Birmingham is the Curry Capital of the UK. One visit to the city’s Balti Triangle and you’ll see why.
What’s the national dish of England? Is it fish and chips or shepherd’s pie?Ask the average person in the street and it’s quite likely they’ll tell you that the wonderful curry is the country’s favorite dish.
The sheer number of different types of curries is enough to make your head spin, but in Birmingham there’s one dish that towers over the rest. Welcome to the home of the mighty Balti: Birmingham’s Balti Triangle. The Balti Triangle consists of about 50 restaurants clustered around the Sparkbrook, Balsall Heath and Moseley areas of South Birmingham.The Balti is king here, and it’s easy to see why.
The word balti literally means “bucket”, but a balti is actually the flat-bottomed wok that this particular curry is cooked and served in (usually still sizzling-hot). All of the balti restaurants in and around the Triangle guard their recipes very closely, but the spices that are used typically are things like coriander, cloves, cumin, cardamom and ginger.A must-have when visiting Birmingham for a balti is one of the giant naans the Triangle is known for. They’re sometimes as big as the table, so sharing is encouraged! It’s no wonder that the Balti Triangle was ranked Number 15 of the Top 25 Travel Experiences in Britain in the Rough Guide’s “25s” Series.
It’s believed that the balti originally came to Birmingham in the mid-1970’s and was introduced by the city’s large Pakistani and Kashmiri communities. It quickly became a local favourite, and then spread to surrounding regions and the rest of the nation. In fact, the balti curry is such an established part of Birmingham’s culture that balti bowls are now manufactured in the city.
Not only does the Balti Triangle offer a veritable smorgasbord of taste sensations, it also is the heart of a local economy that welcomes thousands of visitors each year, making it a multi-million pound industry.Additionally, a typical balti house helps keep local suppliers of onions and chicken in business, as they go through about 2000 kilograms of the former and 300 kilograms of the latter each week.
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