Campaign for Scots national curry hots up

Published on Sunday 5 July 2009 22:12

A SCOTS city is making a bid to have the chicken tikka masala added to the list of traditional national dishes.

The campaign was launched yesterday by the Shish Mahal curry house in Glasgow.

Labour MP Mohammad Sarwar said he would table a motion in the Commons to give the same legal protection to the curry as other regional foods, such as Cornish pasties and Arbroath smokies.

Chicken tikka masala, believed to be the most popular curry in Britain, is said to have been created by Ali Ahmed Aslam, the owner of the Shish Mahal in Glasgow's West End.

It is claimed that Mr Aslam came up with the recipe after a diner complained about the dryness of his chicken.

Asif Ali, manager of the Shish Mahal, said he was confident Glasgow's bid would succeed.

He said: "We could call it the 'Glasgow chicken tikka masala'.

"We consider ourselves to be Glaswegians first and Scottish second so we are proud to have invented it here."

With the support of their government, food producers can apply to the EU for Protected Designation of Origin status, designed for food prepared in a specific geographic area.