BBQ Balti
Birmingham’s Balti is the biggest innovation on the UK curry scene since Chicken Tikka Masala emerged from the kitchens of a Glaswegian Indian restaurant in the 1960s.
A method of one pot cooking, Balti was the brainchild of a Birmingham Pakistani restauranteur over 40 years ago, who wanted to attract western customers in addition to those from the local Pakistani community who began to settle in Birmingham in the 1970’s.
Using a combination of spices, cooked in vegetable oil rather than ghee, a Balti curry is fast cooked over a high flame, cooked and served up in a specially designed steel balti pan resulting in a fresh spice sensation that is not only unique and delicious but also a true British fusion dish. The innovative nature of the dish lives on today as barbecue enthusiasts have adopted the bowls for a pioneering new approach, cooking their Baltis outdoors.
Balti has many fans including The Hairy Bikers, Tom Parker Bowles and Sir Terry Wogan, it's no surprise then that Balti has found a place in Britain's curry lovers hearts and stomachs!
The Birmingham Balti Bowl Company founded in 2018 have revived a legacy of manufacturing authentic Balti bowls that ended in the 1990s. Like the original bowls (which were first developed in the 1970s) their bowls are made of thin pressed steel, with the handles welded on rather than with rivets to increase durability. They are Manufactured in the city’s legendary Jewellery Quarter by historic manufacturer AE Harris, truly signalling the marriage between the Midlands Industrial past (and indeed present) with vibrant multicultural Birmingham.
After cooking a few Baltis the pressed steel bowl develops a natural non stick black patina, a seasoned layer which holds the spice, contributing to the overall taste of the finished dish. Another key characteristic of a Balti curry is caramelisation (known as the Maillard reaction) this appears in the form of a sweet sticky edge on the rim of the dish, again occurring as a result of high heat cooking with thin pressed steel.
The Birmingham Balti Bowl Company recently commissioned research into the unique qualities of the dish cooked in their authentic bowls. The results were impressive and revealed that one Balti contains 25 times more iron than a pint of Guinness and twice the amount of iron compared to a curry cooked in a frying pan transferred to a serving dish. The fat content of a balti cooked in vegetable oil (which the high flame helps to burn off) is half that of a typical curry with identical ingredients but slower cooked in ghee. The findings make Balti a contender for not only most tasty but also the healthiest curry on the menu!
Director of BBBC Lora said "We love to see people cooking with our bowls and they can be used on flame, electric, induction and even an aga but using them outdoors was not something we thought about until the BBQ community started to experiment! It was amazing seeing the results and seemed like a natural coupling. We've since sent bowls out to Texas and Sweden where people are using them to cook outdoors."
Fresh fluffy naan are the traditional accompaniment to Balti and used to mop up the Balti and Balti purists leave the knives and forks in the cutlery drawer. For the ultimate outdoor Balti feast try cooking your Balti over flame and your naan in a flowerpot tandoor.
The bowls have caught the attention of leading curry chefs and authors including The Curry Guy and Hari Ghotra and have featured as part of Birmingham Design Fest.
Visit thebirminghambaltibowlco.com for more info and to buy.
--
Lora Munro
Director
The Birmingham Balti Bowl Co
m:
w:
5 AttachmentsView allDownload all
BALTI BOWL BEING MADE1 .jpg
IMG_1096 .jpg
IMG_1082 .jpg
IMG_1108 .jpg
IMG_1146 .jpg
49
Editorial