George i honestly havent seen this, but have been told that they are done exactly the same way as normal nans only i would imagine in a larger tandoor. You would also need to use a larger pillow to place them.

The best nans i have tasted have been the normal sized ones, the larger balti nans can be a little heavy (doughy) and dont taste as good towards the end of the balti

I will be over in Birmingham this summer and will try and find out a little more info.. see if i cant take a few pics too

Regards Ashes

Its a very good question from Cory. Curry King hit the nail on the head.. The 100 best balti book which is supposed to be from genuine balti houses has given me results which are average at best and if that is "proper" balti then it's not for me Dont like 100 BBB

The main differences ive perceived: Balti isntt originally Bangladeshi but probably Pakistani in origin. The spicing is different, using more aromatic spices. Although the spicing ive seen from Pakistani recipes has been very basic. So it might have started as a gimmick..as it doesnt fit the Pakistani spicing ive seen or read about on the interweb. Pat Chapman believed it to be from Baltistan.. sounds too incredible? Only problem there is in Baltistan they slow cook there dishes.. not wokfry them.

The Balti dish isnt any quicker than a normal BIR, probably takes about the same time to cook or slightly longer.

The Balti will taste different, it relies more on fresh Coriander, Methi, has a different garam masala, more cardamons and cloves. More aromatic spices.

The original curries of the 1970s were very hot (apparently) where balti was a reverse trend, making a "sweeter" milder version. but the other major differences is that it was very much a mix and match type of curry. Where as the standard BIR dishes were mostly "meat" in a spicy sauce, Balti can include a combination of onions peppers gourds pulses and lentils lamb and chicken or "meat" and prawns within the same dish.. closer to a spicy stew i guess, which is cooked in a large kari on the stove and severed in the same Kari or Balti bowl

Yes the "Balti triangle" is pretty run down area... i know i lived not far away, and some of the places had glass tops with menus under (some still do..) think thats cool tbh.
although the ambience was a little dodgy with the strip-lighting and bolted down seats.

Another gimmick was that the nans were huge but werent included, they were ordered seperately and no knives and forks were included either. These places werent usually licenced either..(very cheap) there was usually an off-licence near by, and you could happily turn up and the Balti place would provide glasses or open bottles as needed.

After saying that, ironically there seems to have been a move over to the more traditional "meat" chicken/prawn dish in just a mild spicy sauce closer to the BIR.
Indian restaurants also have done their take on the Balti.. which is also very good but the distinctions become less apparent.

Just want to say one more thing, there are some "traditional" Balti places around but not all places are great or even good. Much like the BIR, there are some places which just arent up to scratch.

Conclusion; Balti isnt a million miles away from your local BIR but it could be just far enough to be different

Regards Ashes

Last weekend I read Humble Pie, Gordon Ramsays autobiography - great read btw...
Gordon F**kin Ramsay is a very interesting guy, a person who has achieved 3 Michelin stars!!
There are very few 3 star restaurants in the world, I think he has the only 3 star restaurant in London? as of writing anyway. To give you an idea, 1 star is first class eating.

The thing is you have to maintain that standard through out the year otherwise you will lose a star or worse.

It also means the man knows quite a lot about food. He has several restaurants to his name.. and probably hundred or so staff - plus. Some of these chefs have worked in michelin starred restaurants before, they are more than competent at what they do. What they do, they do well, or better than well!

Anyway, GR has basically said, you cant teach to cook through books alone. You need to be beside a chef and learn, he went on to say, give 10 of my chefs the same recipe and you will end up with 10 different dishes.

Now the parallel here is the recipes that come from this forum are very hard to translate into the kitchen if you are looking replicate them as was intended by the author. Even 3 star chefs cant teach you everything, they cant create the dish for you, there are too many factors that influence the final dish, the pots, the pans, the heat, the type of heat, the spices, the ingredient's, the length of time something needs to be heated, the ambient room temperature, the smell, the feel, the look and the taste

It cant be done, its the art of cooking. Now i except that not everyone on this forum will be able to look at a recipe and cook the dish how it was intended to be cooked, most people accept this, they try and try and try and ask for as much information as possible about how to achieve the desired flavour of the dish, the taste, the smell, the texture. The point is, if Gordon Ramsays chefs cant come up with the same dishes given the same recipes.. how on earth can we?

So these people who say, ah ive tried this recipe and it was rubbish or nothing like how id expected it to be.. should maybe just step back, relax and consider, maybe i need more time to try and get it right. After all we aren't trained chefs?

The cooks and chefs in indian restaurants are doing more curry dishes in one night than most of us are doing in several months. No wonder its hard to get it perfect?

Ashes

I wonder whether we are being too coy about this?
Usually the questions people ask are designed to bring forth some secret
to BIR cooking we dont know but suspect lurks within the kitchens.

Maybe it would be better to just directly approach a BIR and tell them
what we are looking for, a certain taste/smell we cant recreate at home.

I bet you there are a lot of BIRs that will act surprised? - Personally I
dont think there is any secret ingredient. More likey there is a technique
plus a combination of spices which the BIR probably doesnt consider a secret
beyond anything else it creates in the kitchen.

Or there will be plenty of hushed tones, winks and flirtive movements
as if there is a big bag of secret spice locked insided a padlocked cupboard
with "Secret Ingredient" written on the outside - "Reveal on pain of Death"

But i doubt it. The only way forward is to keep asking those who
have direct contact with the world of the BIR. Describe what we are looking for
and ask how its achieved. swhat i think 
Regards Ashes

Good work, try to approach them when they arent busy, maybe they will even let you try and make a curry if you turn up early before the trade gets going.

Regard Ashes