicken which was second to none.
Nobody will need to wash that balti bowl!!
A recent piece on regional TV evening news was highlighting the plight of ‘Indian’ restaurants badly affected by rising costs. Typically, the introductory lead in was on the back of the term ‘Balti’. True to form this was followed by shots of frying pans, shiny serving dishes and some psychedelic colouring. Bangladeshi it might have been but Balti it was not!
Sad to hear about the passing Ali Aslam, owner of Glaswegian restaurant Shish Mahal and creator of the iconic Chicken Tikka Masala.
It is interesting to note that Ali’s roots were in Pakistan as were the Birmingham creator of the equally iconic Balti, Mohammed Arif, owner of Adil.
So much for ‘Going for an Indian ‘!
I was recently asked about whether I knew of any genuine Balti restaurants in London.
As none sprung to mind I decided to do some research so after googling ‘Balti’ and ‘Brick Lane’ (the supposed epicentre of the London curry scene) I phoned a restaurant in Brick Lane called the ‘Eastern Eye Balti House‘. On questioning them, they said they served Balti but when they described it, it was obviously just a standard curry masquerading as a Balti!
I then phoned the Bangladeshi Catering Association (the National organisation based in the Brick Lane area) and when I described the authentic article, the retort was ‘ nobody does it that way’.
All disappointing but in its own way illuminating!
Ex Blues cult hero and Senegalese manager Alou Cisse is in the news with their match against England imminent. Interestingly there is a balti connection which occurred when the now closed Royal Naim added an Alou Balti to raise money for the ferry disaster victims which tragically affected his family.
Highlights of the Balti included Senegalese top food exports of peanuts, beans and cassava … and yes it was a really tasty balti!
This was an enjoyable visit to the Spice Merchant, one of Kings Heath’s only two genuine balti houses. Early signs were good with prompt service in very comfortable surroundings. My aubergine pakora was fresh and tasty with just the right amount of batter. My main was a Balti Chicken with chunks of tender chicken languishing in a rich sauce. This included some fresh ginger which definitely gave it a real zing. Overall a very enjoyable meal and incidentally the poppadoms were crispy and the naan bread was fresh and doughy … two things that often let a typical Balti House down.
The fight to get the genuine balti recognised and protected goes on. UNESCO run a scheme under their cultural banner which includes the universally popular,(?) Azerbaijan Flatbread being recognised.
Bids have to be sponsored by central government and an approach to DCMS met with the response that they would be interesting in supporting. a bid but we’re too overworked to register with UNESCO but hoped to do so sometime. in the future.
It’s a hard life for civil servants working from home over tea and biscuits!
Another journey across the City to visit an old favourite … The Khyber Pass. A warm welcome, good service and excellent food. Starters were chicken tikka and onion bhaji. Whilst they were verging on fire engine red this shouldn’t detract from their freshness an excellent flavour.
Mains were a balti chicken korma for her and a balti lamb and mushroom for me. Tender meat in a rich sauce served up sizzling in traditional black Balti bowls. Nice doughy garlic naan was the accompaniment.
Incidentally, there is a sweet centre next door and we took home a rich buffalo milk barfi … a rare and unexpected treat!
I was kindly invited by the Centre of Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship to an event co sponsored by the Bangladeshi Restaurant Association to look at sustainability issues in a hard pressed section of the private sector.
The Centre kindly sent out a questionnaire of mine inviting restaurants who cooked an authentic Balti to complete to check if they were the Balti ‘real deal’.
Surprise surprise (or maybe not!) despite some of them having the word ‘Balti’ in their restaurant name, not one of the thirty odd restaurants at the event rose to the challenge. Maybe that says something about the Bangladeshi Restaurant community and the Balti!
