Ali Ahmed Aslam, who invented 'chicken tikka masala', dies at 77

Ali Ahmed Aslam died on Monday at the age of 77. According to his Shish Mahal restaurant in Glasgow, which shuttered for 48 hours in his honour. The statement added “Hey, Shish Snobs...,". “Mr Ali died this morning…”. "Everyone is saddened and heartbroken".

His funeral was held at Glasgow Central Mosque. The whole public was welcome to attend. Aslam was born in Pakistan and came to Glasgow with his family as a child before launching Shish Mahal in Glasgow's west end in 1964.

Aslam told a news agency that he invented the chicken tikka masala in the 1970s when a client asked if there was a way to make his chicken tikka less dry. His approach was to top the dish with a creamy tomato sauce. He explained “We used to cook chicken tikka, and a client once claimed, 'I had taken additional sauce with that, this is a little dry”.


Mohammad Sarwar, the then-Labour MP for Glasgow Central, advocated for the city to be formally recognised as the birthplace of chicken tikka masala in 2009. He pushed for Glasgow to be granted EU PDO designation for the curry and introduced an early day resolution in the House of Commons. However, the attempt was unsuccessful, since a number of other places around the UK claimed to have originated the popular dish. According to a social media post, he survived his wife and five children.

FAQ

1-Who was Ali Ahmad Aslam?
Chef Ahmed Aslam Ali, who is thought to have created Chicken Tikka Masala, died at the age of 77. He had said before that he started making the popular curry dish in the 1970s.

2- Is chicken tikka masala a “Britain’s national Dish”?
People say that Chicken Tikka Masala is Britain's national dish because it is a common dish in most British homes.