Chicken Tikka Masala - Britain's National Dish

Chicken Tikka is an Indian dish. The dish is extremely popular in the UK and is ordered in high volumes by the British, alongside other popular British foods like fish and chips and Yorkshire puddings. Chicken tikka masala is a curry-based dish in which chicken marinated in a spice-laden yoghurt base is pan-fried and dunked in a tomato-based mildly spicy and creamy curry. Developed in the United Kingdom, possibly by immigrant Bangladeshi or Pakistani chefs, chicken tikka masala truly demonstrates how foods transcend borders and are ultimately an amalgamation of shared experiences, cultures, and histories.

Composition

Chicken tikka masala is composed of chicken tikka, boneless chunks of chicken marinated in spices and yoghurt that are roasted in an oven, served in a creamy sauce. A tomato and?coriander 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. The sauce usually includes tomatoes, cream,?coconut cream?and a?masala?spice mix. The sauce and chicken pieces may be coloured orange using foodstuffs such as?turmeric,?paprika, tomato puree or food dye. Chicken tikka masala is similar to?butter chicken, both in the method of creation and appearance.

Origin

• Theories of its origins are plenty. One theory is that a customer of Glasgow’s famous curry house, Shish Mahal, was unhappy with the dry chicken, and in a moment of immediate innovation, chef Ali Ahmed Aslam took the dish back and curried it up by spicing up tomato soup he had on hand as he was taking care of a stomach ulcer. The customer was so thrilled with this new dish that he came back another day with friends requesting the same dish, which paved the way for its global recognition.
• Other theories firmly pin the origins of the dish on the state of Punjab, which was periodically improved upon until it reached its current state.
• Another story is that immigrant Bangladeshi or Pakistani chefs developed the dish, possibly by building on the Shahi Chicken Masala recipe found in Mrs. Balbir Singh’s 1961 cookbook Indian Cookery. Hence, Punjabi-born Mrs. Singh is sometimes credited with the original recipe that led to today’s chicken tikka masala.

Popularity

Chicken tikka masala is served in restaurants around the world. According to a 2012 survey of 2,000 people in Britain, it was the country's second-most popular foreign dish to cook, after?Chinese stir fry. In 2001, British?Foreign Secretary,?Robin Cook?mentioned the dish in a speech acclaiming the benefits of Britain's?multiculturalism, 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”