Top Indian Chefs' Fight For Chicken Tikka Masala!

By Staff

Chicken Tikka Masala
There is a curious fight going on in ahmed aslam ali,europe,glasgow,india,karim hotel,mohammad sarwar,mughal emperor,non vegetarian recipes,restaurant,scotland,zaeemuddin ahmad by the top Indian chefs. They have already warned the Scottish MPs to keep their hands off the rights to chicken tikka masala. The ire of Indian chefs emerged after Scottish MPs, led by Mohammed Sarwar claimed the dish was invented in Glasgow in the early 1970s and now want official European Union recognition through a "Protected Designation of Origin".

Ahmed Aslam Ali of the Shish Mahal restaurant in Glasgow made the claim that chicken tikka masala was first made at his restaurant. He said that, he happened to add sauce to the dry chicken tikka masala after the request from a customer. He cooked chicken tikka with the sauce which contains yoghurt, cream and spices.

Delhi's leading food historians have dismissed Ali's claim as "preposterous". They have drawn the history of chicken tikka masala over the centuries in India. Here are the opinions of some the eminent Indian chefs.

Zaeemuddin Ahmad, a chef at Delhi's Karim Hotel, claims that the recipe for chicken tikka masala had been passed down through the generations in his family. To assert its authenticity, he cites the fact that Karim hotel itself was established by the last chef of the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. His forefathers were the royal chefs in the Mughal period. According to Zaeemuddin Ahmad, chicken tikka masala is an authentic Mughalai recipe. Mughals were avid trekkers and used to spend months altogether in jungles and far off places. They liked roasted form of chickens with spices. The invention of chicken tikka masala must be from this taste.

Rahul Verma, Delhi's most authoritative expert on street food has a different version to tell! He said that chicken tikka masala is basically a Punjabi dish not more than 40-50 years old and must be an accidental discovery which has had periodical improvisations. He said that he had first tasted the dish in 1971 and that its origins were in Punjab, and not in the United Kingdom or ahmed aslam ali,europe,glasgow,india,karim hotel,mohammad sarwar,mughal emperor,non vegetarian recipes,restaurant,scotland,zaeemuddin ahmad.

Himanshu Kumar, the founder of Eating Out in Delhi, a food group which celebrates Delhi's culinary heritage, raged over Mr.Sarwar's claims. He asserted that chicken tikka masala is an authentic Indian dish and patenting it in ahmed aslam ali,europe,glasgow,india,karim hotel,mohammad sarwar,mughal emperor,non vegetarian recipes,restaurant,scotland,zaeemuddin ahmad is out of question. He stated that patenting an Indian dish, transferred over generations is preposterous.