Ask someone in London what a balti is and they will probably say a curry. Ask someone in Birmingham and you will get a history lesson. The balti is this city's dish. It was invented here, it is named after the bowl it is cooked in, and for a while in the 1990s it was reason enough on its own to drive to Birmingham for dinner.
So what actually is a balti?
A balti is a curry cooked fast, over a high flame, in a thin pressed-steel bowl with two small handles. The bowl is the point. It goes straight from the flame to your table, still sizzling, and you eat from it directly. No plate, and traditionally no cutlery either: you tear off a piece of naan and scoop.
The cooking method changes the food. Because the steel is thin and the heat is fierce, a balti cooks in minutes rather than simmering for hours. The spices stay bright, the meat is seared rather than stewed, and the sauce reduces quickly. Baltis are also usually cooked with vegetable oil instead of ghee, which makes them a little lighter than the curries most people grew up ordering.
Born in Birmingham
The balti appeared in Birmingham in the 1970s, created by cooks from the city's Pakistani and Kashmiri communities in the neighbourhoods south of the centre. The stretch around Ladypool Road, Stoney Lane and Stratford Road became so dense with balti houses that it earned its own name, the Balti Triangle, and by the 1990s people were coming from all over the country to eat there.
Birmingham takes ownership of the dish seriously. There was even a campaign to give the "Birmingham Balti" protected status, the way Cornwall protects its pasties. It did not succeed, but the point stands: this is a local invention, and the city knows it.
What about the name?
Here the history gets murky, and honestly, nobody can settle it. "Balti" means bucket in Hindi and Urdu, which fits the bowl. Others point to Baltistan, a mountainous region in northern Pakistan, as the source. Both theories have their defenders. What is not in dispute is where the dish itself took shape: here.
Balti vs regular curry
- A balti is cooked and served in the same steel bowl. A standard curry is cooked in a pot and plated.
- Baltis cook fast over high heat. Most curries simmer slowly.
- Baltis usually use vegetable oil rather than ghee.
- A balti arrives sizzling and is eaten with naan, not rice and a fork.
Where to try one
The Balti Triangle is still there and still worth a visit, though it is quieter than in its heyday. And you do not need to head into Sparkbrook to try the dish. Our own balti comes in chicken, lamb, prawn and vegetable versions, cooked the proper way and served with naan on the food menu alongside the tandoori grills.
If you are new to it, order the chicken balti, ask for a garlic naan, and leave the fork alone. That is how Birmingham has eaten it for fifty years. Book a table and try it where the dish was born.
