Balti (food)

Balti (Urdu: بلتی‎) 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 seems to have arrived in England in Birmingham in 1971; one theory is that it originates from Baltistan in northern Pakistan.

Origin and etymology

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 sixteenth century. One can deduce that the word made its way into the English language during the British raj.

Food

Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism's cells to provide energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth.

Historically, people secured food through two methods: hunting and gathering and agriculture. Today, the majority of the food energy required by the ever increasing population of the world is supplied by the food industry.

Food safety and food security are monitored by agencies like the International Association for Food Protection, World Resources Institute, World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Food Information Council. They address issues such as sustainability, biological diversity, climate change, nutritional economics, population growth, water supply, and access to food.

The right to food is a human right derived from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), recognizing the "right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food," as well as the "fundamental right to be free from hunger."

Food (Kelis album)

Food is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Kelis, released on April 18, 2014, becoming her first album released under Ninja Tune Records. In 2007, Jive dropped Kelis, and she later signed to Interscope and will.i.am Music Group in 2009, through the label she released her fifth studio album, Flesh Tone, which saw Kelis experiment with a dance sound. In 2011 Kelis began work on the follow up to Flesh Tone, however she left Interscope and signed to Federal Prism, before officially signing to the British independent label Ninja Tune for the release of Food.

Food is an R&B and soul album with a diverse musical style that incorporates funk, Afro-beat, Memphis soul, R&B and neo-soul. Its songs feature crackling horns, brass, earthy guitars, simmering electronics and vocals from Kelis that were noted as being breathy, smoky and sultry. The album was viewed as a return to Kelis' previous music prior to Flesh Tone, and was described by Kelis as, "a kind of unspoken lovefest". The album was written by Kelis, alongside David Andrew Sitek, and Todd Simon, and was entirely produced by Dave Sitek and features guest performances by CSS and Priscilla Ahn.

Zico Chain

Zico Chain are a rock band from London, United Kingdom, formed in 2002. To date, they have released two full albums entitled Food and The Devil in Your Heart, a self titled EP and an EP called These Birds Will Kill Us All. The band opened the main stage at the Download Festival on 8 June 2007. They supported Velvet Revolver on their 2007 summer tour of the UK, in support of their second album Libertad. Their new album The Devil in Your Heart was released on 16 April 2012.

Early years

The band formed in East London. Vocalist-bassist Chris Glithero had moved there from Manchester, and met guitarist Paul Frost and drummer Ollie Middleton. Their dissatisfaction with 21st-century British rock helped them connect with one another. Influenced by such bands as Motörhead, Queens of the Stone Age, The White Stripes and System of a Down, they began recording, and soon were signed to Hassle Records. For their first EP, they worked with Ted Miller, who has previously worked with Placebo. They then toured with Nine Black Alps, Alkaline Trio, Cave In and The Fall of Troy. They had a number-one video on MTV2's chart. Slash and Duff McKagan of Velvet Revolver (and Guns N' Roses) revealed that Zico Chain were their favourite new band. On 9 November 2009, the band released a standalone single "These Birds Will Kill Us All" with B-sides "Blood 'N Bile" and "Daycase", available on iTunes among other internet sites.

Balti

Balti can refer to:

See also

Balti people

The Balti are an ethnic group of Tibetan descent with Dardic admixture who live in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan and the Kargil region of India. Smaller populations are found in the Leh region; others are scattered in Pakistan's major urban centres of Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad/Rawalpindi.

Language

The Balti language belongs to the Tibetic language family. Read (1934) considers it a dialect of Ladakhi, while Tournadre (2005) considers it a sister language of Ladakhi.

Religion

The Baltis historically practiced Bön and Tibetan Buddhism. Islam arrived in Baltistan via Sufi missionaries in the 15th century, and soon became dominant. They still retain many traits of pre-Islamic Bön and Lamaist rituals, making them unique in Pakistan. The swastika (Yung drung) sign is considered auspicious and is carved on wooden planks that can be seen in historical mosques and Khanqahs. Showing respect to Lha and Lhu (Bön gods) is customary during many village rituals.

They regard congregation in the Mosques and Khanqahs as an important religious ritual. The Khanqahs are a kind of typical training school to which was introduced by the early saints arrived in the region. The students gain spiritual purity (tazkiah) through these trainings (meditations and contemplations) under well-practiced spiritual guides, who have already attained certain degree of spirituality. Mosques in Baltistan are mainly built in the Tibetan style, though several mosques constructed have wood-finish and decorations of Mughal origin which can also be seen in ladakh. Kargil. On every Friday, the men folk would generally attend the prayers sometime a little after noon. All Muslims will fast by day during the month of the Ramadan, and a celebration will be held at the end of the celebration.

Balti (wine)

Balti is a Moldovan wine region. This area has no sizable industrial vineyards. Here are plants for the production of cognac wine materials, special fortified wines and partially for the production of table wine. In the north of Moldova mainly white grape varieties sorts are grown: Aligote, Pinot, Fetească, Traminer.

References