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 Chicken tikka masala | |
| Course | Main course |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Indian subcontinent United Kingdom |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Chicken, yogurt, cream, tomato, onion, garlic, ginger, chili pepper |
| Variations | Lamb, fish orpaneer tikka masala |
Chicken tikka masala is a dish consisting of roasted marinated chicken pieces (chicken tikka) in a spiced sauce (masala). The sauce is usually creamy and orange-coloured. The origins of the dish are debated, with many believing it wascreated by South Asian cooks in Britain. It is offered at restaurants around the world and is similar tobutter chicken.
Chicken tikka masala is composed ofchicken tikka, boneless chunks of chicken marinated in spices and yoghurt that are roasted in an oven, served in a creamy sauce.[1][2] A tomato andcoriander sauce is common, but no recipe for chicken tikka masala is standard; a survey found that of 48 different recipes, the only common ingredient was chicken.[3][4] Chicken tikka masala is similar tobutter chicken, both in the method of creation and appearance.[5]
The origin of chicken tikka masala is not certain, but many sources attribute it to theSouth Asian community in Great Britain.[2][6][7][8]
Chicken tikka masala may derive frombutter chicken, a popular dish in the northernIndian subcontinent. TheMulticultural Handbook of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics credits its creation toBangladeshi migrant chefs in Britain in the 1960s. They developed and served a number of new inauthentic "Indian" dishes, including chicken tikka masala.[9]
The historians of ethnic food Peter and Colleen Grove discuss multiple claims regarding the origin of chicken tikka masala, concluding that the dish "was most certainly invented in Britain, probably by a Bangladeshi chef."[10] They suggest that "the shape of things to come may have been a recipe for Shahi Chicken Masala inMrs Balbir Singh'sIndian Cookery published in 1961."[10]
Another claim is that it originated in a restaurant inGlasgow, Scotland.[11][1] This version recounts how aBritish Pakistani chef,Ali Ahmed Aslam, proprietor of a restaurant in Glasgow, invented chicken tikka masala by improvising a sauce made from a tin of condensed tomato soup, and spices.[12][13][7] Peter Grove challenged any claim that Aslam was the creator of the dish on grounds that the dish was known to exist several years before his restaurant opened.[14]
Chef Anita Jaisinghani wrote in theHouston Chronicle that "the most likely story is that the modern version was created during the early '70s by an enterprising Indian chef near London" who usedCampbell's tomato soup.[15] However, restaurant ownerIqbal Wahhab claims that he and Peter Grove fabricated the story of a chef using tomato soup to create chicken tikka masala in order "to entertain journalists".[16][17][18]
Rahul Verma, a food critic who writes for theChennai newspaperThe Hindu,[19] claimed that the dish has its origins in thePunjab region.[20][11]
Chicken tikka masala is served in restaurants around the world.[21][22]
According to a 2012 survey of 2,000 people in Britain, it was the country's second-most popular foreign dish to cook, afterChinese stir fry.[23]
In 2001, the BritishForeign SecretaryRobin Cook mentioned the dish in a speech acclaiming the benefits of Britain'smulticulturalism, declaring:
Chicken tikka masala is now a true British national dish, not only because it is the most popular, but because it is a perfect illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts external influences. Chicken tikka is an Indian dish. The masala sauce was added to satisfy the desire of British people to have their meat served in gravy.[24][25][16][26]
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.
'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'.
'Many chefs have claimed to have 'invented' chicken tikka masala, but it was certainly not Ali Ahmed Aslam of Shish Mahal,' says Grove. 'The restaurant did not open until the '60s and there was already a Glasgow claimant in the shape of Sultan Ahmed Ansari, who owned Taj Mahal and claimed to have invented it in the late '50s.'
An enterprising chef then looked around for something to make a sauce from and found a tin of Campbell's condensed tomato soup. Hey presto! A legend had been born. The problem with this story is that — despite its status as a curry legend — it is completely invented. Cinnamon Club founder Iqbal Wahhab ...claims to have originated the story to entertain journalists in the days when he handled the marketing for several restaurants. 'That thing about the Campbell's soup was completely made up,' he confessed
Rahul Verma, Delhi's most authoritative expert on street food, said he first tasted the dish in 1971 and that its origins were in Punjab."Its basically a Punjabi dish not more than 40-50 years old and must be an accidental discovery which has had periodical improvisations"
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