With the profile of the Balti Triangle and Birmingham’s balti reputation higher than ever this year, it was decided that the
‘Battle of the Baltis’ would be the perfect way to mark the
culmination of Birmingham City Council's Tornado Recovery Programme.

Entry was open to restaurants across all of Birmingham, and competition
was expected to be fierce, particularly as the winners would be supported to enter the 2009 British Curry Awards.

Four finalists were short-listed based on an initial 100-word description of the dish and its influences and invited to a ‘masterchef-style cook-off’ event staged at University College Birmingham. The results were first class;

• Imrans, who have been at the heart of the Balti Triangle for 28 years,    created a dish called Chicken Timmur, the inspiration for which is a
   dry herb called ‘timmur’ with a fruity and nutty flavour

• Cinnamon Red, a new restaurant based on the edge of the Balti
   Triangle, entered the competition with their dish - Cinnamon Red
   Balti Special

• Royal Watan, the only finalist from outside the Balti Triangle, entered
   their unique dish ‘Balti Boti Kebab - a family recipe passed on through
   the generations

Luke Tipping, Executive Chef at Michelin star-winning Simpsons, presided over the battle of the baltis and had a tough choice picking a winner from the mouth watering range of dishes.

In the end however, the winner, Grameen Khana of the Balti Triangle, wowed the judges with its 100-year old family recipe for Grameen Chicken Balti and will now be recognised as Birmingham’s official Balti and entered into the 2009 British Curry Awards!

See a video report of this event on the Birmingham Post's website.