Chicken tikka masala: Difference between revisions

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Latest revision as of 02:22, 26 August 2025

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{{Short description|Indo-British dish consisting of boneless chicken pieces in curry sauce}}

[[Image:Chicken Tikka Masala.jpeg|thumb|right|250px|Chicken Tikka Masala has origins in the [[Indian subcontinent]].]]

{{Distinguish|Chicken tikka}}

{{Redirect-distinguish|Chicken masala|Chicken marsala}}

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{{Use British English|date=December 2015}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}

{{Infobox food

| name = Chicken tikka masala

| image = Chicken tikka masala.jpg

| image_size = 200px

| caption = Chicken tikka masala

| country = [[Indian subcontinent]]<br />[[United Kingdom]]<!--Do not remove this without discussion on the talk page; you will be reverted. Thank you.-->

| creator =

| course = [[Main course]]

| served = Hot

| main_ingredient = Chicken, yogurt, cream, tomato, onion, garlic, ginger, chili pepper

| variations = Lamb, fish or [[paneer tikka masala]]

| calories =

| other =

}}

'''Chicken tikka masala''' is a dish consisting of roasted marinated chicken pieces ([[chicken tikka]]) in a spiced sauce ([[masala (spice)|masala]]). The sauce is usually creamy and orange-coloured. The origins of the dish are debated, with many believing it was created by South Asian cooks in Britain. It is offered at restaurants around the world and is similar to [[butter chicken]].

'''Chicken Tikka Masala''' is [[Chicken Tikka]] in a [[masala]] [[gravy]] (commonly referred to as a sauce). There is no standard recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala, but most are variants of a tomato gravy (using puree or even ketchup) with [[Cream (food)|cream]] or [[coconut cream]] and various common spices. While fish and [[paneer]] tikkas are very common, the corresponding tikka masalas are not as popular.

==Composition==

[[Image:Chicken Tikka Masala.jpg|thumb|left|250px|chicken tikka masala in a pot]]

Chicken Tikka Masala is one of the most popular [[Indian]] dishes in the world. Its popularity has proven so great that almost every Indian restaurant worldwide offers it. It has arguably replaced [[Tandoori Chicken]] as the flagship of [[Indian cuisine|Indian]] and [[South Asian cuisine|South Asian]] cuisines. In [[India]], though gaining popularity, it is not nearly as popular as it is outside the [[Indian subcontinent]].

[[File:Chicken Tikka Masala KellySue.JPG |thumb |Chicken tikka masala served with rice]]

So popular is Chicken Tikka Masala that its origins have attained legendary proportions. It is commonly believed that Chicken Tikka Masala originated from the kitchens of [[Bangladesh]]i chefs in the [[UK]]. The original is claimed by many establishments from [[London]] to [[Glasgow]]'s [[Shish Mahal (restaurant)|Shish Mahal restaurant]], but none of these claims have been convincingly established. This is also true of claims that [["Leo and Oasis"]] from [[KUSU]] first invented the dish, [[Tom Smith]] however disputes this claim intently. There are many theories about how the dish originated, probably around the seventies, the late sixties, or even earlier. Some say the chef tossed together a tomato gravy when a diner returned a dry tikka; some think it was a way to recycle yesterday's leftover [[kebab]]s, and others say it was just an inventive adaptation of Indian and [[Bangladeshi cuisine|Bangladeshi]] techniques to both South Asian and British palates. However, the first recorded use of the term occurred in the [[United States]] in 1975.[http://oed.com/bbcwordhunt/list.html#tikkamasala]

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.<ref name="book">[[John Lloyd (writer) |Lloyd, J]] and [[John Mitchinson (researcher) |Mitchinson, J]]. ''[[The Book of General Ignorance]]''. Faber & Faber, 2006</ref><ref name=Britannica>{{cite web |last1=Siciliano-Rosen |first1=Laura | last2=Rogers |first2=Kara |title=Chicken tikka masala |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/chicken-tikka-masala |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=28 December 2020}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Peter |title=A Cultural Politics of Curry in "Hybrid Cultures, Nervous States: Britain and Germany in a (post)colonial World" |date=2010 |publisher=Rodopi BV |___location=Amsterdam |isbn=9789042032286 |page=172 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aW4UEN0NUT4C&pg=PA172 |access-date=3 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Webb |first1=Andrew |title=Food Britannia |date=2011 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1847946232 |page=177 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FBMLFM305MEC&pg=PA177 |access-date=3 June 2014}}</ref> Chicken tikka masala is similar to [[butter chicken]], both in the method of creation and appearance.<ref>{{cite web |last=Irwin |first=Heather |url=https://www.sonomamag.com/a-butter-chicken-vs-tikka-masala-showdown-at-cumin-in-santa-rosa/ |title=A Butter Chicken Vs. Tikka Masala Showdown at Cumin in Santa Rosa |work=Sonoma Magazine |date=September 2019 |accessdate=2021-04-11}}</ref>

Some claim that its birth came from [[British India]] (which included modern [[Pakistan]] and Bangladesh). The necessity to adapt food from the Indian subcontinent to the British palate was the impetus of its creation, some allege. Some also claim that Chicken Tikka Masala originated from [[Punjab region|Punjab]] due to the region having a dish similarly prepared with tomato gravy, the popular [[Butter chicken|Murgh Makhni]] (butter chicken). Though a large proportion of [[British Asian|Asians]] that came to Britain were from the Punjab region, the vast majority of "Indian" restaurants in the UK were in fact run by Bangladeshi chefs, with as many as 85% of them being run by Bangladeshis until 1998, hence it is more likely that it originated from Bangladeshi chefs in Britain. ^{[http://www.curryhouse.co.uk/scene/ethnshow.htm]}

==See Also==

*[[General Tso's chicken]](another [[syncretic]] dish seen as symbolic of its cuisine)

==External linksOrigins==

{{cookbook}}

* [http://www.khanakhazana.com/recipes/k_recipe.aspx?id=1066 Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe]

* [http://www.cuisinecuisine.com/ChickenTikkaMasala.htm Chicken Tikka Masala]

* [http://www.sonzyskitchen.com/chickentikka.htm Chicken Tikka Masala: Everything you ever wanted to know about it] with a recipe

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/02/99/e-cyclopedia/1285804.stm chicken tikka masala from BBC's e-cylopedia]

* {{cite news | title=Chicken tikka Britain is new Cook recipe | date=April 19, 2001 | publisher=The Guardian | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/racism/Story/0,2763,475043,00.html}}

* {{cite news | title=Robin Cook's chicken tikka masala speech | date=April 19, 2001 | publisher=The Guardian | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/racism/Story/0,2763,477023,00.html}}

* Chicken Tikka Masala (http://www.freewebs.com/tikkamasala/)

* [http://www.numkitchen.com/gc4_chicken%20tikka%20masala.htm Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe]

* [http://www.punjabi-recipes.com/recipes/11.aspx Punjabi Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe]Authentic Punjabi Recipes

The origin of the dish is not certain, but many sources attribute it to the [[British Asian|South Asian community]] in Great Britain.<ref name=Britannica /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Dutt |first1=Vijay |title=60 years of Chicken Tikka Masala |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/60-years-of-chicken-tikka-masala/story-cPUJ0MAdX4WxqcxYTrqA3H.html |website=Hindustan Times |access-date=13 December 2021 |date=21 October 2007}}</ref><ref name="ghosh bb">{{cite news |last1=Ghosh |first1=Bobby |title=How I Learned to Stop Hating and Respect Chicken Tikka Masala |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-19/who-created-chicken-tikka-masala-history-of-uk-s-national-dish |access-date=26 February 2023 |work=[[Bloomberg News]] |date=19 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Emma |title=Most people have no clue chicken tikka masala isn't an Indian dish, according to a top Indian chef |url=https://www.insider.com/chicken-tikka-masala-not-indian-dishoom-chef-naved-nasir-2019-11 |website=Insider |access-date=13 December 2021}}</ref>

Chicken tikka masala may derive from [[butter chicken]], a popular dish in the northern [[Indian subcontinent]]. The ''Multicultural Handbook of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics'' credits its creation to [[British Bangladeshi|Bangladeshi migrant]] chefs in Britain in the 1960s. They developed and served a number of new inauthentic "Indian" dishes, including chicken tikka masala.<ref name="Handbook">{{cite book |last1=Thaker |first1=Aruna |last2=Barton |first2=Arlene |title=Multicultural Handbook of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics |date=2012 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=9781405173582 |page=74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YF1YCg5Ig-EC&pg=PA74}}</ref>

[[Category:English cuisine]]

[[Category:Indian cuisine]]

[[Category:Desi cuisine]]

[[Category:Curry]]

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."<ref name=MenuMag>{{cite web|author1=Grove, Peter |author2=Grove, Colleen |url=http://www.menumagazine.co.uk/book/tikkamasala.html|website=Menu Magazine|publisher=Grove Publications |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127225804/http://www.menumagazine.co.uk/book/tikkamasala.html|archive-date=27 November 2016 |title=Is It or Isn't It? (The Chicken Tikka Masala Story) |date=2008 |access-date=19 May 2017}}</ref> They suggest that "the shape of things to come may have been a recipe for Shahi Chicken Masala in [[Mrs Balbir Singh]]'s ''Indian Cookery'' published in 1961."<ref name=MenuMag/>

[[es:Pollo tikka masala]]

[[sv:Chicken tikka masala]]

Another claim is that it originated in a restaurant in [[Glasgow]], Scotland.<ref name="Glasgow 2016">{{cite news|title=From Charles Mackintosh's waterproof to Dolly the sheep: 43 innovations Scotland has given the world|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/charles-mackintosh-chemist-waterproof-google-doodle-scotland-inventions-innovation-bicycles-a7499911.html|work=The Independent|date=30 December 2016}}</ref><ref name="book"/> This version recounts how a [[British Pakistanis|British 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.<ref name="Glasgow">{{cite web |date=21 July 2009 |title=Glasgow 'invented' Tikka Masala |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8161812.stm |access-date=19 May 2017 |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Godeau |first1=Lucie |date=2 August 2009 |title=Chicken tikka masala claims its origins in Scotland |newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald |agency=Agence France Presse |url=http://www.smh.com.au//breaking-news-world/chicken-tikka-masala-claims-its-origins-in-scotland-20090802-e5mr.html |access-date=19 May 2017 |quote='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'.}}</ref><ref name="ghosh bb"/> 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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hay |first1=Mark |title=Who Owns Chicken Tikka Masala? |url=https://roadsandkingdoms.com/2014/who-owns-chicken-tikka-masala/ |website=Roads & Kingdoms |access-date=9 January 2023 |date=5 May 2014 |quote='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.'}}</ref>

Chef Anita Jaisinghani wrote in the ''[[Houston 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 used [[Campbell's]] tomato soup.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/food-culture/article/How-to-make-Anita-Jaisinghani-s-butter-chicken-15914236.php|title=How to make Pondicheri's butter chicken at home|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]|url-access=subscription|date=2021-02-01|accessdate=2021-03-15 |last1=Jaisinghani |first1=Anita}}</ref> However, restaurant owner [[Iqbal 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".<ref name="Monroe">{{cite book |last1=Monroe |first1=Jo |title=Star of India: The Spicy Adventures of Curry |date=September 2005 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-09188-3 |pages=135–137 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NC42BaKAwXAC&pg=PA135 |quote="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" |access-date=29 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Curry myths |url=http://www.iqbalwahhab.com/curry-myths/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109142646/http://www.iqbalwahhab.com/curry-myths/ |archive-date=9 January 2023|website=Iqbal Wahhab |access-date=9 January 2023 |date=5 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gallacher |first1=Stevie |title=Chicken Faker Masala: Restaurant boss admits inventing Scottish claim to famous dish |url=https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/restaurant-boss-admits-inventing-caledonian-claim-to-famous-dish/ |website=The Sunday Post |access-date=9 January 2023 |date=9 June 2019}}</ref>

Rahul Verma, a food critic who writes for ''[[The Hindu]]'',<ref>{{cite web|title=Author profile: Rahul Verma|url=http://www.thehindu.com/profile/author/rahul-verma/|website=The Hindu|access-date=13 May 2017}}</ref> claimed that the dish has its origins in the [[Punjab]] region.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{cite news |title=Chicken tikka masala debate grows as Indian chefs reprimand Scottish MPs over culinary origins |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/5972643/Chicken-tikka-masala-row-grows-as-Indian-chefs-reprimand-Scottish-MPs-over-culinary-origins.html | work=The Daily Telegraph | ___location=London | first1=Dean | last1=Nelson | first2=Jalees | last2=Andrabi | date=4 August 2009 |quote=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"| access-date=28 April 2010}}</ref><ref name="Glasgow 2016"/>

==Popularity==

Chicken tikka masala is served in restaurants around the world.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kumar|first1=Rakesh|title=Tastes that travel|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/tastes-that-travel/article2241239.ece|website=The Hindu|publisher=Kasturi & Sons Ltd|access-date=19 May 2017|___location=Chennai, India|date=24 February 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Spice of Life |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1174750,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516041440/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1174750,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 May 2007 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |author=Aravind Adiga | date=20 March 2006 |access-date=1 June 2007}}</ref>

According to a 2012 survey of 2,000 people in Britain, it was the country's second-most popular foreign dish to cook, after [[Stir frying|Chinese stir fry]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/stir-fry-now-britains-most-popular-165120|title=Stir-fry now Britain's most popular foreign dish |work=Daily Mirror| date=21 January 2012 }}</ref>

In 2001, the British [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|Foreign Secretary]] [[Robin Cook]] mentioned the dish in a speech acclaiming the benefits of Britain's [[multiculturalism]], declaring:

{{Quote|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.<ref name=Guardian2001>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/19/race.britishidentity |title=Robin Cook's chicken tikka masala speech: Extracts from a speech by the foreign secretary to the Social Market Foundation in London |date=19 April 2001 |newspaper=The Guardian |last1=Cook|first1=Robin}}</ref><ref name="Mannur 2009 3">{{cite book |first=Anita |last=Mannur |title=Culinary Fictions: Food in South Asian Diasporic Culture |year=2009 |publisher=Temple University Press |page=3 |isbn=978-1-4399-0077-2 }}</ref><ref name="Monroe"/><ref name="Collingham 2006">{{cite book |last=Collingham |first = Elizabeth M. |title=Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors| publisher=Oxford University Press| year=2006 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/currytaleofcooks00coll/page/2 2]–12| isbn=0-19-517241-8|url=https://archive.org/details/currytaleofcooks00coll| url-access=registration}}</ref>}}

==See also==

* [[Butter chicken]], a mild curry dish of Indian origin

* [[Balti (food)|Balti]], a South Asian dish

* [[Chicken curry]], a spiced chicken dish

* [[General Tso's chicken]]

* [[List of chicken dishes]]

* [[Mughlai cuisine]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

{{English cuisine}}

{{Scottish cuisine}}

{{Bangladeshi dishes}}

{{Indian Dishes}}

{{Chicken dishes|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicken Tikka Masala}}

[[Category:Bangladeshi cuisine in the United Kingdom]]

[[Category:Bangladeshi cuisine]]

[[Category:Bengali cuisine]]

[[Category:Bengali curries]]

[[Category:British cuisine]]

[[Category:Chicken dishes]]

[[Category:Curry in the United Kingdom]]

[[Category:Desi cuisine]]

[[Category:Indian chicken dishes]]

[[Category:Indian cuisine in the United Kingdom]]

[[Category:Indian curries]]

[[Category:Indian meat dishes]]

[[Category:National dishes]]

[[Category:Pakistani chicken dishes]]

[[Category:Pakistani curries]]

[[Category:Punjabi cuisine]]

[[Category:Sylheti cuisine]]

[[Category:Pakistani cuisine in the United Kingdom]]

[[Category:British chicken dishes]]