Balti

↔ Varies by recipe

Balti is a style of curry from Birmingham, England, cooked and served in a thin, pressed-steel wok called a balti bowl. It became popular in the 1970s and gave its name to a distinctive type of restaurant in the city.

History

Balti emerged in Birmingham around 1970, and the first restaurant serving it is usually dated to about 1977. It is stir-fried quickly in hot vegetable oil rather than ghee, using boneless meat, most often chicken or lamb. The base is onion or tomato with garlic, ginger and spices such as cumin, fenugreek, garam masala and turmeric.

Balti houses, mostly run by Pakistani and Bangladeshi families, clustered south of the city centre between Sparkhill and Moseley, in an area known as the Balti Triangle. From there the style spread to other British cities and into supermarket ready meals.

Culture

Balti houses have plain interiors and serve large karak naan to share at the table. Their reputation for cheap food owed something to the fact that they paid no tax on alcohol sales, and some diners brought their own drinks. A tornado in 2005 damaged the area, and by 2023 only four of its restaurants remained.

Legend and fact

It is often suggested that the name comes from Baltistan, in Kashmir, or from the Hindi word for bucket, but there is no consensus on its origin. Some Birmingham restaurateurs have claimed they invented the dish to please white British customers, which is generally seen as a marketing strategy rather than an ancient tradition.

Trivia

Failed protection bid. In 2012 the Birmingham Balti Association applied to the European Union for traditional speciality guaranteed status. The application failed by 2016 because the dish was not cooked to a standard recipe.

A reference book. The food writer Pat Chapman published the Balti Bible in 1998, which helped spread balti cooking beyond Birmingham.