View source for Chicken tikka masala

{{Short description|Dish consisting of boneless chicken pieces in curry sauce gravy}}
{{distinguish|Chicken tikka}}
{{redirect|Chicken masala|the Italian dish|Chicken marsala}}

{{Use British English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox food
| name             = Chicken tikka masala
| image            = Chicken tikka masala.jpg
| image_size       = 200px
| caption          = Chicken tikka masala
| country          = [[United Kingdom]] <br> [[Indian subcontinent]]
| creator          = 
| course           = [[Main course]]
| served           = Hot
| main_ingredient  = [[Chicken (food)|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 chunks ([[chicken tikka]]) in spiced [[curry]] sauce. The curry is usually creamy and orange-coloured. The dish was popularised by cooks from India living in Great Britain and is offered at restaurants around the world.

==Composition==
Chicken tikka masala is composed of [[chicken tikka]], boneless chunks of chicken marinated in spices and [[yogurt]] that are roasted in an oven, served in a creamy curry 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> The sauce usually includes tomatoes (frequently as [[tomato purée|purée]]), [[cream]], [[coconut cream]] and a [[masala (spice)|masala]] spice mix. The sauce and chicken pieces may be coloured orange using foodstuffs such as [[turmeric]], [[paprika]], tomato purée or with food dye. Chicken tikka masala is similar to [[butter chicken]], both in the method of creation and appearance.

==Origins==
The origin of the dish is not certain, but many sources attribute it to the [[British Asian|South Asian community]] in Great Britain; some sources also cite Glasgow as the city of origin.<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>{{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> 

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/>

Another explanation 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>

Chef Anita Jaisinghani, a correspondent in the ''[[Houston Chronicle]]'', wrote 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 Soup|Campbell's]] [[tomato soup]].<ref>{{cite web|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]]|date=2021-02-01|accessdate=2021-03-15}} - [https://www.pressreader.com/usa/houston-chronicle/20210203/282454236672016 See at] [[Pressreader]]</ref> This is disputed by author Jo Monroe, who claims that this story was deliberately invented by the founder of a London restaurant "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 |access-date=29 November 2021}}</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> said he first tasted the dish in 1971 and that its origins were in [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], India. He said, "It's basically a Punjabi dish not more than 40–50 years old and must be an accidental discovery which has had periodical improvisations."<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 | 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 news |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 |work=[[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, 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 }}</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==
* [[Balti (food)|Balti]], a South Asian dish
* [[Chicken curry]], a spiced chicken dish
* [[Butter chicken]], a mild curry dish of Indian origin
* [[List of chicken dishes]]
* [[Mughlai cuisine]]
*[[General Tso's chicken]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* ''Curry Club Tandoori and Tikka Dishes'', Piatkus, London – {{ISBN|0-7499-1283-9}} (1993)
*''Curry Club 100 Favourite Tandoori Recipes'', Piatkus, London – {{ISBN|9780749914912}} (1995)
* ''India: Food & Cooking'', New Holland, London – {{ISBN|978-1-84537-619-2}} (2007)

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Chicken tikka masala}}
*{{wikibooks-inline|Cookbook:Chicken Tikka Masala}}

{{English cuisine}}
{{Scottish cuisine}}
{{Bangladeshi dishes}}
{{Indian Dishes}}
{{Chicken dishes|state=collapsed}}

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicken Tikka Masala}}
[[Category:British cuisine]]
[[Category:Unitary State symbols of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Indian cuisine in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Indian chicken dishes]]
[[Category:Indian curries]]
[[Category:Indian meat dishes]]
[[Category:Pakistani curries]]
[[Category:Pakistani chicken dishes]]
[[Category:Bengali curries]]
[[Category:Bengali cuisine]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi cuisine]]
[[Category:Sylheti cuisine]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi cuisine in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Chicken dishes]]
[[Category:Punjabi cuisine]]
[[Category:Desi cuisine]]
[[Category:National dishes]]
[[Category:Masalas]]
[[Category:Curry in the United Kingdom]]