King of curry Ali Ahmed Aslam pictured in 2009
(Picture: AFP/Getty Images)The Glaswegian chef who is thought to be the inventor of Britain’s favourite curry, the chicken tikka masala, has died aged 77.
Ali Ahmed Aslam died on Monday, leaving behind a legacy as owner of Glasgow's Shish Mahal restaurant - which he opened in 1964. His father Noor Mohammed had owned the city’s first Indian, the Green Gates.
Mr Ali, as he was locally known, was born in Pakistan but moved to Scotland’s most populous city as a young boy and was married with five children.
He is said to have invented the now legendary dish in the seventies after a Glasgow customer complained the traditional tikka was too dry - which led to him experimenting by combining it with a sauce made from Heinz soup and spices. The dish would not be recognised in south Asia but in the UK it proved an instant hit.
Mr Ali previously said in an interview with AFP: “We thought we’d better cook the chicken with some sauce.
“So from here we cooked chicken tikka with the sauce that contains yoghurt, cream, and spices. It’s a dish prepared according to our customer’s taste. Usually they don’t take hot curry – that’s why we cook it with yoghurt and cream.”
As the popularity spread around the UK, so did counter claims that other curry houses had in fact been the first to invent the dish.
In 2009 the Shish Mahal attempted to protect the name in a similar manner to how Champagne is recognised, a move which would have forced menus to rebrand the meal ‘Glasgow Tikka Masala’. Mohammad Sarwar, then Labour MP for Glasgow Central, backed the effort which ultimately failed.
The restaurant confirmed the news on social media. A statement added: “Mr Ali #shishmahal just passed away this morning. We are all absolutely devastated and heartbroken.”
