{"id":244897,"date":"2025-07-07T09:21:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T09:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/244897\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T09:21:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T09:21:24","slug":"save-the-balti-meet-the-englishman-trying-to-save-birmingham-balti-the-famous-brit-asian-curry-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/244897\/","title":{"rendered":"Save the Balti: Meet the Englishman trying to save Birmingham Balti, the famous Brit-Asian curry | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s feared that the Balti might kick the bucket soon, but a Birmingham resident has taken it upon himself to keep it alive and simmering. A food writer, a one-time bureaucrat and a proud Brummie, Andy Munro, 74, is fighting to save the famous British Asian curry that is cooked, and also served, in thin, steel-pressed woks that resemble the good-old sub-continental kadhai but are shallower and called Balti \u2014 a bucket.<\/p>\n

From food hubs full of Balti houses in the 70s, when the dish hit the market, to just a handful of them trying to stay afloat now, Birmingham, known as the birthplace of heavy-metal music, is losing its light-metal curry bowl legacy.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis autumn I am going to put a bid to the British government as they have a department for the protection of cultural heritage. I would like Balti to have a UNESCO-approved mark. I have sent them a video of Balti being cooked. Despite the large-scale shut-downs, there are close to 40 to 50 genuine Balti houses in Britain so I am not worried about the numbers,\u201d says Munro, who is also the secretary of the Association for the Protection of the Authentic Balti and is a writer of two Balti books.<\/p>\n

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#INDvsENG<\/a> #ENGvsIND<\/a><\/p>\n

Video: Sandeep Dwivedi pic.twitter.com\/1X8oCKkGRC<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Express Sports (@IExpressSports) July 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Munro was born in Birmingham and lived most of his life in the city\u2019s famous Balti Triangle, an area around Ladypool Road, Stoney Lane, and Stratford Road that was once a Balti haven. \u201cIt was me who coined this name. Earlier, this was called Balti Belt and it didn\u2019t sound right. So I took some creative liberty and called it the Balti Triangle, inspired by the Bermuda Triangle. I had come up with this line \u2014 Balti Triangle, where you get in the sea of spices. But with time, what has remained is just Balti Triangle,\u201d says Munro.<\/p>\n

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To share the Balti story, he is at Ladypool Road\u2019s Shababs restaurant, one of the two authentic Balti places on the street. What was once a sprawling Balti den now offers a truly global spread \u2014 there\u2019s Thai, Turkish, Lebanese and also a burger and fries place called MakHallal. Also around is the Shababs owner Zaf Hussain, 40, whose family has been into Baltis for several decades. It is Munro who starts this \u2018necessity being the mother of invention\u2019 tale.<\/p>\n

Back in the 70s, Birmingham, England\u2019s industrial hub, saw a large exodus from Pakistan. With time, restaurants with sub-continent cuisine would crop up. \u201cThey were very rough and ready eating places. Glass-topped tables and basin in the corner to wash your hands. They were very basic,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Andy Andy Munro. (Express photo by Sandeep Dwivedi)<\/p>\n

However, there turned out to be one restaurateur from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir who thought of attracting the posh white clients, the ones Munro calls the \u201cJewel in the crown\u201d crowd. \u201cSo he wanted to invent a dish which would attract the local customers because what he used to originally serve was the chicken-on-the-bone dish that was greasy,\u201d narrates Munro.<\/p>\n

There were other considerations. He wanted a fast-to-cook dish, since the Brummies, like anyone, didn\u2019t like to wait for ages for their order. The Indo-Pak cuisine had other limitations to be on the menu of restaurants in England. \u201cThey used ghee and that heavy duty Indian kadhai was more suited for slow-cooking,\u201d says the riveting story teller, setting up the suspense. \u201cSo instead of ghee, he used vegetable oil since it has a higher smoke point. And he also thought about Balti, a thin flat-bottomed, shallow vessel with handles that was suited to sizzle on high flame. And it was made by Sikhs working in furnaces and factories around Birmingham,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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Hussain says unlike the butter-chicken and tikkas that are Asian exports that the British have got hooked to, Balti is truly a \u2018Made in England\u2019 curry. \u201cI have been back and forth to Pakistan 10 to 12 times in my lifetime but I have never sampled a Balti or found one,\u201d he says before heading to the kitchen to prove the claim that Balti can be done in less than 10 minutes. The flame is rising furiously from the stove, he places a Balti on the fire and gets into a frenzy. Oil, raw chicken, onion, garlic, ginger, tomato slices and several scoops of spices from his jumbo masala box get cooked. He stirs them rigorously and in less than 10 minutes, it is ready to be on the table.<\/p>\n

\"Birmingham Shababs owner Zef Hussain with his oldest balti. (Express Photo by Sandeep Dwivedi)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just a chicken dish, Balti is more of a cooking style. It could be keema, lamb, mixed vegetables and even daal. But the daal needs to be pre-cooked. Vegetables like potato and aubergine can be cooked in the Balti and served,\u201d says Zaf.<\/p>\n

Munro, meanwhile, draws attention to the side of the Balti, fresh from the fire, the fuming brownish curry whistling the desired smoky aroma. \u201cYou see those little bubbles. Because of the high flame, it caramelises. Michelin chefs would die to get that caramelisation but you get that naturally with a Balti,\u201d he says before giving the final \u2018how to eat a Balti\u2019 instruction. \u201cNever eat it with rice, it doesn\u2019t work. Take a naan or roti, break it with your hands. Dip it into the Balti, take a chunk of chicken and a lot of masala, scoop it out and place it in your mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are other traditions, though not strictly followed. Like the Wazwan is traditionally relished back in his ancestors\u2019 homes in a \u2018trami\u2019, a collective serving, the Balti is recommended to be eaten straight off the serving sizzling wok, like a fondue.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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There are restaurants who serve the Balti dish in silver bowls and that\u2019s what Munro fears the most and wants to stop. \u201cThat worries me, since I am a passionate Birmingham resident. When people come to Birmingham, they have heard about the famous Balti and they sit down to have it. If they are served in silver bowls, it is pseudo-Balti. That way, all the properties are lost. Then people would say \u2018What\u2019s the big deal about Balti? It\u2019s just any other curry. That\u2019s what makes me determined,\u201d says the Save The Balti campaigner.<\/p>\n