
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


For food writer Yasmin Khan, the Balti conjures up family meals out in her childhood home of Birmingham where she would regularly tuck into deep bowls of the city's most iconic dish -- richly spiced chicken or lamb, that she scooped up with freshly made warm naan breads.
In it's heyday, the Sparkhill area of Birmingham was saturated with Balti restaurants, so much so that it became known as the "Balti Triangle", a place which defined Birmingham's food scene and became one of the few parts of the UK where working class, immigrant, food was celebrated.
Since then, the Balti has grown in reputation as one of Britain's truly regional dishes, so much so that a bid was made, albeit unsuccessfully, to give it protected EU status.
Now, Yasmin heads back to Birmingham to explore what this uniquely British-Pakistani dish means to a new generation of people growing up in the so-called 'Balti Triangle'. What she finds is a community with strong bonds and deep pride, that continues to come together around a deep love of food.
Presented by Yasmin Khan
By BBC Radio 44.6
241241 ratings
For food writer Yasmin Khan, the Balti conjures up family meals out in her childhood home of Birmingham where she would regularly tuck into deep bowls of the city's most iconic dish -- richly spiced chicken or lamb, that she scooped up with freshly made warm naan breads.
In it's heyday, the Sparkhill area of Birmingham was saturated with Balti restaurants, so much so that it became known as the "Balti Triangle", a place which defined Birmingham's food scene and became one of the few parts of the UK where working class, immigrant, food was celebrated.
Since then, the Balti has grown in reputation as one of Britain's truly regional dishes, so much so that a bid was made, albeit unsuccessfully, to give it protected EU status.
Now, Yasmin heads back to Birmingham to explore what this uniquely British-Pakistani dish means to a new generation of people growing up in the so-called 'Balti Triangle'. What she finds is a community with strong bonds and deep pride, that continues to come together around a deep love of food.
Presented by Yasmin Khan

7,639 Listeners

375 Listeners

519 Listeners

876 Listeners

1,046 Listeners

379 Listeners

293 Listeners

5,520 Listeners

2,110 Listeners

1,979 Listeners

288 Listeners

342 Listeners

163 Listeners

83 Listeners

217 Listeners

78 Listeners

360 Listeners

233 Listeners

133 Listeners

307 Listeners

43 Listeners

3,177 Listeners

201 Listeners

65 Listeners

119 Listeners

814 Listeners

555 Listeners

643 Listeners

386 Listeners

239 Listeners

56 Listeners

75 Listeners

94 Listeners

74 Listeners