PalenQ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tikka_masala

Went out to an Indian restaurant last night and on the menu was what it said was "Britain's national dish" - Tandoori Tikka Masal - a dish supposedly created for British tastes by Bangladeshi or Indian cooks.

The menu also said that there was no tea in India before the British took over.

But back to Britain's national dish - tikka masal - REALLY!

I would have thunk it were Yorkshire Pud or Fish and Chips or Spag Bol - is there any such thing considered Britain's national dish - is it really Tikka Masala?

unclegus

I suppose it could be described as that. it is popular in all parts of the UK from the very south to the very north.I quite like chicken Tika but prefer it without the masala.
yes there was no tea in India. the brits were having a few problems with the chinese and decided that india was an ideal place to grown tea, so they stole a few tea plants from china and set up their own plantations

bilboburgler

"stole " it sounds so romantic, they bought the plants.

flanneruk

It's quite possible that when the 19th century is long forgotten, accountable democracy, freedom of speech and the rule of law have become standard throughout the world (well, possibly not in the lower half of North America), "English" has become as politically unacceptable a term for the world's common language as "Greenwich Mean Time" has become today, and North Sea-style constitutional monarchies have become the world's standard form of government, that the Great Global Plant Interchange will - together with the railway stations of South Asia - be THE global souvenir of the Pax Britannica.

From taking tea to India to introducing rubber to Malaya, our ancestors' determination to replant the world will probably turn out to be matter more than inventing gravity, DNA or the Internet.

The "Tikka Masala is the national dish" myth derives from one survey and a lot of tabloid hype. We don't have one (does France? Does Italy?), we don't need one - and if we had one, it'd be spag bol anyway.

IMDonehere

And a Pax Britannica on you and your family.

dotheboyshall

<i>But back to Britain's national dish - tikka masal - REALLY!

I would have thunk it were Yorkshire Pud or Fish and Chips or Spag Bol </i>

Yorkshire Pudding isn't a dish, fish & chips are a foreign import as is Spag Bol.

CTM has more of a claim to "British national dish" on the grounds that it was invented in the UK.

PalenQ

Is it called Chicken Tika or Tikka Massala? What would folks say when ordering a take out?

thanks

IMDonehere

I am con Tika.

If people want to go back, then pottage would be the national dish.

BigRuss

Seriously, this is news to you? It's been the "national dish" of the UK for a decade.

anicecupoftea

Tikka describes the spices and the way the chicken has been cooked (on skewers in a scorching tandoor). Masala is the sauce (originally created in the 70's and based on tomato soup, so it's said).

anicecupoftea

So ordering chicken tikka will get you a dry dish, chicken tikka masala will come with a thick sauce to be mopped up with rice or naan.

janisj

PQ really does need to get off the paint . . .

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ional-dish.cfm

>>PalenQ on Jul 26, 12 at 10:57am
Chicken ṭikka masālā (Bengali: চিচ্কেন টিক্কা মসলা; Hindi: चिकन टिक्का मसाला; is a dish of roasted chicken chunks (tikka) in a spicy (masala) sauce. The sauce is usually creamy, spiced and orange-coloured. Chicken tikka masala has been found to be the most popular dish in British restaurants and it has been called "a true British national dish."[2]

In case others want to know what chicken tikka masala is!<<

PalenQ

Janis - thanks for helping me answer my own question as for you... too much time on your hands! Thanks for the reminder - time for the old folks home I guess!

MissPrism

Many people think that Balti was invented in Birmingham. Surely no country has a national dish but rather regional dishes

PalenQ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balti_(food)

for those of you who also did not know what Balti was!

Pepper_von_snoot

Really?

Thor Heyerdahl jokes?

PS

It is takeaway not take out.

I would think the national dish of the UK would be mutton dressed like lamb.


Thin

IMDonehere

When was the last time you heard a Thor Heyerdahl joke? Mungo Park jokes to come.

Man_in_seat_61

CTM our national dish? Of course!

Though I'm a Jalfrezi man myself.

I hear that in India they go out for an 'English' every Friday night. "Waiter, what's the BLANDEST thing you have on the menu?" ("Don't be a fool Mohandas, you know you can't take it that bland...!")

PalenQ

Man - do you know how I can can a discount on CTM - any tricks of the trade?

unclegus

For those that did not understand man in seat61 post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdo79znnHl8&feature=kp