Pakistan-origin man credited with inventing chicken tikka masala passes away at 77

Ali Ahmed Aslam, known as “Mr Ali” moved to Scotland as a young boy and founded the Shish Mahal restaurant in Glasgow’s west end in 1964.

Do you know about the origin of chicken tikka masala, the massively popular dish in the UK? The dish is credited to a Pakistani-origin chef who moved to Scotland as a young boy and founded the Shish Mahal restaurant in Glasgow’s west end in 1964. Unfortunately, the man behind the dish, Ali Ahmed Aslam, known as “Mr Ali”, has passed away at the age of 77.

Mr Ali reportedly came up with the dish after a customer asked him if there was a way to make his chicken tikka less dry. What Mr Ali did was to add a creamy tomato sauce – and from there, the chicken tikka masala was born.