Chicken tikka masala is a
curryCurry is a generic description used throughout European and American culture to describe a general variety of spiced dishes, best known in Asian cuisines, especially South Asian cuisine...
dish of roast chicken chunks (
chicken tikkaChicken tikka ; /murɣ ʈikkɑː/) is a dish of South Asia.It is traditionally baked skewers with small pieces of chicken, usually boneless, in a clay based oven called tandoor, after marinating in spices and yogurt....
) in a rich red, creamy, lightly spiced, tomato-based sauce. The origins of the dish are disputed. One potential origin attributes its invention to a chef in
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
,
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
. Attempts have been made to have the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
grant Chicken tikka masala Protected Designation of Origin status as a
GlaswegianGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
dish. Another potential origin is as a variation on a traditional
MughlaiMughlai cuisine is a South Asian cuisine, influenced by the imperial kitchens of the Mughal Empire. It represents the cooking style used in Delhi and Punjab . The cuisine is strongly influenced by Persian as well as Turkic cuisines of Central Asia...
dish.
Chicken tikka masala is a
curryCurry is a generic description used throughout European and American culture to describe a general variety of spiced dishes, best known in Asian cuisines, especially South Asian cuisine...
dish of roast chicken chunks (
chicken tikkaChicken tikka ; /murɣ ʈikkɑː/) is a dish of South Asia.It is traditionally baked skewers with small pieces of chicken, usually boneless, in a clay based oven called tandoor, after marinating in spices and yogurt....
) in a rich red, creamy, lightly spiced, tomato-based sauce. The origins of the dish are disputed. One potential origin attributes its invention to a chef in
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
,
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
. Attempts have been made to have the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
grant Chicken tikka masala Protected Designation of Origin status as a
GlaswegianGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
dish. Another potential origin is as a variation on a traditional
MughlaiMughlai cuisine is a South Asian cuisine, influenced by the imperial kitchens of the Mughal Empire. It represents the cooking style used in Delhi and Punjab . The cuisine is strongly influenced by Persian as well as Turkic cuisines of Central Asia...
dish. Surveys have found Chicken tikka masala to be the most popular dish in
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
restaurants and it has been called "Britain's true
national dishA national dish is a dish, food or a drink that represents a particular country, nation or region. It is usually something that is naturally made or popular in that country.-Overview:...
."
Composition
Chicken tikka masala is
chicken tikkaChicken tikka ; /murɣ ʈikkɑː/) is a dish of South Asia.It is traditionally baked skewers with small pieces of chicken, usually boneless, in a clay based oven called tandoor, after marinating in spices and yogurt....
, chunks of chicken marinated in spices and yogurt then baked in a
tandoorA tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. The tandoor is used for cooking in Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Transcaucasus, the Balkans, the Middle East, Central Asia as well as India and Bangladesh....
oven, in a
masalaMasala ; is a term used in South Asian cuisines to describe a mixture of spices. A masala can either be a combination of dried spices, or a paste made from a mixture of spices and other ingredients—often garlic, ginger, and onions...
("mixture of spices") sauce. There is no standard recipe for chicken tikka masala; a survey found that of 48 different recipes the only common ingredient was chicken. The sauce usually includes tomatoes, frequently as puree, and either/or both
creamCream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators"...
or
coconut creamCoconut cream is very similar to coconut milk but contains less water. The difference is mainly consistency. It has a thicker, more paste-like consistency, while coconut milk is generally a liquid...
and various spices. The sauce or chicken pieces (or both) are sometimes coloured orange or red with food dyes or with spices such as
turmericTurmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20°C and 30°C, and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive...
powder and tomato puree
Other tikka masala dishes replace chicken with lamb, fish or
paneerPaneer Hindi: पनीर panīr, from Persian پنير panir) is the most common South Asian and Persian cheese. It is an unaged, acid-set, non-melting farmer cheese made by curdling heated milk with lemon juice or other food acid. The process is similar to queso blanco, except that paneer does not have salt...
.
Origins
The origins of chicken tikka masala are disputed. A widely reported explanation of the origins of the dish is that it was conceived in a
British BangladeshiA British Bangladeshi is someone of Bangladesh origin who resides in the United Kingdom having emigrated to the UK and attained citizenship through naturalisation or whose parents did so; they are also known as British Bengalis...
restaurant. An unproven explanation of the origins of the dish is that it was conceived at a restaurant in
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
in the early 1970s, when a customer, who found the traditional
chicken tikkaChicken tikka ; /murɣ ʈikkɑː/) is a dish of South Asia.It is traditionally baked skewers with small pieces of chicken, usually boneless, in a clay based oven called tandoor, after marinating in spices and yogurt....
too dry, asked for some
gravyGravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt or gravy browning or ready-made cubes and powders can be used as a substitute for natural meat or vegetable extracts...
. Ahmed Aslam Ali claims to be the chef who invented the dish at his Shish Mahal restaurant in Glasgow by improvising a sauce made from yogurt, cream and spices.
Efforts have even been made by Pakistani-born British
MPA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
Mohammed Sarwar to have Chicken Tikka Masala granted a Protected Designation of Origin by the
EUThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
which would officially recognise
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
as the home of the Glasgow 'invented' Tikka Masala curry.
It is generally accepted that the dish is an attempt to create a South Asian dish that would appeal to the
BritishEnglish cuisine is shaped by the country's temperate climate, its geography, and its history. The latter includes interactions with other European countries, and the importing of ingredients and ideas from places such as North America, China, and India during the time of the British Empire and as...
palate. The popularity of the chicken tikka masala has since broadened and it is served in many Indian, Bangladeshi, Nepalese and Pakistani restaurants around the world, even in India.
The claim for a Scottish origin for the dish is disputed by a number of Indian chefs, who counter claim that although there are different variations of the dish, it is an ancient dish once enjoyed by the
MughalThe Mughal Empire was an Islamic and Persianate imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, invaded and ruled most of Hindustan by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century...
Emperors.
Popularity
Chicken tikka masala is served in restaurants around the globe. A survey in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
claimed it is that country's most popular restaurant dish. One in seven curries sold in the UK is chicken tikka masala. The cross-cultural popularity of the dish in the UK led former
Foreign SecretaryThe Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a member of the Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and responsible for relations with foreign countries, matters pertaining to the Commonwealth of...
Robin CookRobert Finlayson Cook was a British Labour politician, who was the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 1997 to 2001....
to proclaim it as "Britain's true
national dishA national dish is a dish, food or a drink that represents a particular country, nation or region. It is usually something that is naturally made or popular in that country.-Overview:...
". Due to the demands of British tourists in India, Britain now exports Chicken Tikka Masala to India and Bangladesh.
See also
- Balti
A balti is a type of curry served in an iron vessel. It is served in many restaurants in the United Kingdom.-Origin:Restaurants in Birmingham, UK offered Balti dishes from the 1980s or earlier. The style of cuisine became known throughout the UK during the 1990s.-History:Immigrants from Pakistan,...
, another "Indian" dish invented in the United Kingdom.
- General Tso's chicken
General Tso
's chicken is a sweet and spicy deep-fried chicken dish that is popularly served in American and Canadian Chinese restaurants. The origins of the dish are unclear. The dish was previously largely unknown in China and other lands home to the Chinese diaspora...
, another non-authentic dish seen as symbolic of a culture's cuisine.
- Curry chicken
Curry Chicken is a common delicacy in South Asia , East Asia, as well as in the UK and Caribbean. A typical curry consists of chicken in an onion, tomato, and yogurt-based sauce, flavoured with ginger, garlic, chillies and a variety of spices, often including cumin, cinnamon, cardamom. Chicken...
, a similar spiced chicken dish.
External links