The Desi v Balti Debate

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!

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