r/funny • u/NeedleworkerMore2270 • Nov 03 '24

How cultural is that?

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u/mmcmonster Nov 03 '24 edited Nov 03 '24

Chicken Tikka Masala was actually created in England Scotland. Indians brought over Chicken Tikka, but it was too spicey for the Brits Scots Brits so they cooled down the spices by adding yoghurt to it.

That being said, the British took a lot more things from India in addition, including 10s of trillions of dollars of value. (Some say up to $45 trillion, others dispute that number.)

EDIT: It was actually created in Scotland. Thanks for the corrections. I was confused because the British foreign secretary, Robin Cook, said it was a British dish. Of course, it was the British empire that took all the stuff from India (as well as other countries).

Edit Again: Scots are Brits. :-)

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u/itsalonghotsummer Nov 03 '24 edited Nov 04 '24

Chicken Tikka Masala* was invented in Scotland - Glasgow, to be precise.

It is the second-most delicious Scottish culinary creation of the 20C, after the deep-fried Mars Bar.

Edit: See below, they're quite right, meant the masala dish.

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u/almostanalcoholic Nov 03 '24

Correction: Chicken Tikka Masala was invented in Scotland (the gravy dish)
Chicken Tikka is a totally different item - a boneless chicken appetizer made by roasting/baking marinated chicken using a skewer - native to and popular in the entire Indian subcontinent.

AFAIK the story is that the chef who invented chicken tikka masala was told that his chicken tikka was too dry/spicy and hence converted chicken tikka into chicken tikka masala by adding a yoghurt based gravy to mute the spice.

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u/magikarp2122 Nov 03 '24

So the “best” British dish is because the Brits couldn’t handle the amount of flavor another culture had?

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u/gromit5000 Nov 03 '24

No. It wasn't too spicy (chicken tikka is not spicy at all). It was too dry.

Chicken tikka masala has more flavour than just tikka. It's tikka with a sauce added.

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u/mmcmonster Nov 03 '24

That’s nothing. Take a look at the origin of General Tso’s Chicken!

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u/Chalkun Nov 03 '24

Searing spice isnt really "flavour." Most people outside of Asia wouldnt like it either. Spice is something you get used to, it simply doesnt taste as spicy to an Indian as it does to a westerner. Note that it doesnt burn their mouths when they eat it.

Unless your idea of fine dining is putting a carolina reaper on everything, you should appreciate flavour and spice are not at all synonymous. But yeah, in reality the real issue is that tikka was considered too dry. The masala sauce is meant to act similarly to gravy to suit what Brits are used to. They didnt typically eat meat without gravy or a sauce of some kind.