Balti Birmingham

I recently got hold of a lager beer from Crumbs Brewery. Uniquely it’s made with surplus wonky naan breads so sounded like an ideal brew to wash down a Balti. So it proved as it was beautifully smooth and flavoursome and yes the flavour of the naan came subtly through … probably more Peshwari than Garlic!

Yet another example of an Indian chef not knowing a balti from a banana. In this case the you tubing chef was a Gurdip Loyal launching his book “Mother Tongue’ and cooking a supposed Balti Chola. Predictably it was a standard chick pea curry bunged into a couple of shiny bowls. When will they ever […]

Looking back, here are my top ten Balti houses in the Balti Triangle of which seven are now sadly long gone. Those still going are asterisked: 1. Royal Naim, Stratford Road, 2. Punjab Paradise, Ladypool Road, 3. Shababs, Ladypool Road* 4. Shahi Nan, Stratford Road*, 5. Sher Khan, Stratford Road, 6. Grand Tandoori, Stratford Road, […]

With the apparent return of Basil Fawlty, I thought a reprise of a review of the black country’s BaltiTowers from my twenty year plus Essential Street Balti Guide might be appropriate … ‘On my visit, Basil must have been on holiday as the restaurant had a calm laid-back atmosphere. No free dips but one was […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]