Ahmed Aslam Ali, inventor of UK nationwide dish hen tikka masala, dies at 77
Chef Ahmed Aslam Ali, who claims to have invented hen tikka masala, has died on the age of 77. The iconic curry went on to grow to be considered one of Britain’s nationwide dishes.
Ahmed Aslam Ali claims to have invented hen tikka masala, which went on to grow to be considered one of Britain’s nationwide dishes (AFP photograph)
By Agence France-Presse: A chef from Glasgow, who claims to have invented the curry dish hen tikka masala, has died on the age of 77, a member of the family informed AFP on Wednesday.
Ahmed Aslam Ali, who invented the dish by improvising a sauce created from a tin of tomato soup at his restaurant Shish Mahal within the Nineteen Seventies, died on Monday morning, his nephew Andleeb Ahmed mentioned.
“He would eat lunch in his restaurant every day,” Ahmed mentioned.
“The restaurant was his life. The chefs would make curry for him. I am not sure if he often ate chicken tikka masala.”
Ahmed mentioned his uncle was a perfectionist and extremely pushed.
“Last year he was unwell and I went to see him in hospital on Christmas Day,” Ahmed mentioned.
“His head was slumped down. I stayed for 10 minutes. Before I left, he lifted his head and said you should be at work.”
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In an interview with AFP in 2009, Ali mentioned he got here up with the recipe for hen tikka masala after a buyer complained that his hen tikka 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’,” Ali mentioned.
“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.”
The dish went on to grow to be the preferred dish in British eating places.
Although it’s tough to show definitively the place the dish originated, it’s typically thought to be a curry tailored to go well with Western tastes.
Ali mentioned the hen tikka masala is ready based on buyer style.
“Usually they don’t take hot curry, that’s why we cook it with yogurt and cream,” he mentioned.
Supporters of the marketing campaign to grant the dish protected standing level to the truth that former overseas minister Robin Cook as soon as described it as an important a part of British tradition.
“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,” Cook mentioned in a 2001 speech on British id.
Ali, initially from Punjab province in Pakistan, moved along with his household to Glasgow as a younger boy earlier than opening Shish Mahal in Glasgow’s west finish in 1964.
He mentioned he needed the dish to be a present to Glasgow, to provide one thing again to his adopted metropolis.
In 2009, he campaigned unsuccessfully for the dish to be granted “Protected Designation of Origin” standing by the European Union, alongside the likes of Champagne, Parma Ham and Greek Feta cheese.
MP Mohammad Sarwar tabled a movement within the House of Commons in 2009 calling for EU safety.
Ali leaves a spouse, three sons and two daughters.
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Posted By:
Devika Bhattacharya
Published On:
Dec 22, 2022
