Outside of Birmingham it is impossible to get a real Balti. There are several places around especially in the north of England which claims to serve Baltis but I have yet to find a decent one. I suppose to be fair, all curries vary from region to region so it's difficult to say which is right and which is wrong but I think the city of origin is a fair enough place to call the benchmark.

So What is a Balti?

Background

Baltistan is a region in the North of Pakistan where the ususal method of cooking is to allow joints of meat cook all day long over a low heat which allows the meat to absorb all of the flavours. The Balti as we in Birmingham know it however is totally different, only the spices are the same.

The Balti originated totally in the West Midlands. Exactly where is a bone of contention in the Asian community although Adil's in Balsall Heath is widely regarded to have served the first one. The balti seems to have exploded from there to the point where you no longer go for a curry after a night at the pub, you go for a balti. There are very few Indian restaurants left which do not serve Baltis.

There are really only three main areas for decent Baltis : Moseley, Balsall Heath and Selly Oak. Balsall Heath is where it originated and it spread up the Alcester Road to Moseley. Selly Oak is about a mile further out of town along the Bristol Road and is well signposted. These are the places to go if you want to taste the best. If you want a good balti, you don't go to the city centre. There, the baltis tend to be more expensive and you will generally get either smaller portions or poorer quality baltis.

Food

Poppadoms are flour pancakes which are deep fried and expand to give a crisp bubbled appearance. They are usually served with a mint yoghurt sauce and chopped onions or salad either before or instead of starters.

There are many different starters available at Balti restaurants: a Seekh (pronounced shish) Kebab is a sausage-like tube of spicy lamb cooked over a flame; a Shami Kebab is the same but flattened into a pancake shape and fried; Chicken Tikka is tender lumps of breast meat marinated in spices to give an orange colour; Tandoori Chicken is a breast of chicken on the bone marinated in red spices; Bhajis and pakoras are deep-fried balls of vegetables or meat in a spicy batter; Samosas are mincemeat and vegetable or just vegetables wrapped in a thin pastry and deep fried. Most of these starters are well worth trying and are nearly always served with a bit of salad on the side.

In Birmingham a Balti is a tailor made quick-fried dish with lots of sauce which uses lots of coriander and tomatoes in the cooking. It must be served to the table very hot in the wok-like Karahi that it was cooked in. It is traditionally eaten by scooping it up with nan although some people do prefer to use cutlery.

There are different styles of Balti available. The basic style would just be the Balti Chicken as above and this in turn would be available with potatos, mushroom, lentils, chick peas, spinach, egg, ladyfinger (okra) or possibly many other vegetables.

Then there baltis based on different curries: Dupiaza is a fairly dry dish cooked with fried onions in a tomato sauce; dhansak is cooked with lentils, also in a tomato sauce and masala is a dry dish cooked with special spices to give a characteristic red sauce. These and others all have subtly different sauces and added ingredients and can be dryer or hotter than a normal balti.

The nan (or naan) bread is an unleavened bread which is often cooked by being thrown against the oven wall until it falls off. It will vary from thin and crispy to deep-pan style, often within the same piece of bread, and is used instead of a spoon to scoop the balti into your mouth. This is in contrast to Curry places such as Bradford where the method of eating curries is the chappati. Nan can be plain (tandoori), garlic (either cooked with garlic in the dough or spread with garlic butter), Keema (stuffed with mincemeat) or Peshwari (stuffed with something). I tend to go for Garlic but I have tried all of the others.

Paratha is rather like a fried chappati. I have only had one and it was rather stodgy. I would much rather have nan or chappati.

There are a number of desserts available in balti houses. There are also a few specialist sweet centres where the usual and less common sweets are available. Barfi is a fudge like sweet available in several different flavours usually chocolate, pistachio, cherry and more. It is very sweet and has an interesting texture. Kulfi is traditional ice-cream and is usually available in pistachio flavour and I have seen others such as mango. Ras Malai is a sweet creamy dessert with a very strange texture indeed. It comes swimming in milk and I have to say I don't particularly like it. Lassi really isn't a sweet but a drink. It is a thick white creamy liquid which can either be sweet or salty. I have never tried it and don't particularly want to. I know people who have tried it and survived but there's something about it which just seems off-putting.

This is a guide to some of the Balti restaurants that I have been to in and around Birmingham. It is not exhaustive, but I do only revisit places that are good, and I have been to all of these places at least twice.

Balti restaurants can be split into two different types: most are of the unlicensed type which allow you to bring your own drinks with you. Licensed restaurants are much less common because alcohol is against the religion of the mostly Muslim population who run the retaurants. The licensed restaurants tend to be more up-market and therefore more expensive which is a shame because the quality of food is rarely better.

Khan's in Selly Oak has always been a favourite restaurant of mine. The excellent food (which has recently improved making it even better) is served in traditional large, black dishes by friendly waiters. If there is something you cannot find on the menu the chef will be happy to make it for you. The Garlic nan is second to none. You get free popadoms on arrival and After Eights with the bill. Nice touches which are often missed by other places. A typical meal (Balti Chicken, Nan) will cost you just over four pounds. (10 percent discount for students)

This is where I had my first Balti. The portions at SK are slightly smaller than those elsewhere and the price is accordingly smaller. I sometimes prefer this because it allows you to enjoy one of the delicious desserts that are also served. The food is, as you would expect, excellent and the nan is always cooked to perfection. A typical meal will cost just around four pounds. The Shereen Kadah has the menus under the glass on top of the tables which is an original balti touch from the first restaurants.

The end of many an evening has been spent at The Royal Watan. The food is usually top class but the garlic nan is just a nan covered in Garlic butter which tends to stick to your fingers and get very messy indeed. It is famed for the "Exhausting Dish Chef Special" which contains just about every type of meat and veg on the menu in one HUGE balti I've never tried it and I don't know anyone who ever has. The price is comparable with Khan's and the food is on a par as well although I have often found the chicken to be a bit tough so I would always recommend that you have chicken Tikka based baltis rather than plain chicken. They also offer "Balti Kulfi" which is the traditional ice-cream served in a small plastic balti dish.

The Shapla serves the best Baltis I have ever tasted. Although it is licensed the prices are only slightly more expensive than average and often cheaper than some of the unlicensed places in the City Centre. Unfortunately the atmosphere suffers from its size and up-marketedness. It feels more like a Chinese restaurant with plush carpeting and has decorations which are less tacky than usual. It is fairly big and spread out which seems to lose a lot of what balti is about. The quality of the food more than makes up for it and the ethos of the place seems to be towards the satisfaction of the customer with free onion bhajis to start and mints with the bill.

The Royal Naweed is a strange place. It is nicely decorated and carpeted yet unlicensed. The food is quite different as well. The starters are excellent boasting a wide range and ample portions but the baltis are quite different. I think it is an excess of coriander which makes them taste unique. The nans too are different. They come coated in sesame seeds which lends them a different taste which I found not to go with the taste of the balti. I have been twice and the second time was better but it doesn't come very highly recommended.

Balti International

Excellent balti although the price is slightly more expensive. Nice fluffy nans and excellent starters. Mints with the bill and on the whole a place I would be happy to recommend to others.

I shall leave it there for now. I can suggest though that if you like Indian food you will love balti so if you find yourself in Birmingham, give one of these places a go. I guarantee that you will be glad you did. If you would like to recommend a restaurant then email me.

Here are some more Balti Resources on the Web: