Chicken tikka masala is a curry in that is made up of roastedmarinated chicken (chicken tikka) in a curry sauce full of spices. Chicken tikka is made up of boneless pieces of chicken marinated in spices and yogurt, then roasted in an oven. The sauce is usually creamy and orange-coloured.[1] Even though a sauce made of tomato and coriander is commonly used, there is no specific recipe for the sauce that everyone uses.[2][3]
Rahul Verma, a food critic who writes for The Hindu newspaper, claims: "It's basically a Punjabi dish not more than 40–50 years old and must be an accidental discovery which has had periodical improvisations."[4][5][6]
Chef Anita Jaisinghani, a correspondent in the Houston Chronicle, wrote that "the most likely story is that the modern version was created during the early ’70s by an enterprising Indian chef near London" who used Campbell'stomato soup.[7] This is disputed by author Jo Monroe, who claims that this story was invented by the founder of a London restaurant "to entertain journalists".[8]
The oldest reference to chicken tikka masala is found in 1960s,[9][10] where a Pakistani chef, Ali Ahmad Aslam, created the dish in his restaurant in Glasgow, on request of a customer who was unhappy with the chicken tikka. Aslam is said to have invented chicken tikka masala by adding spices to a tin of tomato soup. [11][12] Aslam died in 2022 at the age of 77.[13]
Chicken tikka masala is of South Asian origin and is very popular in the United Kingdom, and it has been called a "true British national dish", as declared by British Minister Robin Cook.[14] It is growing in popularity in the USA and Canada as well. Even though some consider it to have been originated by a Pakistani, the dish is unknown in most of Pakistan. It can be found in restaurants in various parts of the world, due to its demand, not authenticity.[15][16]
↑"Glasgow 'invented' Tikka Masala". BBC News. BBC. 21 July 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2017. Mr Sarwar claimed the dish owed its origins to the culinary skills of Ali Ahmed Aslam, proprietor of the Shish Mahal restaurant in Park Road in the west end of the city. He is said to have prepared a sauce using spices soaked in a tin of condensed tomato soup after a customer said his meal was too dry.
↑Godeau, Lucie (2 August 2009). "Chicken tikka masala claims its origins in Scotland". Sydney Morning Herald. Agence France Presse. Retrieved 19 May 2017. "Chicken tikka masala was invented in this restaurant, we used to make chicken tikka, and one day a customer said, 'I'd take some sauce with that, this is a bit dry'," said Ahmed Aslam Ali, 64, founder of Shish Mahal. "We thought we'd better cook the chicken with some sauce. So from here we cooked chicken tikka with the sauce that contains yogurt, cream, spices.
