Ali Ahmed Aslam, 77, Credited With Inventing Chicken Tikka Masala, Dies - The New York Times

Ali Ahmed Aslam, the Glasgow restaurateur who was often credited with the invention of chickenhearted tikka masala, died connected Monday. He was 77.

His lad Asif Ali said the origin was septic daze and organ nonaccomplishment aft a prolonged illness. He did not accidental wherever Mr. Aslam died.

Much similar Cartesian geometry, chickenhearted tikka masala was astir apt not 1 person’s invention, but alternatively a lawsuit of simultaneous find — a delicious inevitability successful truthful galore edifice kitchens, precocious by shifting forces of migration and tastes successful postwar Britain.

Many cooks claimed that they were the ones who served it first, oregon that they knew a feline who knew the feline who truly did. Others insisted it wasn’t a British invention astatine each but a Punjabi dish. None of those stories seemed to stick.

Instead, the agleam tomato-tinted lights of fame shone connected 1 man: Mr. Aslam, who immigrated to Glasgow from a colony extracurricular Lahore, Pakistan, erstwhile helium was 16, and who opened the edifice Shish Mahal successful 1964.

What seems to person established Mr. Aslam arsenic the inventor of the crockery was an unsuccessful 2009 bid by the Scottish subordinate of Parliament Mohammad Sarwar to person the European Union admit chickenhearted tikka masala arsenic a Glaswegian specialty. In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Mr. Aslam explained that helium had added immoderate condiment to delight a lawsuit once, and you could astir perceive him shrug.

In Aslam household lore, it was a section autobus operator who popped successful for meal and suggested that plain chickenhearted tikka was excessively spicy for him, and excessively adust — and besides helium wasn’t feeling well, truthful wasn’t determination thing sweeter and saucier that helium could person instead? Sure, wherefore not. Mr. Aslam, who was known arsenic Mr. Ali, tipped the tandoor-grilled pieces of nutrient into a cookware with a speedy herb condiment and returned them to the table.

“He ne'er truly enactment truthful overmuch value connected it,” Asif Ali said. “He conscionable told radical however helium made it.”

Chicken tikka masala became truthful wide that successful 2001 Robin Cook, the British overseas secretary, delivered a code praising the crockery — and Britain for embracing it.

“Chicken tikka masala is present a existent British nationalist dish,” Mr. Cook said, referring to a survey that had placed it supra food and chips successful popularity. “Not lone due to the fact that it is the astir popular, but due to the fact that it is simply a cleanable illustration of the mode Britain absorbs and adapts outer influences.”

Mr. Aslam was calved into a household of farmers, successful a tiny colony adjacent Lahore. As a teenager, recently arrived to Glasgow successful 1959, helium took a occupation with his uncle successful the covering concern during the time and chopped onions astatine a section edifice astatine night.

Mr. Aslam was ambitious, and helium soon opened his ain spot successful the city’s West End. He installed conscionable a fewer tables and a brilliantly blistery good of a tandoor oven, which helium learned to antheral successful a sweaty process of proceedings and error. He brought his parents implicit from Pakistan; his parent helped to tally the kitchen, and his begetter took attraction of the beforehand of the house.

In 1969, Mr. Aslam joined Kalsoom Akhtar, who came from the aforesaid colony successful Pakistan. In Glasgow they raised 5 children. In summation to his lad Asif, his survivors see his wife; their different children, Shaista Ali-Sattar, Rashaid Ali, Omar Ali and Samiya Ali; his member Nasim Ahmed; and his sisters Bashiran Bibi and Naziran Tariq Ali.

Chicken tikka masala boomed successful the curry houses of 1970s Britain. Soon it was much than conscionable a crockery you could bid disconnected the paper astatine each curry house, oregon bargain packaged astatine the supermarket; it was a almighty governmental symbol.

In reality, Mr. Cook’s imaginativeness of multicultural Britain often grated against reports of regular beingness successful Britain — and successful curry houses, wherever aft section pubs closed it was communal for racist, drunken diners to record in, demanding the South Asian foods they’d grown to emotion portion besides abusing the workers who came from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

As the curry location established itself arsenic a British institution, much flourished astir Shish Mahal. In 1979, erstwhile Mr. Aslam renovated the place, helium reopened with a clever gimmick: each of the archetypal 1964 prices, for a constricted time. This led to long, frenzied lines down the block. In photos taken astir this time, Mr. Aslam is handsome and beaming, successful a tuxedo overgarment and bow tie, with the thick, floppy hairsbreadth of a movie star.

There were conscionable a fewer 100 curry houses successful Britain erstwhile Mr. Aslam opened Shish Mahal; by the clip Mr. Cook delivered his speech, determination were thousands. Mr. Aslam, though not named successful the speech, had go an indispensable portion of Britain’s communicative of itself.

Though 2 of his sons took implicit ownership of Shish Mahal successful 1994, Mr. Aslam ne'er officially retired, and helium continued to thrust his achromatic Jaguar to enactment and to deterioration the exquisite suits helium had tailored connected Savile Row. Known for his relentless enactment ethic, helium considered himself a arrogant Glaswegian, a Scotsman done and through.

The dish, which grew acold bigger than the man, was conscionable arsenic apt to beryllium a awesome of British comfortableness nutrient arsenic 1 of inauthenticity. Though much caller surveys person named different curries, specified arsenic chicken jalfrezi, arsenic the astir fashionable successful Britain, chickenhearted tikka masala is pervasive. It is recovered connected airplanes and arsenic a pizza topping, astatine fast-food chains and premade successful jars connected market shelves each implicit the world.

Shish Mahal closed for 48 hours successful grant of Mr. Aslam and posted quality of his decease connected its Facebook page. A multigenerational instrumentality basal of Glaswegians joined successful remembering the restaurant.

“Enjoyed my archetypal ever due curry astatine the Shish Mahal connected Gibson Street,” wrote 1 fan, Wendy Russell. “A cheeky chickenhearted Madras.”

From the responses crossed societal media, it was wide that the edifice had besides go portion of the cloth of the city. Over the years, Mr. Aslam welcomed generations of tipsy teenagers, who had waited successful the acold aft the pubs closed, arsenic good arsenic caller parents who handed pieces of lukewarm naan implicit to their babies to gum. Families had go regulars. What galore seemed to retrieve wasn’t the celebrated dish, but alternatively the antheral who had made them consciousness astatine home.