Abalti orbāltī gosht (Urdu:بالٹی گوشت,Hindi:बाल्टी गोश्त) is a type ofcurry within the United Kingdom served in a thin, pressed-steelwok called a balti bowl. Balti curries are cooked quickly usingvegetable oil rather thanghee, over high heat in the manner of a stir-fry, and any meat is used off the bone. Balti sauce is based ongarlic andonions, with spices includingturmeric andgaram masala. The dish was developed inBirmingham, England in the 1970s. A region of Birmingham with many balti restaurants has become known as theBalti Triangle. An application was made to theEuropean Union to make "Birmingham Balti" atraditional speciality guaranteed product; the application failed because the allowed variations were not precisely defined.
The food writerPat Chapman believed that balticurry could be traced to the area ofBaltistan, in NorthernKashmir, and in 1998 published a book,Balti Bible, about the supposed cuisine.[1][2] Adil's restaurant in Stoney Lane,Sparkbrook, a district of Birmingham, founded in 1977, called itself "the home of Balti Cuisine", stating that its dishes followed the traditions of Northern Kashmir.[3][4] However, the Canadian food writerColleen Taylor Sen states that balti's origins are unclear, as the food eaten in Baltistan "bears no resemblance" to balti curry.[5] A typicalGilgit-Baltistan dish isrdoong balay, a stew made of ground wheat, potatoes, peas, and spices.[6]
Sen suggests instead that the name of the food may have originated from the fact that it is cooked in a pot named abaltī, similar to akarahi.[5][7] The word "balti" is theHindi for "bucket", from thePortuguesebalde of the same meaning.[8][9] It is claimed that the thin steel balti wok was, like the curry, invented and manufactured in Birmingham in the 1970s, differing from traditional heavycast iron cooking pots.[10]
However, some balti restaurateurs of Birmingham have claimed that they invented the dish to please their white British clientele. The British-Pakistani scholar of cultureZiauddin Sardar describes the invention as a triumph ofmarketing, making balti houses seem more authentic than "the bog-standard confines of curry andvindaloo". Sardar comments that he personally cannot tell balti from other curries.[11] The scholar of food Parama Roy, citing Sardar, adds that the success of the marketing effort "is evidenced by the publication of theBalti Bible by Pat Chapman".[1] The historian of foodLizzie Collingham and theOxford English Dictionary concur that Pakistani restaurateurs invented balti in Birmingham.[12][13] In 2014, the Indian cookMadhur Jaffrey described the balti style of cooking as a "craze with no authentic origins which will slowly die as people's tastes turn to more complex dishes".[1]
A balti curry as originally cooked in Birmingham is stir-fried in very hotvegetable oil rather thanghee. The base of the curry isonion ortomato, mixed withgarlic andginger, and spiced withcumin,fenugreek,garam masala, andturmeric; the meat is usually chicken or lamb.[10]
Collingham writes that despite the supposed Kashmir origin, "the restaurant balti unashamedly makes a virtue out of restaurant short cuts."[12] She describes the dish as using meat which has been marinated and then pre-cooked. A separately prepared sauce is "a version of Indian restaurant curry sauce".[12] She lists both onions and tomatoes as ingredients, and describes freshcoriander as "important".[12] The mix of oil-fried spices can be varied. Finally, she states that variations are created by adding a choice of alternative ingredients such as fenugreek,lentils, or pieces ofpineapple.[12]
Balti restaurants are often known in Birmingham as 'balti houses'.[10] These typically offer largekaracknaan bread pieces, to be shared by the whole table.[14] Some 50[10] Balti houses were originally clustered along and behind the main road betweenSparkhill andMoseley, to the south of Birmingham city centre. This area, comprising Ladypool Road, Stoney Lane, and Stratford Road, is sometimes called theBalti Triangle, as it contains a high concentration of balti restaurants. On 28 July 2005, atornado caused extensive damage to buildings in the triangle,[15] forcing many restaurants to close. Most reopened by the beginning of 2006 but by 2023 only four remained.[16][17]
Since the late 1990s, British supermarkets have stocked a growing range of prepacked balti meals, and the balti restaurant sector has faced increasing competition both from retail and from changes in customer tastes.[18][19]
In 2012, the Birmingham Balti Association applied to theEuropean Union to make "Birmingham Balti" atraditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) product, claiming that two features made it distinctive, namely cooking with vegetable oil, and incorporating each ingredient separately while the stir-frying.[20] The application was pursued until 2016 but failed. The reason for rejecting the application was that the dish was not cooked to a standard recipe, or as the EU stated:[21]
Some different varieties of balti are allowed; those varieties are not definitively identified. The colour of the dish changes (either lighter brown or more reddish) depending on which ingredients are added. The additional ingredients and spices may but not have to be added. It is therefore not possible to determine what the final recipe to be followed is.[21]
[Ziauddin] Sardar notes with relish that the Balti food phenomenon is a superb feat of marketing, lifting the curry house 'from the bog-standard confines of curry and vindaloo' to give it a more upmarket sheen of authenticity. That such a gambit triumphed is evidenced by the publication of the Balti Bible by Pat Chapman
"People like (it)... sizzling and hot and with the naan bread," said Mohammed Arif, owner of Adil Balti and Tandoori Restaurant, in the Balti Triangle in Birmingham. Mr Arif claims to be first man to introduce the balti to Britain—after bringing the idea from Kashmir—when he opened his restaurant in 1977. He said that before he "recommended the balti in the UK" in the late '70s, "there was different curry" in Britain, "not like this fresh cooking one".
Its origins are unclear. Some claim it originated in Baltistan, a province high in the Pakistan Himalayas, although the food there bears no resemblance to balti cuisine. Another explanation is that the wordbalti means bucket in Hindi, perhaps a reference to the wok-like pot called akarahi orkarhai.
Balti Gosht (Wok Cooked Mutton): Balti cooking has taken the UK by storm.Balti in Hindi means bucket, but here it refers to a small pot orkadhai (wok) in which a dish is cooked and served.
