What is the single most popular desi dish across the world? The answer undoubtedly is chicken tikka masala or, as the British call it, "chicken teeka masyala". Be it in dubious "Indian" restaurants in the UK that are actually run by Bangladeshis or similar establishments in America, Europe and the rest of the world, this food item is so ubiquitous that it's almost synonymous with our cuisine once we leave these shores. But here's the thing. Chicken tikka masala apparently has as little to do with authentic Indian food as a beef steak has to do with fare from Gujarat. A popular theory has it that the dish was in fact invented in a restaurant in Glasgow. There, in the 1960s, a patron complained that his chicken tikka — a kebab made in a tandoor — was too dry. So, the chef racked his brains and came up with an idea. He added canned tomato soup, some spices and yoghurt to the tikka, and served the dish back to the customer in a gravy avatar. The latter lapped it up. The chef realised that he'd hit upon a winning recipe. And thus was born the chicken tikka masala, making its way from Britain's curry houses to places as far off as Japan and, ironically, even India.