Ahmed Aslam, a chef from Glasgow who is widely regarded as the man who first created the dish known as chicken tikka masala, passed away at the age of 77.
On Monday, Aslam, who had founded the Shish Mahal restaurant the previous year in 1964, passed away, his family shared the news of his passing on social media.
Shish Mahal shared the news of his father's passing on Twitter, writing, "Mr. Ali shishmahal just passed away this morning we are all absolutely devastated and heartbroken."
According to BBC, he is credited with having invented the well-known dish in the 1970s in response to a customer's complaint that the meat he had ordered was too dry.
The chef, who goes by the name "Mr. Ali" and is 77 years old, was born in Pakistan but moved to Glasgow, Scotland, with his family when he was a young boy.
Ali had earlier described to the AFP news agency the moment that he came up with one of the most favourite dishes that people in the West enjoy enjoying.
This restaurant is responsible for the creation of chicken tikka masala. Previously, the establishment served chicken tikka, but one day a patron commented that the dish could use more sauce because it was too dry "It came back to him.
"We thought it would be a good idea to cook the chicken with some sauce while it was in the oven. Therefore, beginning here, we prepared chicken tikka with a sauce consisting of yoghurt, cream, and various spices.
"It's a dish that's prepared according to the taste of our customers, and since most of them don't like spicy curry, we cook it with yoghurt and cream," the waitress explained.
Although it is not possible to establish with absolute certainty that he was the original creator of the dish, his attempt in 2009 to have the dish granted the status of Protected Designation of Origin was unsuccessful. This was due to the fact that a number of other businesses all over the UK also claimed to have invented the dish.
If the effort to protect the dish had been successful, then other establishments serving the curry would have been required to call it "Glasgow Tikka Masala," in a manner analogous to an Arbroath Smokie or a Melton Mowbray Pork Pie.
