What you’ve been tasting before probably isn’t the real deal,” grinned chef Zaf Hussain. “It’s probably a bad imitation.”
Zaf was preparing me a proper balti at his Birmingham restaurant Shababs. The “real deal” is cooked quickly over a fierce flame in the same metal dish it’s served in.
Today’s pretenders, said Zaf, stew vats of curry then spoon it into balti-style dishes to make it look authentic.
This matters as the whole idea of the balti is its speed. For this, the dish must be made of thin-pressed carbon metal to allow heat to spread evenly and with a flat base and handles to aid stability on the hob. Flavours infuse the metal, so the results taste even better over time.
And Zaf should know. Shababs, launched in 1987 by his Land Rover factory worker dad and older brother, is one of the longest-running restaurants in Birmingham’s Balti Triangle, an area that’s a 20-minute bus ride south of the city centre where the balti was first created 50 years ago.
Back then, emerging chefs originally from Pakistan and Kashmir, wanted to turn customers over quickly so they swapped the traditional long and slow curry making for the new speedy method – and the balti was born.
“When Shababs first opened, there was a pub across the road called The George,” local balti expert Andy Munro told me over lunch there. “These places were unlicensed but people could bring in their own booze.
“The guys – mainly Irish – would come across from the pub at closing time clutching pints of mild.”
Andy, who’s just released a book called The Balti: Its birth, Its Boom Years, and Beyond, is trying to secure “traditional speciality guaranteed” status for the Birmingham balti, meaning only curries cooked in the original way can use the name.
To show me how it’s done, chef Zaf invited me into the Shababs kitchen as he cooked the ultimate chicken balti.
Stirring constantly to avoid burning, he fried chicken thigh meat in a balti dish on a heat so high that flames engulfed the food.
Zaf then added onions, green peppers, tomatoes, chilli and garlic before spooning in his homemade base sauce – a puree of tomatoes and vegetables – and the spices fenugreek, ground coriander, garam masala, cumin, turmeric, chilli powder and paprika.
The fearsome heat also burned off excess oil – a healthy curry, hoorah! – and within just 10 minutes my balti was done.
Served with freshly made naan, it was one of the lightest and tastiest curries my partner Tim and I have ever had – and not the slightest bit oily. From now on, imitation baltis just won’t do.
Brummies love their curry – Birmingham is often dubbed the UK curry capital – and at upmarket eatery Pushkar in the city centre we discovered a completely different vibe. When owner and creative director Rai Singh opened it 16 years ago on lively Broad Street, he wanted to trailblaze.
“Everyone felt that Indian food was quite filling and made them feel sluggish but we wanted a new approach,” said Rai.
“We wanted customers to feel light afterwards. It’s all down to the ingredients and how it’s prepared, like steaming rather than frying.
“We also like to deconstruct a dish. We do butter chicken chops – our version of butter chicken. We have the chicken on the bone which is more flavourful, then we present the sauce with the cashews and the sweetness separately on the side. It adds to the overall experience.”
A recent £500,000 refurbishment means that diners can now tuck in to Pushkar’s posh nosh in a decadent decor of leopard prints, bamboo friezes and fern wallpapers amid royal blues, deep greens and midnight blacks.
Bengali tigers hanging from the ceiling and an enticing menu presented in hardback book-form emphasise the luxe feel.
At Rai’s behest, Tim and I tried a starter selection, which included crunchy golden pods – delicately spiced peas and potato rolled in vermicelli – and crisp and tangy achari salmon, which was Scottish salmon with turmeric pickle.
For mains, our sesame king prawns – almost as big as lobsters and marinated to perfection in turmeric and carom seeds – tasted sublime while the lamb in the signature masala gosht, slow cooked with tantalising whole spices, peppers and ginger, melted in the mouth. The food was out of this world – and, as Rai had promised – left us feeling pleasantly sated but not at all uncomfortable.
We’d headed to Birmingham for our curry-themed break by train. Services with Avanti West Coast are quick and slick, with up to three an hour from London, taking as little as an hour and a quarter.
There are also direct trains from Glasgow, Preston, Edinburgh and Manchester.
As an added perk, our trains were part of Avanti’s swanky new Evero fleet – quieter and roomier than previously with wireless charging points and greater legroom.
Our base in Brum was The Grand Hotel which – like curry itself – is a city stalwart. Opened in 1878 by pork-butcher-turned-property-developer Isaac Horton on swanky Colmore Row, its former guests include Bob Dylan, King George VI, The Beatles and Tom Cruise.
It certainly lived up to its name, with a grand ballroom with eye-popping cornicing and statement Art Deco chandeliers and a glamorous wood-panelled cocktail bar called Madeleine.
Breakfast eaten sat on racing-green banquettes in Isaac’s basementbrasserie was a highlight – the granola pots with chocolate and Biscoff were a treat. After so much luxurious food I was in the mood for some good old-fashioned pub grub – but in Birmingham it was never going to be pie and chips.
Suki Patel has been at the helm of The Vine in West Bromwich, a 15-minute ride away on the city’s Metro tram, since 1978. When he decided to offer food alongside his beer he knew what he wanted to serve.
“I wanted to cook like I used to cook back in Uganda where I grew up,” he told me.
“Back there I’d get together with my friends and cook it outside on charcoal, like an outdoor barbecue.” The Vine became one of the UK’s first ever desi pubs – pubs that serve Indian food – and punters immediately warmed to his grub, which is cooked indoors on a huge charcoalgrill.
“Nobody had ever had spicy food before,” he recalled. “I started out with tandoori legs and everyone wanted to try it. Now they all call me the dad of the barbecue.”
Suki’s chicken tikka, wrapped in a secret spice mix and served alongside his homemade brown chutney is now the stuff of legends.
Tucking into a portion I could certainly see why. With a tangy marinade coating soft-as-can-be chicken, it was fresh and succulent without any greasiness. The real deal, you could say. And another reason to make Birmingham a hot choice to visit.
GET THERE
Avanti West Coast single fares from London Euston to Birmingham New Street start at £14.50.
BOOK IT
Rooms at The Grand Hotel in Birmingham start at £149 a night B&B.
MORE INFO
visitbirmingham.com