What is Balti?

Balti is a cooking style developed by Indian restaurants in UK for a spicy hot stir-fried curry
Kashmiri-Pakistani owned restaurants located in Birmingham created 'Balti' during 1977 to exclusively suit the British palate. In Urdu, Balti means bucket. In reality, no food has ever been cooked in a bucket anywhere in India. The dish was named Balti as a joke on the un-suspecting British population implying that the dish was cooked in a bucket. After the dish became popular, it came to be known as Balti style cooking.

Restaurant owners fabricated a false story crediting the Balti tribe of Baltistan with the cooking style. Actually there is a Baltistan located Near Kashmir. However, the Balti dishes served in UK are not recognized anywhere in India including Baltistan. At a Balti restaurant in UK, everything is a Balti.

After creating the 'Balti style' cooking, the restaurant owners went one step further. They introduced a gimmick, 'Balti Karahi' tableware in which the Balti dish was to be served. Balti Karahi is a mini version of 'Karahi', an Indian wok a real cookware made of pounded iron. The idea of pounded iron tableware re-enforced the impression of an 'old tradition'. However, it created an un-foreseen problem. The acid in the food (from tomatoes, lime etcetera) reacted with iron. Finally the modern Balti Karahi was introduced. The newer Balti Karahi is made of stainless steel eliminating the problem of chemical reaction with acid in foods. The exterior of these dishes is coated with copper to leave the impression of old traditional look.

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