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

• Carrot Barfi and Condensed milk

Maybe one day! …

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.

Copies of the poster can also be purchased from his website.

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.

Apart from his You Tube exploits https://youtube.com/@stevenheaprecipes if you wanted to find more about both the cookery classes he runs and his cheffing services, visit Steve on www.privatechefsteve.co.uk

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.

 A sight to behold and a joy to taste!

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!

For those who like railways or Portillo but not necessarily both(!), it is worth keeping an eye out for Michael Portillo’s latest visit to Birmingham when he samples an authentic balti for the first time at the legendary Shababs.