The Rules

Now, there’s a lot of information out there on the Birmingham Balti, and a lot of people that know more than me about it, so I thought I ought to set some rules for this quest of mine. I neither want to reinvent the wheel or tread on any toes. So here goes, these rules set out what I’m going to do, and how I’m going to do it.

1. I will stick to the Balti Triangle as defined on this map. Is it the home of the Balti? Well I don’t want to wade into that debate too deeply, but it makes my 4 month quest easier and more defined, and it’s as sensible a place as any.

2. I will listen to the experts. Andy Munro is the undisputed Balti expert, the go-to man for media interest in the Birmingham Balti, and all round champion of the Balti Triangle. He also happens to have reviewed a lot of restaurants on Balti Birmingham, so I’m starting my search by eating at his top rated and most ‘authentic’ Balti restaurants.

3. I will eat the same dish in every restaurant. In order to draw fair comparisons from Balti to Balti, I’m going to stick to one dish in each place. I’m going for a vegetable Balti as although I’m not a vegetarian, I am a pro-vegetablist, and I want to avoid any awkward compromises over animal welfare.

4. I will visit as many restaurants as possible, bearing in mind I have a business to run and not much money.

5. I will also search for the perfect naan. I’m a bit of a bread-head, so whilst I’m at it, I’m going to be searching for the perfect naan bread. I will order a plain naan in every restaurant. I will be asking whether it’s made with yeast or baking powder/self raising flour, and I’ll explore that issue more in a later post.

6. I will present my findings publicly. Both on this blog and at the event in July.

I reserve the right to add to, remove, bend and break any of the above, but I promise I’ll try really hard not to!

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