Chicken tikka masala

Chicken tikka masala

Chicken tikka masala
Course	Main course
Place of origin	Uncertain; Indian Subcontinent or Scotland
Serving temperature	Hot
Main ingredients	Chicken, yogurt, cream, tomato, onion, garlic, ginger, chili pepper, coconut
Variations	Lamb, Fish or Paneer Tikka Masala

Chicken tikka masala is a dish of roasted chunks of chicken tikka in a spicy sauce. The sauce is usually creamy, spiced and orange-coloured. It has been claimed to have originated in Glasgow and is among the UK's most popular dishes, leading a government minister, Robin Cook, to claim in 2001 that it was a British national dish.

Chicken tikka masala is chicken tikka, chunks of chicken marinated in spices and yogurt, that is then baked in a tandoor oven, and served in a masala (spice mix) sauce. 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. The sauce usually includes tomatoes (frequently as purée), cream, coconut cream, and various spices. The sauce or chicken pieces (or both) are coloured orange using foodstuffs such as turmeric powder, paprika powder, or tomato purée, or food dye. Other tikka masala dishes replace chicken with lamb, fish, or paneer.

The origin of the dish is disputed. One of the explanations is that it originated in an Indian restaurant in Glasgow, Scotland, but probably from the British Bangladeshi community which ran most Indian restaurants in the United Kingdom. Rahul Verma, a Delhi expert on street food, offered a different explanation, speculating in 2009 that the dish may have originated—probably by accident with subsequent improvisations—in the Punjab and Uttar Pradesh during the last 50 years.