How could I resist this title, living in Birmingham, the home of the balti, when I spotted it in the Multicultural section of NetGalley?

This play was actually originally put on in 1999 and 2000, but this is its first time in print. The authors decided to write it as chicken tikka was declared Britain's favourite dish and the Balti Triangle in Birmingham was flourishing but full of competition. I haven't read a play script for ages and had to read it in NetGalley Reader but that worked OK and it was easy to follow as the cast is quite small.

We are in the back rooms of a balti house for a day as they try to make a go of a new concept of all you can eat and Curry-Oke, complete with celebrity guests who are clearly never going to turn up. Tensions rise as the owners push the workers and they have their own dramas: one woman resents being fleeced by them when her husband put money into the business years ago and another is being pursued by a playboy while the kind son of the establishment tries to support her. Funny and tender, I would love to see this on stage.

Blog review published 30 October 2025: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2025/10/30/three-super-reads-with-multicultural-representation-jeevani-charika-how-can-i-resist-you-sudha-bhuchar-and-shaheen-khan-balti-kings-and-taj-mccoy-zora-books-her-happy-ever-after/

I wanted to read this because it sounded interesting and I don't actually know people like this-- I'm an American in the Midwest and the characters in this play are so very sympathetic and real. And the dialogue in this was hilarious-- there was so much going on and it was just so lively. So many little conflicts, I just wish I could see this live.

I don't recall ever reviewing the script of a proper adult play before, and probably last read a play in college, needless to say it has been a while, and this 112 page script of a play performed 25 years ago, has me itching to dive back in to regularly attending live theater. Literary wise I love seeing the characters and plot develop with dialogue alone, and the power that every word on the page has. The play takes place in one day, in a Pakistani restaurant in Birmingham, England, and the stresses of an event happening that night is the catalyst that brings together the characters own lives, the chaos of the kitchen, the stresses of the times, and an inside view on immigrant life.

Set on Jummah, everyone seems to be religious when bosses come looking for their employees, but duas, and boundaries, and justifications also stem from Islamic practices. The owners of Balti Kings are trying to compete with Karachi Karahi in the neighborhood, their father has had a heart attack and the brothers are trying to relaunch the business with a Bollywood star studded Curryoke night and the start of their cheaper buffet. The attitudes and social hierarchy of immigrants is highlighted with the contrasting kitchen crew downstairs. A mix of ages and genders and skills, legal and soon to be illegal desi workers along with a Bosnian brother sister team, show racism and stereotypes in action.

Their personal lives spill in to the kitchen as the young Mariam finds herself expecting and coworker Nadeem denying it is his, while she is left warding off advances from her boss. The head cook is again threatening to leave for Karachi Karahi, the biriyani is burned, the stars are imposters, and the brothers have to accept the outcome of their choices.

I found myself smiling, getting irritated at characters, and appreciating the found family that the restaurant provides. I love the Foreword and Authors' note that set the place in a time not that long ago, and show how perhaps very little has changed. The end features pictures of the play performances, as well as a glossary.