Ali Ahmed Aslam, a restauranteur in Scotland believed to have invented the favored dish rooster tikka masala, has died. He was 77.
Aslam owned Shish Mahal restaurant in Glasgow, which introduced his loss of life on Facebook, saying the restaurant could be closed for 48 hours.
Aslam, identified regionally as Mr. Ali, was born in Pakistan and moved to Glasgow as a younger boy. He opened his restaurant in Glasgow’s West End neighborhood in 1964, the place he claims he invented the long-lasting rooster tikka masala dish within the Seventies, in response to BBC News.
Aslam says he created the dish when a buyer complained the rooster tikka was too dry. So, Aslam created a sauce utilizing Campbell’s condensed tomato soup, which he had in inventory as a result of he ate it whereas recovering from a abdomen ulcer, in response to Shish Mahal’s web site.
Shish Mahal
The dish has since develop into vastly well-liked in Western nations and whereas there is no such thing as a method of proving Aslam is the primary particular person to ever make it, there was as soon as a marketing campaign to grant Glasgow authorized recognition as the house of rooster tikka masala.
The marketing campaign was supported by Mohammed Sarwar, the MP for Glasgow Central, who launched a movement to acknowledge the dish within the House of Commons in 2009, in response to BBC News. In the tip, Glasgow didn’t obtain an EU Protected Designation of Origin and was not acknowledged because the official residence to the dish.
Andy Buchanan/AFP by way of Getty Images
Chicken tikka masala has been referred to as “Britain’s most popular dish” by many publications. In a 2001 speech about multiculturalism, U.Okay. Foreign Secretary Robin Cook referred to as rooster tikka masala “a true British national dish,” saying it was not solely the preferred dish but additionally “a perfect illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts external influences.”
Shish Mahal is usually praised within the press as the most effective place to get the dish and Aslam was referred to as “the West End’s Indian dining legend” in a profile by native journalist Roy Beers. Fans of the Shish Mahal, which the restaurant affectionally calls “Shish Snobs,” flooded the put up about Aslam’s passing with messages of assist.
Aslam is survived by his spouse, Kasloom Akhtar, and 5 kids.
