What you’ve been tasting before probably isn’t the real deal,” grinned chef Zaf Hussain. “It’s probably a bad imitation.” Zaf was preparing me a proper balti at his Birmingham restaurant Shababs . The “real deal” is cooked quickly over a fierce flame in the same metal dish it’s served in. Today’s pretenders, said Zaf, stew vats of curry then spoon it into balti-style dishes to make it look authentic. This matters as the whole idea of the balti is its speed. For this, the dish must be made of