AFTER the backlash, the rebirth.
The Brummie balti, much copied but never matched, is the ideal dining treat for our credit crunch times. Where else can you enjoy quality food, created by experts and made with fresh ingredients, for less than a tenner a head?
The dish, which first emerged in the south east of the city in 1975, hit its heyday in the mid-80s and early 90s.
Visiting the Balti Belt, as it was then more popularly known, became the “in” thing for students, arty types and the chattering classes. But like any successful trend, imitators spied a quick buck and any old curry house started calling itself a balti restaurant.
As Birmingham balti expert Andy Munro recognises, there was an inevitable backlash. Although the best places maintained the quality of their cooking, there was a dilution of overall standards as diners tired of the pimped up tomato soup concoctions passed off by some less reputable establishments as baltis.
Andy says: “When baltis became a big thing, everyone jumped on the balti bandwagon. A true balti is a genuine Birmingham creation. It is not a Bangladeshi curry house thing. If anyone offers you a jar of balti sauce, take them to court and sue them.”
In the commercial world, the strongest always survive and so it has been with the city’s best kitchens.
Today the “belt” has become a “triangle” – bounded by Moseley Road and Stratford Road, with Ladypool Road running through the middle – and it’s the perfect place to get lost in if you love succulent meats, aromatic herbs and spices, exotic vegetables – and a lightness of touch.
As well as being relatively cheap, real baltis are a healthy option as they are cooked in vegetable oil. You won’t find a hint of fat-heavy ghee. Neither will you find curry pastes and powders.
The style of cooking – using a thin, pressed steel wok-like pan, stir frying over a very high heat – was developed by Birmingham’s newly arrived Pakistani Kashmiris. Similarly, the “balti bowl” was developed and made in Birmingham, again using thin steel rather than cast iron
Andy says: “Fusion food is pretty trendy and the Birmingham balti is the original fusion food. It is a marriage of the flavours of Pakistan with the tastes of the local community in Birmingham.”
To celebrate the resilience, variety and quality of the city’s best balti restaurants, Andy has produced a new guide, The Balti Triangle, The Essential Guide. It lists the top authentic balti restaurants where customers can be assured of great cooking at fantastic “recession-busting” prices.
Andy adds: “When I did the first balti guide many years ago there were 40 or 50 restaurants in the Balti Triangle area. There are still 40 to 50 but a lot of them are fast food outlets and a lot of them are not proper baltis.Real baltis offer terrific value for money, particularly in the credit crunch.
“A balti costs about £5.50 and with a naan and a starter it comes to £9 or £10. You get a really nice meal.”
And because you can take your own beer or wine, there is no sting in the tail with madly inflated drinks bills.
Mo Ahmed, the boss of Al Frash, says the best balti restaurants, of which his in Ladypool Road is definitely one, have moved with the times. Al Frash is the model of the new-look, contemporary balti and the menu has had some tweaks.
But the food remains that fabulous mixture of Asian and English tastes. “We have stayed true to what our customers want,” says Mo.
The chef, Azam, originally comes from Attock in the far north of Pakistan. He is given a free reign to create wonderfully spicy dishes such as the ever-popular butter chicken and Mirch Masala, a tandoori lamb tikka with seasoning, a special masala and a dash of chilli.