New Delhi: Indian chefs have warned Scottish MPs to keep their hands off the rights to chicken tikka masala.
This is after the MPs, led by Mohammad Sarwar, claimed that the dish was invented in Glasgow and sought official European Union recognition through a 'Protected Designation of Origin'.
It would give Glasgow's chicken tikka masala a status equal to Champagne and Parmesan cheese.
The move is based on the claim by Ahmad Aslam Ali, who says he invented the dish at his Shish Mahal restaurant in Glasgow.
The claim was dismissed as "preposterous" by Indian chefs.
Zaeemuddin Ahmad, a chef at Delhi's Karim Hotel, said the recipe had been passed down through generations of his family.
"Chicken tikka masala is an authentic Mughlai recipe prepared by our forefathers who were royal chefs in the Mughal period," he said.
"Mughals were avid trekkers and used to spend months together in jungles and far-off places. They liked roasted form of chickens with spices."
Rahul Verma, an expert on street food, said he first tasted the dish in 1971.
"Its basically a Punjabi dish not more than 40-50 years old and must be an accidental discovery which has had periodical improvisations," he said.
Himanshu Kumar, the founder of Eating Out in Delhi, said patenting the dish was "out of the question".
"It has been prepared in India for generations. You can't patent the name, it's preposterous," he said.
Your comments
Hahahah! I'm glad they didn?t claim that chicken was invented by Indians or Mughals. Doesn?t matter who invented this but its awesome recipe, who cares if its invented by who, when ,where and why. I personally think its from Afghanistan. If you put lots of spices its Indian, less spices its Pakistani, no spices its Afghans and so on.
Asghar
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 18:32
enjoy the dish who cares about origin
Taha
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 18:07
Chicken tikka masala is a curry dish of roast chicken chunks in a rich red, creamy, lightly spiced, tomato-based sauce. The recipe itself shows the Mughlai cuisine taste, made from generations in India, and not from UK where there are hardly any spicy and chilly dish!!
Zuzer Akolawala
Dubai,U.A.E.
Posted: August 06, 2009, 17:59
Personally I believe the dish is been invented in China. I was travelling the Guangdong province and happen to taste the same chiken tikka in one of the restaurant and they told it has been passed to them from Ming dynasty. They also have duck tikka and snake tikka as add on.
Faisal
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 17:51
don't tell me Chicken Tikka was originated in INDIA please!!! it is indeed an Afghan (Pashtoon) dish. Being an Indian I don't want to lie that chicken tikka belongs to our country.
Zeeshan
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 17:31
Did Mr Tauseef mean to say that Chicken Tikka is a Mongol dish? This entire trend of trying to patent/claim what has been part of culture and cuisine for a long time is ridiculous and smacks of opportunistic greed. The Brits can patent it but it is irrelevant to all lovers of Chicken Tikka masala in the world.
Prashant Nair
Doha,Qatar
Posted: August 06, 2009, 17:24
Mr. Tauseef Rahman Khan, I am a Pathan myself and incidentally, I did a little research on this dish a few years ago while living in Karachi and found out that yes, it was invented in India, although Indians/ Pakistanis can not take full credit for it. The first Mughal Emperor Babar after having conquered India became fond of Indian spices and spicy food. Therefore, he experimented with Indian spices by having his royal chefs mix the more raw, cave-man type (Mongolian/ Afghan) chicken Tikka/ roast (which was just salted and then roasted in fire) with Indian spices or Masalas. The result was this amazingly tasty dish now known to us as Chicken Tikka Masala. Modern forms of Nahari and Biryani are also attributed to the Mughals, although I know for sure than the original version of Biryani came from Persia, which was later spiced up to make it our very own Sub-Continent version including Memoni, Calcutta, Akot, Tahiri
Saad Suliman
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 17:19
All Masala's orgin will point to Indian kitchen as its orgin. Its really funny to hear the claim from Glasgow!
Senthil
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 17:14
I agree Mr Tauseef, if you visits Afghanistan, you will find it every where, or in the north of Pakistan, its mainly a Pathan origin dish. I do agree that its also famous in India. but don?t claim its invented in Glasgow
Ishtiaq
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 17:09
Of course its from India. In Glasgow they only eat bland food. Spices are from India only
Sarika
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 17:06
Do British use hot chilies in their any of the food stuff? All the Masala's are cultivated in India through many years, as they were the exporters (trade) of spices in western countries before 1000 years back .
Abdul
Yanbu,Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Posted: August 06, 2009, 16:57
Is this a coincidence or fame grabbing technique? How is it possible that Mr. Ahmad Aslam Ali didn?t realise that his recipe had been copied for these many years and all of sudden he dreamt? Sounds really funny.
Bharath Kumar
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 16:50
The question is not where the chicken tikka was invented but someone claimed it was invented by him in Glasgow. Of course if he is 150 years old and in Asia, but claiming you invented the tikka in Glasgow?
Syed
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 16:45
If America can claim the patent for "yoga" and "basmati rice" then definitely UK can claim for chicken tikka masala. Hats off to them for this false propaganda.
Muneer
DUBAI,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 16:41
It was discovered by the Philippines. We call the chichen tikka, in Visayas Island. It's grilled chicken with vinegar chutney.
Maria Graves
Dubai,U.A.E.
Posted: August 06, 2009, 16:40
No matter where it originated, the chicken shouldn't be scared away and should taste good.
K. Mirza
Dubai,United Arab Emirates
Posted: August 06, 2009, 16:14
Tomorrow somebody will say Taj Mahal belongs to US, will you agree?
A Reader
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 16:10
The dish is generations old. The remains of Tikka masala was found in fossilised format, frozen in the Iceland. However, it has been claimed that similar remains were discovered in China. It has also been discovered that the spices used for the dish was traded off from the peninsula to Europe. Due to the way this dish is prepared, the origination cannot be concluded. Where was tikka invented? Glasgow? India? UAE? Pakistan? Who bothers? It still serves the purpose and is as tasty as it gets. Please, do not start another debate of where Pizza or sushi originated. People have lot of free time these days.
Manish
Doha,Qatar
Posted: August 06, 2009, 16:06
they are all lies chicken tikka was invented in Pakistan by Bandook Khan. so it is surely not an Indian thing. it?s a Pakistani thing.
Asgar Ahmad
Karachi,Pakistan
Posted: August 06, 2009, 16:04
No matter where it had invented but when ever I hear Chiken tikka my mouth start watering.
Shaikh
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 16:02
i believe the dish was formally invented and introduced in Glasglow in its complete form. chefs based in India are being defensive since it is a ?desi? dish they do not want a European country to take patent rights.
Farhan Chowdry
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 15:52
There are many chicken recipes of Indian origin. How many chicken recipes English people can claim? And still they claim Chicken Tikka is invented in the UK.
Pratheesh
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 15:38
It is not right to protect by patent the right of Chicken Tikka Spice by any person in any part of the world other than India. We people have tasted this dish for generations.
Ibrahim Mammakkanakath
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 14:07
Its centuries old from Mughal and Indian cuisines, I guess Moghuls didn't rule glasgow :)
Sumant
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 13:55
Of course it was invented in Glasgow and there is absolutely no doubt in that. I think the Indians should stop this false propaganda once and for all the wrong reasons to get publicity
Salman Asif Takkhar
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 13:19
Whats next?? Malabar Fish curry originated in Scotland???
Ramesh
Doha,Qatar
Posted: August 06, 2009, 13:04
chicken tikka masala is the basically originated in starting of 1900century, from the edge of the Mughal Emperor Akbar the dish has been invented, there is no any point of think even about the other countries who always taken the food recipes from Indian kitchen.
SHILPA PAWAR
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 12:52
Dears, this dish is from Afghanistan. The 1st Mughal emperor Babur and his companion eats this when they ran from Mongolia when he become the king in Afghanistan his chef used to make this so this dish is belongs to Pathans.
Tauseef Rehman Khan
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 12:26
I love the fact that the two chefs claim it is generations old, and then a historian says it is maybe 40.
Denny Daunt
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2009, 10:49
