Balti (food)

A balti, or bāltī gosht (Urdu: بالٹی گوشت‎, Hindi: बाल्टी गोश्त) is a type of curry served in a thin, pressed-steel wok called a "balti bowl". It is served in restaurants throughout the United Kingdom. The name may have come from the metal dish in which the curry is cooked, rather than from any specific ingredient or cooking technique. Balti curries are cooked quickly using vegetable oil rather than ghee, over high heat in the manner of a stir-fry, and any meat is used off the bone. This combination differs sharply from a traditional one-pot Indian curry which is simmered slowly all day. Balti sauce is based on garlic and onions, with turmeric and garam masala among other spices.

Balti gosht is eaten in Pakistan and northwestern India, as well as other parts of the world, such as Great Britain. The food seems to have arrived in England in Birmingham in 1971; sources suggest it originates from Gilgit-Baltistan in northern Pakistan.

Balti, as a food, is named after the steel or iron pot in which it is cooked. The word is found in Urdu, Hindi, and Bengali, and means "bucket". The word developed from the Portuguese balde, meaning bucket or pail, and traveled to South Asia via the Portuguese seafaring enterprises of the early 16th century. The word likely made its way into the English language during the British Raj.

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